Lifestyle
Old Nissan Leaf becomes affordable road trip machine after 160-mile battery upgrade
With demand for electric vehicles surging and used prices getting pushed sky high, some may think that the idea of a sub-20,000 dollar EV with more than 70 miles of range is just a fever dream. However, one Reddit user posted their experience buying and using a first-gen Nissan Leaf that gets more than double the vehicle’s original 70 miles of claimed range.
The silver 2013 Nissan Leaf posted by user sctbke is a sleeper for sure, but an affordable one. The Reddit user writes in their post that, when faced with buying a new vehicle, they came across a shop in Portland Oregon called EV Rides that would take older Nissan Leafs and retrofit them with batteries from newer models.
- Modified Nissan Leaf with 160 miles of range, mounted with Mountian Bike, via Reddit post
- Modified Nissan Leaf with 160 miles of Range, new to user, via Reddit Post
The company offers an assortment of battery options: the original 24 kWh battery, a 30 kWh/40 kWh/ pack, or even a 62 kWh battery. This, claims the site, allows the first-gen Leaf to achieve a range of up to 230 miles per charge. Yet even the more modest upgrades allow the Leaf to either get 90-100 miles of range from the 30 kWh battery pack, or 150-160 miles with the 40 kWh battery. The Redditor opted for the 40 kWh upgrade.
In the post, sctbke says that they get roughly 110 miles of range on the highway or 160 miles of range in town. Further, they love that they can use 50 kW fast charging systems. And because their workplace has solar charging available, the vehicle essentially charges for free. From their four months of ownership, they claim that they have already saved over $1000 in gas, and the vehicle is set to pay for itself in saved gas costs in roughly 2 years.
The saved gas money was only one of the many reasons they went for the vehicle. They cited a couple of other main motivators that led them to their decision. First off, unlike many other states, Oregon offers a $5000 rebate on electric vehicles (new, used, or converted) for lower-income individuals.
- Modified Nissan Leaf with 160 miles of range with camping setup, via Reddit Post
- sckbke Juiced 2013 Nissan Leaf via Reddit post
On top of that, the Oregon and the Portland areas already have great access to charging infrastructure; including CHADEMO, which the Leaf still uses. They were also relieved to find out that the newer Leaf’s battery doesn’t deteriorate at the same rate as the older first-generation batteries, allowing for longer terms of ownership. The environmental benefits were the cherry on top.
In a comment to Teslarati, the EV owner said “Iβm a big advocate for trying to get lower-income people into EVs because they can save so much money, and thatβs what worked for me with this car. It took some creativity, but it became a very affordable option.” Specifically, EV drivers can benefit from less maintenance, reduced or (in this case) eliminated fuel costs, while participating in maintaining the environment.
Ever since buying it, they cited multiple quality of life benefits over their gas-powered SUV. Not only were they saving gas, but despite not having at-home charging, they only need to charge roughly 2 times a week. The vehicle has also served as a worthy companion on 3 road trips that were over 300 miles each.
While they acknowledge that the 30-45 minutes of charging required almost every 100 miles on the highway isn’t great, they plan their trip around stops in the different areas where they will charge; getting around either on foot or by bike while the Leaf replenishes its batteries. They note only one other detriment; after 300 miles, the battery often gets too hot, requiring them to stop to let it cool.
The user even notes that they were able to drive the vehicle on a 615-mile road trip down the Pacific coast without issue! The charging time and periodic ~110-mile stops simply added character to the adventure. The pictures in the post show that the Leaf has even made its way into the mountains. The small, affordable, second-hand battery-electric car has been taken everywhere from mountain biking trails to hiking and camping (yes, inside the car!) areas.
Overall, EV Rides is offering a great service by making useable electric vehicles available to a wider audience than traditional manufacturers are willing or are able to. This can be a signal that the demand for lower-cost options is there, and many would benefit from their implementation.
What do you think of the article? Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? Shoot me an email at william@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @WilliamWritin. If you have news tips, email us atΒ tips@teslarati.com!
Elon Musk
Tesla primes Cybercabs for 4K streaming and high bandwidth gaming with Starlink integration
Tesla is now shipping Cybercabs from Giga Texas with Starlink hardware built in as standard.
Tesla’s Cybercabs are now leaving Gigafactory Texas with Starlink hardware on the rear hatch in significant numbers, according to drone footage captured Tuesday by longtime Austin drone observer Joe Tegtmeyer. Production at the factory ramped back up after the Labor Day weekend, and his flyover of the outbound lot showed rows of gold Cybercabs alongside Model Y Long Wheelbase units, many carrying the satellite module for the first time as standard equipment rather than a one off retrofit.
Giga Texas today is busy with production coming back up following the long weekend. Of interest today in the outbound lot is the appearance of hundreds of Mode; YLβs and many more Cybercabs and for the 1st time equipped with the Starlink module one the hatch in big numbers.
At⦠pic.twitter.com/G9yl6s51m4
β Joe Tegtmeyer π π€ πΈπ (@JoeTegtmeyer) September 8, 2026
Tesla first showed Starlink built into an actual Cybercab on August 10, when the Robotaxi account posted images of a single gold unit with the antenna integrated into the roofline above the taillights and called it the first Cybercab with Starlink integration. That followed a July reveal where Tesla and Starlink jointly posted a cutaway diagram of the antenna placement without a working vehicle to back it up. Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s VP of AI software, said at the time that the connection isn’t required for the car to drive itself. It exists mainly for navigation, customer service and keeping tabs on the fleet.
