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Tesla owner converts Model S 75D to P100DL on the cheap with Rich Rebuilds
Tesla owner and automotive enthusiast Rich Rebuilds is known for his crazy vehicle modifications and salvage electric car initiatives. For his most recent project, Rich opted to upgrade a Model S 75D to a P100DL for an owner who wanted a Tesla with more range, power, and speed without buying a whole new car altogether.
The Model S 75D in question belonged to a close friend who was interested in getting a vehicle with better specs and performance. At first, the owner attempted to trade-in his Model S 75D for a P100DL. However, Tesla’s trade-in offer was not up to the owner’s expectations, so he came to Rich for help with the upgrade.
The owner then obtained a P100DL that was involved in an accident for $30,000. Despite the vehicle being totaled, its electric motor and battery were usable. The upgrade process required Rich and the team at the Electrified Garage to remove the 75D’s rear drivetrain and battery, which packs 329 horsepower and an EPA-estimated 259 miles of range.
The first step of the project required the removal of the 75D’s drive unit. The swap was a straightforward step that required the removal of a few nuts and bolts, along with the disconnection of the drivetrain’s coolant tubes and power cables. Then, the removal of the 75 kWh battery pack was next, another relatively easy step.
The removal of the battery pack is not usually necessary for drivetrain replacements. However, for the Model S 75D to be upgraded adequately to a P100DL, the two vehicles’ battery packs needed a swap. The differences between the motors required a replacement of power cables from the motor to the front junction box as well, which sits near the front of the vehicle. According to the Tesla Model S Owners Manual, “The front junction box provides power to various components, such as the Battery heater, the air conditioning compressor and the cabin heater.”
The team ran into a small issue when replacing the rear junction box. The cables from the 75D’s junction box lock into the part, so the Electrified Garage team chose to swap out this junction box with a component from the P100D. Additionally, the Model S 75D’s drivetrain harness was too small to handle the P100D’s motor, so the team had to utilize the performance version’s harness, which required a complete swap out as well.
The cooling systems between the two vehicles were also slightly different and required attention. The 75D’s cooling system only utilized one line and is cooled by oil with a heat exchanger installed. The P100DL’s drive unit, on the other hand, has two coolant lines which connect directly to the motor itself. This step required a small modification from the Electrified Garage team so the vehicle would operate correctly.
After completing the project, the owner took the 75D’s motor and battery, along with the rest of the P100D, and sold them. The project set the owner back only $33,000 in total, including $9,000 in labor costs from the Electrified Garage.
The upgrade in drivetrain and battery pack for the Model S 75D gave ultimately resulted in a Model S P100DL for a vastly reduced price. In the case of Rich’s recent project, the owner was able to obtain more range, speed, and horsepower without spending about $100,000 for a new Model S P100DL.
Watch Rich Rebuilds’ video on the Tesla Model S 75D conversion to a P100D below.
Elon Musk said he is planning to give “every one of his SpaceX shares to every kid in America” in 2027, stating that “this will be the first of many.”
SpaceX went public earlier this year, and its stock price has been relatively stable since leveling off shortly after its IPO. Based on its current price, it’s a gift of just over $10 billion to children across the United States.
It appears to be closely related to President Donald Trump’s bank accounts for children, which were set up earlier this year as Trump Accounts.
Just hours earlier, Anthropic had announced the establishment of its Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, “a new wholly-owned entity dedicated entirely to public benefit.” Musk responded by stating he recommended “giving the shares directly to the public,” and that he would be doing it that way.
Just a little bit later, Musk said children across the U.S. would be getting a share from him:
Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America.
This will be the first of many.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 19, 2026
There are roughly 70 million children, meaning someone under the age of 18, in the United States, according to the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. Musk’s ownership of SpaceX stock shows he has around 849 million Class A shares of SpaceX stock, according to filings with the SEC.
Elon Musk revealed in a post on X that “Permits were impossible to get,” explaining the fate of The Boring Company’s most ambitious East Coast proposal.
The comment responded to a query about what became of his July 20, 2017 announcement that he had “just received verbal govt approval” for an underground Hyperloop connecting New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., capable of carrying passengers from the Big Apple to the Nation’s Capital in just 29 minutes.
The Boring Company receives verbal ‘approval’ to build NY to DC Hyperloop tunnel
The 2017 post, which envisioned city-center stations and multiple elevators in each city, sparked immediate scrutiny. Local and state officials in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and D.C. said they had no knowledge of any approval. A White House spokesperson confirmed only “promising conversations” about the transformative infrastructure.
