Tesla Model S Hacked To Run On Hydrogen

When it comes to “green” cars or cars that can be powered by renewable forms of energy, it seems that electric cars are more or less the more popular choice, although we have seen companies attempt to create cars that can be powered by hydrogen, in which one of the benefits is that its byproduct is simply water and is harmless to the environment.

Tesla is a company that is probably best known for their electric cars, but it seems that over in the Netherlands, gas supplier Holthausen Group has hacked a Model S vehicle so that it is powered by both electricity and hydrogen. According to a report from The Drive (via Futurism), they have dubbed their project with a rather appropriate name: Project Hesla (hydrogen + Tesla, get it?).

It should be pointed out that Tesla was not involved in this hack/modification, so we’re not sure how the company feels about their vehicles being tinkered with unofficially. That being said, the team at Holthausen had a hard time trying to put the system together, with engineer Max Holthausen calling the Model S system a “big maze”, but ultimately they were able to get it up and running.

Their modified Model S is now powered by two power sources: one is the battery that comes with the car, and the second is the hydrogen which is stored in tanks inside the car. This also effectively more or less doubles the range of the vehicle, where previously it would get a range of 315 miles per charge, it can now go up to 620 miles using the battery and the hydrogen.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Green, Transportation
Tags: Electric Cars, Hack, Tesla, _cold