Musk has made a different case in public. During Tesla’s Q2 earnings call, he said the company can’t afford robotaxis stranded in what he called “Bermuda Triangles of lack of cellular connectivity,” and he separately claimed on X that Starlink will eventually reach every Tesla built, calling it the only way to deliver high bandwidth to billions of vehicles. He has also pitched the antenna as an entertainment upgrade, telling riders they would be able to stream 4K video or play games during a trip.
The rollout has moved fast since. Robotaxi service opened to the public in Austin on September 3, and Cybercabs had already been spotted with Starlink hardware in Houston and near Miami International Airport in the weeks before Tuesday’s factory footage showed the module shipping at volume rather than on scattered test units. Whether the satellite link earns its keep is still an open question. Tesla’s unsupervised service currently runs in dense metro geofences in Texas and Florida, markets where cellular coverage is already strong, which is not where the rural dead zones Musk describes tend to show up.
Lifestyle
Tesla Cybertruck targets job site crews with new Tailgate Utility Track and Bed Gear Box accessory
Tesla launched a $350 tailgate track and a $985 lockable Bed Gear Box for Cybertruck.
Tesla’s Cybertruck team added two more items to the Tesla Shop, targeting job site crews and owners who use the truck bed for actual work rather than just showing it off. The official Cybertruck X account posted the Tailgate Utility Track and the Bed Gear Box within minutes of each other, part of a five item batch that also included a reflective jacket, a spray paint hat and an updated reflective tee.
The Tailgate Utility Track runs $350 and turns the folded down tailgate into another mounting surface. It’s a single aluminum track with a T-slot for sliding accessories and two L-track attachment points, plus two load stops included in the box. The pitch is straightforward: strap down oversized cargo, like lumber or a cooler, that hangs off the back of the bed without it sliding out mid-drive. It bolts onto the existing tailgate and works on every Cybertruck trim.
Tailgate Utility Trackhttps://t.co/PCAYXlFBvS pic.twitter.com/sCV2NVxf1W
β Cybertruck (@cybertruck) September 3, 2026
The Bed Gear Box costs $985 and is a different kind of accessory. It’s a lockable aluminum storage box, 55.78 inches long, 19.8 inches wide and 7.79 inches tall, that mounts to the bed’s L-track rails and comes with two internal bins for smaller items. According to Tesla, at just over 57 pounds empty, it’s meant to stay in place rather than come in and out with each trip, giving owners a factory-fit alternative to loose totes for tools, recovery gear or emergency supplies. Tesla’s listing notes that Long Range and Dual Motor AWD Cybertrucks need the L-Tracks accessory installed separately before the Gear Box will mount, since L-tracks come standard only on certain configurations.
Both accessories lean on the idea Tesla has been building toward since Elon Musk first described the Cybertruck’s third-party attachment strategy at the 2023 shareholder meeting, when he said the truck would ship with mounting points so outside companies, and Tesla itself, could keep adding gear without redesigning the bed. That’s the same L-track backbone underneath the tailgate shield and jumpseats Tesla launched last year, and the off-road armor package that arrived through the same X account in 2025.
Owners looking to round out the rest of the L-track ecosystem, cargo dividers, MOLLE panels, bed racks and similar gear, can find a wider range of options through our Cybertruck accessories collection.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk says he knows how to save Earth for a billion years
Elon Musk says sentient AI satellites launched from the Moon could keep Earth livable forever.
Elon Musk spent part of his weekend describing a plan to keep the planet livable for roughly a billion years, and it starts with satellites that can think for themselves.
In a post on X, Musk argued that swapping fossil fuels for solar and wind power will not be enough to protect humanity from what he called extremely severe extinction events, the kind that occur roughly every 100 million years. His fix is what he called sentient satellites, or solar-powered satellites, controlled by AI, that would sit in a fixed spot between Earth and the Sun after being launched off the Moon using a giant electromagnetic catapult instead of rockets.
The satellites’ onboard AI would make continuous, small adjustments rather than waiting on human instructions. The mass driver is Musk’s proposed way of getting the raw material there cheaply by using an electromagnetic launch track built on the Moon, where lower gravity and no atmosphere make it far easier to fling cargo into space than it is from Earth.
But we do need to act much faster than that if people still want to live where the beach is today. We have about 50 years or so to take action, which should be more than enough time for the space satellites to solve any heating problems. https://t.co/xhrVQALwQw
β Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 30, 2026
Musk shared a Grok generated estimate suggesting roughly 5 percent of Florida’s land, or about 1.68 million acres, could face regular flooding by 2070 under a high sea level rise scenario, and said humanity has about 50 years to act before coastal living looks very different than it does today.
This is not the first time Musk has floated the idea. He raised a similar concept in November, describing a solar powered AI satellite constellation that could make tiny adjustments to incoming sunlight to fine tune Earth’s temperature. Musk has also tied planetary risk to his broader vision at SpaceX, where his compensation package is explicitly linked to establishing a self-sustaining Mars colony, one he has described as an insurance policy against the kind of extinction event he referenced this weekend, and where he has said humans could set foot within five to seven years.