Musk clarified shortly after that there was “still a lot of work” to do for formal approvals.
@cybrtrkguy Permits were impossible to get
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 19, 2026
Limited progress followed, as Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s administration issued a conditional utility permit and supported work near Fort Meade. In 2018, Washington, D.C., granted a preliminary permit for site preparation and excavation on a vacant lot at 53 New York Ave. NE in the NoMa neighborhood, which The Boring Company said could become a station.
A draft environmental assessment for a D.C.-Baltimore segment was released in 2019. Yet, by April 2021, the company had removed the project from its website, and the Federal Highway Administration reported receiving no indication of further interest. Communication with Maryland officials had ceased.
The full corridor would have required coordination among the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, the Federal Highway Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, the National Park Service, and other agencies.
Environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, utility clearances, and approvals for novel infrastructure added to the overall complexity of the project and its approval.
Speculation on the permitting barriers centers around a few factors, but a multi-state, multi-level route involving unproven high-speed vacuum-tube technology inherently triggers exhaustive safety, environmental, and engineering reviews that can stretch for years, even for conventional projects.
There are also other elements, of course, like officials who may face political exposure if a privately funded, untested system encountered anything such as cost overruns, delays, or safety issues. On the outset of this project, there were limited things such as engineering plans or demonstrated technology maturity, which also added to the potential skepticism.
The East Coast vision for Boring Co., once framed as a privately funded revolution that could reshape Northeast travel, quietly ended without construction of the promised network. Musk’s recent statement frames the outcome as a regulatory impasse, unfortunate but not unexpected.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to his social media platform X on Sunday to remind everyone that the Roadster’s true meaning is not about company growth or adding dollars to shareholders’ pockets. Sometimes, you just do things because you can.
Following the Roadster’s epic unveiling event last Thursday, skeptics and critics of the company or the project itself came out to say that the vehicle is a pointless project because it is not geared toward growing the company, delivering supreme margins for profitability, nor does it contribute to the big picture of Artificial/Super Intelligence.
But that’s just the thing: Roadster is not meant to be some shareholder dream; it’s meant to be a vehicle that people buy just because it is something awesome, unique, and the first of its kind.
Tesla Roadster: Three configs, one can fly, 0-60 in 0.8 seconds
Musk had to remind those who are skeptical about the Roadster’s importance to the company mission that while it is not a major contributor to Tesla’s long-term goals, it is something that is being built just because it can be:
“Optimus and Cybercab will be the vast majority of Tesla’s value. The only things that will scale to incredible size (K2 and beyond) economically are super intelligence, robots, solar power, and mass to space. And, of course, if you have the first two, the rest will follow. But Roadster is super cool, so we’re doing it anyway.”
Musk has said on many occasions that Optimus would be the project that would make up the vast majority of Tesla’s value in the coming years.
Robotics will be a major focus of Tesla over the coming years, especially as Musk believes Optimus will enable work to be optional for humans and will enable what he calls “High Universal Income.”
Optimus and Cybercab will be the vast majority of Tesla’s value.
The only things that will scale to incredible size (K2 and beyond) economically are super intelligence, robots, solar power and mass to space.
And, of course, if you have the first two, the rest will follow.
But Roadster is super cool, so we’re doing it anyway.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 18, 2026
Cybercab will be a passive income opportunity for owners, Musk and Tesla have said for a very long time, as a fleet of self-driving vehicles will operate within a ride-hailing Robotaxi service that won’t require a human driver to be present.
Tesla investors are more than enthusiastic about the company’s future projects, at least from a general consensus perspective. However, it is important to note that the Roadster is a fun and cool project that pushes the boundaries of what people thought was possible for an automobile.
What we saw last week was the first true example of a flying car, and despite the backlash about how it might not contribute to Tesla’s grand ambitions, it’s okay to have fun sometimes, too.
Elon Musk will give ‘every kid in America’ a SpaceX share in 2027
Elon Musk reveals why Boring Co’s biggest East Coast project never happened
Tesla CEO Elon Musk reminds everyone about Roadster’s true meaning
SpaceX reveals how its 1 Million AI satellite network will work and prevent space collisions
Tesla Roadster: Three configs, one can fly, 0-60 in 0.8 seconds
