Official

Tesla Model S modified as an RV to debut in Michigan, travel the world

It's the brainchild of Twitch TV host Travis Rabenberg

By now, we've seen plenty of modifications of the Tesla Model S, including a few different reinterpretations as a shooting brake, plus that bizarre hearse. But this is something different altogether. It's a Model S modified as an RV camper, and though it's definitely weird — and let's be honest, it ain't exactly pretty — it apparently actually exists. Called the Tesla Roamer motorhome, it's the brainchild of Travis Rabenberg, host of Twitch TV's "Travis Travels" and an author and adventurer. Turns out he's been teasing the project for a few months on social media. Now his project is getting a boost from the state of Michigan's Agency For Energy, highlighted as part of an event next week to promote electric vehicles.

As for the Roamer itself, it's based on a Model S 70D, with a camper that will feature a bed, sink and toilet and add 550 pounds to the vehicle's 4,608-pound curb weight. The camper is 6 feet wide, 8 feet long and 4 feet high when closed or 6.6 feet high when opened. It features a 350-watt solar array. That'll presumably provide plenty of power for creature comforts inside the camper; we assume it can also charge the battery. The Roamer also appears to be riding on a raised suspension and fitted with non-factory wheels and tires, plus those rooftop running lights, which are perfect for navigating remote two-tracks or gnarly offroad paths in the dark. In a modified Model S.

Rabenberg expects the Roamer to have a top speed of 150 mph and a range of 200 miles after the conversion, with hopes of breaking the Guinness World Land Speed Record for an electric motorhome. His plans call for for driving it from England to Dubai, where he'll lead the parade of EVs into the World Expo 2020. Rabenberg's previous projects have included the conversion of a 2008 GMC 3500 HD V8 diesel ambulance to a luxury camper, which he drove from Michigan to Alaska, and a 2003 Ford E350 V10 van that he fitted with a bed, sink, toilet and shower, and drove from Michigan to Chile. We applaud the concept behind his latest project, even if it won't win any beauty contests.

You'll be able to see the prototype April 17 at the Michigan Energy Office's EV Ride & Drive event in Lansing, where the official state government agency also promises to display an electric school bus that the state plans to roll out later this year or early in 2020 as the result of settlement money it received from Volkswagen over the dieselgate scandal.

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