Though she’s not known for her automotive chops, Simone Giertz just made one of the biggest car-and-truck-related splashes on the internet this year with what she calls “Truckla”.
With more than 1.7 million subscribers regularly tuning in to her YouTube channel for her many robotics creations, Giertz has longed for the promised Tesla pickup truck since it was announced. But with that truck likely a couple years out from production, Giertz began scheming how she might modify a current Tesla to suit her needs.
After more than a year of planning and just over two weeks of actual machining, Giertz has the Tesla pickup she’s dreamed of. The Truckla is a modified Tesla Model 3 with a pickup bed where the backseat used to be.
To pull off the feat, Giertz called in a few favors from friends and other YouTube stars, and the whole process of making the truck is captured in a roughly 30-minute episode, which you can watch here. Giertz and her team start by cutting off the back half of the Model 3. They then welded in a reinforced bed (with a floor donated by a deceased Ford F-150) before adding in a bed rack. To blend where the cuts were made on the Tesla into a finished cab, the team used the back window and rear portion of a GMC Canyon cab.
The final result is surprisingly not that bad looking. If given the choice, I’d take the Truckla over a Honda Ridgeline any day. The bed rack was a nice addition for added storage since the bed is on the small side. Plus it’s got power outlets for running tools.
They even made a truck commercial spoof for the Truckla with narration that is basically a mash-up of every cliche tag line ever used in a truck ad. You can watch that below.