Delores: love story of how a man who had gas in his veins went electric

April 4, 2019 11:11 AM

Rich Benoit, who is a mix of a gear-head and a techie, fell in love with an electric car, but wanted to rebuild a Tesla instead of buying one. So he did. (Boston Globe) “We’re in a society where if you need to know something you Google it, but there was nothing out there, no one who knew how to fix them.” Benoit started with one flood-damaged car, then got a second that had been totaled in a crash. He figured it out from there, posting his progress to YouTube as Rich Rebuilds.

Warning: do not try this at home, unless your home is equipped to handle serious electrical fires. Watch mechanics go through 6 fire extinguishers trying to douse flaming Tesla battery modules rigged to a Disney Princess car as molten copper comes 'raining down' everywhere (Business Insider)

posted by filthy light thief (26 comments total)

This is fabulous. I bought a Tesla 3 last July (ordered from the internet two years ago sight unseen!) and I love this. The way this guy describes driving the car is exactly what it's like (also the strange horrible transition back to driving a gas car is perfect). Also, he's amazing! I just followed him on twitter.
posted by bluesky43 at 11:38 AM on April 4, 2019 [2 favorites]

oh jeeze I love his video where he calls out the haters
posted by rebent at 11:54 AM on April 4, 2019 [1 favorite]

Teslas are all connected, right? Or at least have the ability to receive over-the-air updates from the mothership? Does the company keep a database of vehicles still in use? I guess what I'm wondering is if there's a possibility that they could identify his rebuild as "unauthorized" or something and remotely brick it.
posted by backseatpilot at 11:59 AM on April 4, 2019 [3 favorites]

The other other other cool thing about modern electric cars is that the batteries are so spiffy that they could be sold on their own for use in lots of other systems. I like the Nissan Leaf batteries: 7.6V 64Ah, crushproof, fireproof, bite proof (does not cover the great white shark or saltwater crocodile), all in a very convenient form factor. Wrecked Leafs are a treasure trove of part for solar and wind home power and other electric vehicles like boats.

Tesla batteries are cool too but the form factor is less friendly.
posted by BeeDo at 12:25 PM on April 4, 2019 [14 favorites]

I guess what I'm wondering is if there's a possibility that they could identify his rebuild as "unauthorized" or something and remotely brick it?

Good question. Will Teslas still operate if they can’t contact mother regularly?

I have to think, from a legal/liability standpoint, Tesla will prefer to not acknowledge the car’s existence. The car probably carries a Salvage title, which should indemnify Tesla from any liability. If they were to push an update to it, though, one could argue that Tesla regards the rebuilt car as a “real” Tesla, which could open them to liability issues. This is the same reason Tesla refrained from selling him parts or providing technical assistance.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:00 PM on April 4, 2019

I guess what I'm wondering is if there's a possibility that they could identify his rebuild as "unauthorized" or something and remotely brick it.

There's a comment in this Jalopnik article on Rich, with an embedded video of The Rogue Tesla Mechanic Resurrecting Salvaged Cars from Motherboard (18 minute documentary), where the first comment states:

[Rich] is also the one who surfaced how easy it is to get into a “This VIN Code is no longer eligible for software support” Robo-Script from Tesla tech support. You play your cards wrong on a lightly-damaged, salvage-titled unit and Tesla can turn it into a brick for you.

Emphasis mine -- it sounds like there's more to this, but another user commented that

You are free to repair the car, Tesla couldn’t prevent that even if they wanted to due to law. The only thing they won’t support are salvage cars.

Salvaging cars has little to do with sustainability because that accounts for minority of minority of cars.

The idea is that if Tesla can't vouch for the condition of the car, they're hesitant to offer support, which means that it could be bricked. Tesla's heavy reliance on computerization and over-the-air updates cuts both ways, as reported by The Verge in June 2018, when an OTA update improved Tesla brakes so much that they improved the braking distance by 19 feet, but owners were also reporting less impressive accelerations.

