Tesla owner adds gas generator for Himalayan trip

A Tesla owner in China has "hacked" his Model Y to charge from a gasoline generator so he could drive almost 3,000 miles to a Mount Everest viewing platform in Tibet.

The do-it-yourself Tesla hybrid sparked buzz on Chinese social media after videos of its journey through rural China to the Himalayas were shared on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.

To avoid so-called range anxiety while traveling through a remote region with limited charging infrastructure, the driver mounted an 8kW gas generator to the back of the car, complete with its own license plate to comply with local regulations.

The generator feeds electricity into a standard charger, providing enough power to add about 19 kilometers (12 miles) of range per hour – just enough to reach the next available power-charging station or in case of emergency.

It is not a true range extender capable of charging the battery while driving, according to Car News China. And yet, it has served the purpose.

The owner, who was traveling with a passenger, noted in his posts that without the generator, it would have been impossible to get out of some parts of the mountainous region.

The Tesla owner said he traveled 4,800 kilometers (3,000 miles) to reach a Mount Everest viewing platform in Lhatse County, Tibet, situated at an elevation of about 5,200 meters (17,060 feet) above sea level.

The full rig costs the owner around 2,800 yuan (roughly $390) and has drawn mixed reactions from netizens, with some praising it as ingenious and others noting it defeats the purpose of driving an electric vehicle.