A Growing Number Of Model 3 & Y Owners Are Taking On Moab

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For most people, the words “off-roading” and “Tesla Model Y” don’t belong in the same sentence. Perhaps not even in the same paragraph. EV owners love their cars, and many of us don’t want to hurt our baby. But, for some of us, that love is more like the love we’d experience with a romantic interest in that you just don’t want to be away from the car. You want to take it on adventures, do fun things with it, and enjoy life. When this happens to a Tesla lover who wants to explore the world far away from pavement, there’s a dilemma: Tesla doesn’t currently sell anything that’s built for such driving.

So, when visiting Moab, you could rent a Jeep or rent a side-by-side UTV, but when you’re just not a fan of the sound and feel of a primitive pile of pistons, it’s just not the same. You don’t want to cheat on your Tesla with a Jeep, right? And certainly not pay hundreds for the privilege.

This seemingly impossible contradiction (the desire to drive a Tesla vs. the desire to explore places it shouldn’t go) has led to some creative solutions, modifications, and even some limited off-road success (at least compared to what you can accomplish a in Jeep or a Bronco). That’s what I want to talk about in this article.

The last time I was in Moab, I saw a couple of Teslas in town that had knobby tires and a bit of a lift to them, and I was curious about them, but nobody was nearby to ask questions. So, when I got home, I started looking at articles and videos and found out that off-road Model 3 and Model Y adventures, even if relatively mild, are becoming a thing.

Out Of Spec’s 2020 Desert Adventure

I set the video to start when he gets to the point where he’s going to do the adventure near Moab, but you’re of course free to rewind and see his visit to Death Valley and the Grand Canyon.

On this trip, he doesn’t start out taking on anything too crazy. There are dirt and gravel roads with washboarding and some bumps at first, followed by a sand patch. But, as he gets further from Spanish Valley, the road sees less and less traffic and maintenance and the bumps get bigger. When he finally gets to some rocks that stick through, he’s not sure if his Model 3 can get over it without damaging the brutally expensive battery pack. So, he had to turn around.

i1Tesla’s Upgraded 2021 Journey

The following year, i1Tesla took Moab on in his modified Model Y. The car’s still very thoroughly a Tesla, but he upgraded the suspension (which included adding some ground clearance), added a skid plate to protect the battery pack from scrapes, put on better tires (on smaller wheels), and did other things. He was able to go places that Out of Spec wouldn’t have even tried in 2020 with a stock Model 3.

He even aired down his tires a bit for better grip and less bumpiness with a four-way manifold to keep all tires at exactly the same pressure.

He didn’t do any extreme off-roading, but he did things that many people in crossovers and Subaru wagons do. He’d go over jagged rocks, large bumps, sandy patches, and other things that might sink or destroy a stock Model Y, even if they’re considered very mild roads by Moab standards. Even then, he still had to pile up some rocks and build ramps to get over the worst of it without getting hung up. Picking the right lines (paths through rough patches) is also key.

I think he’d agree that he’s pushed the Model Y about as far as you can push the platform for this kind of driving. Getting more clearance would mean putting the CV joints way out of whack, and needing to lower the drive units, which would lose you some clearance around them in exchange.

In a video from after the trip, he surveys the damage, and it’s actually very little. His rooftop tent didn’t damage the car at all, but wrinkled up his protective vinyl wrap a bit. The car’s computer didn’t like the way he was using the 12-volt battery (both using it for power, and charging it with a solar panel), but that wasn’t a big deal. Dust got into the doors and made them squeak, but that didn’t do any serious damage and a cleanup plus some lube fixed that issue.

Under the car (the damage that would matter), there wasn’t much. The tires rub a bit, but that’s not a big deal. The skidplate up front obviously did its job, as it had some scrapes. Had there not been a plate there, the coolant lines for the battery would have probably busted. If that happens, Tesla says you need a new battery pack, but independent shops can fix that for a lot cheaper. It would still strand you, though, and be a huge pain.

On the center of the battery pack (which is fairly well protected), there are some minor scrapes and small dents, but nothing even close to possibly getting into the battery cells. There was also some minor damage to the plastic panels beneath the car, but those can be replaced if needed.

All in all, with these upgrades, there’s really no damage that mattered. But those upgrades were key to the success.

2022:

i1Tesla wasn’t the only person to ever try this. Geektimus Prime on YouTube did something similar and took a visit to Moab. He had some similar upgrades, including a small lift kit, similar Martian wheels, and some off-road tires. Like i1Tesla, he had to pick lines carefully but managed to take on some decent trails, considering it’s a Tesla that’s not a Cybertruck.

Tesla Might Get In On This

I think when Tesla designed the Model Y, the company didn’t think of it as an off-road vehicle. But Mountain Pass Performance has been selling a lot of lift kits for the vehicles, so these videos are far from the only people taking on trails in Model 3 and Model Y vehicles. So, there’s clearly some demand for all that.

Last year, Out of Spec saw a prototype of some kind that could be a lifted or air-ride Model Y, so it’s possible that Tesla could be working toward building its own factory Model Y that could take on some minor trails, tackle snow, etc. That would be a pretty cool thing, especially if Tesla re-engineered the front suspension a bit to allow more lift or air-lift.

Featured image: a screenshot from i1Tesla’s YouTube video.