Tesla's lack of after-market parts is interesting - I see that they're making a unique vehicle, and as such, after-market parts means a 3rd party can re-make their car, to some degree (there are a number of 3rd party modifications, but that's not the same thing). On the other hand, there'll come a time when Tesla will stop supporting older models, and those owners are out of luck without 3rd party manufacturers. Of course, that's the point of planned obsolescence - force users to buy a newer model.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:00 PM on April 4, 2019 [2 favorites]

Yes, Tesla could brick your car at any time. Gets stolen? Call Tesla, dead car...
posted by Windopaene at 1:00 PM on April 4, 2019

On the other hand, there'll come a time when Tesla will stop supporting older models

Eventually. Support for the 2008 Roadster seems to have been pretty decent though. Even the moderate pace of battery improvements we've been seeing since then means that EV manufacturers shouldn't need to be doing much else to obsolete their vehicles for a while.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 1:38 PM on April 4, 2019

Listening to him talk as he takes bits and pieces apart gives me such Car Talk feels, I love it.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 2:23 PM on April 4, 2019 [3 favorites]

He’s got a video where he sets out to try super charging his second rebuilt Tesla and he provides a pretty good summary of the pitfalls of Tesla’s lack of support. It works, but it just likely might not have.

He posted another video recently noting that folks are biding up busted Tesla past the point of logic.
posted by zenon at 2:46 PM on April 4, 2019

Warning: do not try this at home, unless your home is equipped to handle serious electrical fires.

Good advice to give to all prospective Tesla owners.
posted by kafziel at 3:44 PM on April 4, 2019

Warning: do not try this at home, unless your home is equipped to handle serious electrical fires.

Good advice to give to all prospective Tesla owners.

I'd sleep so much sounder if only my garage was filled with 15 gallons of good old-fashioned, fire-retardant gasoline.
posted by designbot at 4:16 PM on April 4, 2019 [8 favorites]

Gasoline doesn't spontaneously light itself on fire if you transplant the tank into a second vehicle.
posted by axiom at 5:07 PM on April 4, 2019 [4 favorites]

The updates from Tesla over the air are sometimes important (Sentry mode is super cool and helpful, adjusting the braking distance, modifications for cold weather) and sometimes so stupid I can't believe they wasted the time of their programmers (Romance mode? fart noises instead of a blinker sound? argh). So if you have a build of some sort, you don't really need updates. But it's disappointing that Tesla didn't jump on this as super cool - I mean it IS super cool that some dude made a Tesla from two crashed Teslas. How many people know how to do *that*? Anyway, I'm with this guy and haters can go to the end of the line :)
posted by bluesky43 at 5:37 PM on April 4, 2019 [2 favorites]

Yes, Tesla could brick your car at any time.

that doesnt sound legal to me... someone who buys the car secondhand (salvage or not) has title to it. the manufacturer shouldnt have any legal right to interfere with its operation, so long as merely driving it doesnt require constant uplink to tesla's computers. in other words, tesla probably wouldnt be obligated to provide any sort of service, but it also shouldnt be legally able to intentionally brick the car if the car can operate normally on its own.
posted by wibari at 5:45 PM on April 4, 2019 [1 favorite]

Gasoline doesn't spontaneously light itself on fire if you transplant the tank into a second vehicle.
I mean, it might. Gasoline fumes can be tricksy.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 7:02 PM on April 4, 2019 [2 favorites]

Burning down your house when replacing a gas tank or fuel pump (which is inside the tank) is a thing that happens now and then. Generally some level of idiocy is involved though (e.g. don't use an angle grinder to cut the tank).
posted by ryanrs at 8:22 PM on April 4, 2019 [3 favorites]

His mother is quite a character.
posted by eye of newt at 9:33 PM on April 4, 2019 [1 favorite]

No amount of regular fire extinguishers will put out a battery fire because it’s not consuming any oxygen from the air. The battery industry refers to the events as “thermal runaway” And “vent with flame” because it isn’t technically on fire. It’s just getting really really hot. Our shop where we deal with vehicle scale high voltage battery packs as a big bucket full of sand and a special copper based fire extinguisher. The way you stop the fire is to cool the battery down enough that the chemical reaction stops. Most of the time all you are trying to do is keep it from catching anything else on fire until it runs out of energy.
posted by TheJoven at 11:29 PM on April 4, 2019 [9 favorites]

His mother does get to the centre of the issue, which is "he's trying to get people into space but can't put you in a car".

