Rich Rebuilds is famous for its EV mods and for fixing flood-affected Teslas. For his most recent project, he converted a friend’s Model S 75D into a P100DL. His friend wanted to trade in his 75D for a P100DL, but the options were pretty expensive.

That’s when he reached out to Rich and asked him to convert the present car to a much more powerful and efficient one. All said and done, this conversion was successful and it cost him one third of the price of a new P100D altogether.

How Do You Put a Bigger Motor in a Tesla Model S?

For the conversion, Rich needed a donor vehicle for the parts. So, he picked up a Model S 100D at an auction and dissected the parts out of it to plonk into the 75D. Rich worked in tandem with the guys at Electrified Garage for this project. The removal of the 75D’s drive unit was pretty straightforward. It was unscrewed from the drivetrain and then disconnected from the coolant tubes and power cables.

Although the 75D could’ve worked on the same battery with the 100D’s drive unit, they had to swap it because the owner essentially wanted the range of a 100D. The guys replaced the power cables from the front junction box because there was a difference in motors between the two vehicles. The junction box powers the cabin heater, air conditioner compressor, and battery heater. The rear junction box’s replacement was a bit complicated since the cables in the 75D’s box are locked into it, so they had to swap it with the 100D’s component. The 75D’s harness was too small to bear the P100D’s raw power, so this needed a swap as well.

They Ran Into Hurdles During The Conversion

The cooling system was the biggest complication since both models have different setups. The 75D makes use of a single line and is cooled by oil with a heat exchanger. On the other hand, the 100D makes use of two coolant lines that connect to the motor. The folks at the garage made some mods accordingly and cleared this hurdle as well.

Conclusion

The result was a P100DL drive unit and battery pack sitting in the 75D’s body. Can you call it a sleeper EV? Well, it’s up to you. This is the final break-up of the cost:

Wrecked P100DL = $20,000

Parts and Labor Cost = $9,000

Sold parts from the wrecked P100DL = ($10,000)

Sold old motor from 75D = ($,2500)

Sold old battery from 75D = ($13,500)

Total cost for the P100DL rebuild = $33,000>

In comparison to buying a P100D, he saved about $55,000. So, what does he do with the saved amount? Purchase a new white Model 3, of course.

What are your thoughts on this conversion project by Rich Rebuilds? Share them with us in the comments section below.