I've followed him on YouTube for a while, and he's got real interesting videos. There's also a whole sub-genre of people putting Tesla running gear in everything under the sun, much like small block V8s have been shoehorned into pretty much anything with wheels. There's a lot of dedicated hobbyists out there.
posted by Harald74 at 12:19 AM on April 5, 2019 [5 favorites]

That is not at all what I was picturing a Disney Daisy Princess car to be. What a cute thing! I assume this was something the "real" Daisy would drive around at the park? As someone who lives in a neighborhood with all kinds of tinkerers, DIY-ers and both casual and professional car mechanics who sometimes do stupid shit that release fumes and booms....I was aghast at the amount of smoke that thing produced and the likely fumes of flaming batteries. Hopefully this is the wakeup call that they need to know how to deal with these things if they are going to mess with them. "Boys with their toys."

I love Rich's mother. OMG.
posted by amanda at 7:43 AM on April 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

If Tesla finds out that a car may have non-cosmetic damage (esp battery or drive train) and you don't bring it in to them to be certified, they will turn off supercharger access (so no more convenient long trips) and worse will refuse to sell you spare parts, many of which Tesla is the only source of. That's why Rich keeps pretty much every part when he strips a dead car. He has a mini-warehouse of spare MCUs (the display/computer in the center), motors, panels, seats, etc. Not because he's a hoarder, but because there's no other source for parts for a car if Tesla doesn't feel awesome about it being repaired and driven.
posted by zippy at 9:35 AM on April 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

I've been increasingly feeling like i'll do this not with a Tesla, but with a Chevy Bolt as soon as i have the space.

Similar range to the basic Teslas, amazingly cheap salvage(even with functionally minor damage! like a ruined door or rear bumper/hatch but still fully drivable), and no stupid tomfoolery with updates, fast charging access, or ESPECIALLY parts availability. I can go online or to any GM dealership and just order the damn bits.

Yea, it's not as cool, but it really seems like you could get one going for probably under 10k. And i'm very handy with working on cars and electronics

I'm honestly amazed i haven't seen anyone doing this yet. They've been out for a few years, and copart/ccacar/etc always have them listed. What gives?
posted by emptythought at 10:15 AM on April 5, 2019 [3 favorites]

Generally some level of idiocy is involved

This Reddit comment alleges they were using the Disney car's lead acid charger to charge the battery pack, with no protection circuit on the pack to cut it off if it went overvoltage. That charger goes to 4.5 V per cell, which anyone who's messed about charging lithiums will know is way way too much (4.1-4.2 V is the normal cut off).

This is like trying to force gasoline into your tank using a high pressure pump, leaving it unattended, and then wondering why there are now shards of gas tank, gasoline and fire all over your garage.

(seriously, even the tiny lithium pack on a keyring rechargeable led flashlight will have an overvoltage protection chip separate from the charging circuit)
posted by grahamparks at 2:10 PM on April 6, 2019

Generally some level of idiocy is involved

I've heard it said that one reason for the popularity of his channel is that he plows ahead without always having a clear idea of what's going to happen. It is like he's one of us. We are going to see a bit of chaos.

I think it is also because he works on Tesla cars. Tesla has been very closed off to non-professionals working on its cars--refusing to sell parts or give any instructions. It takes a rebellious amateur to say "I don't care. I'm going to work on these cars anyway. Let's see what happens."
posted by eye of newt at 8:55 PM on April 7, 2019 [2 favorites]

there's a running joke on rich's channel where he uses a kitchen knife in various roles a "proper" tool user would not. So yes Rich plays up the winging it side, but considering how little Tesla had published (until compelled to by Massachusetts' Right to Repair law) he's actually brilliant and methodical. I mean, that Disney toy car fire is like the ten-millionth stupidest thing you'll see just spending a day looking at regular "let's repair/modify a gas car" vlogs.
posted by zippy at 2:49 PM on April 12, 2019