Buying a wrecked Tesla for $2,000 sounds like the start of a terrible idea. In this case, that was exactly the point.
YouTuber Remmy Evans picked up what might be the internet’s strangest running Tesla: a stripped-down 2020 Model 3 with no body panels, no windshield, no proper seat belts, and barely anything left between the driver and the outside world.
Instead of restoring it, he embraced the chaos. The plan was simple: charge it up, send it sideways, and treat it like a giant electric go-kart.
For a little while, that worked brilliantly. Then Tesla’s software stepped in and threatened to ruin all the fun.
A $2,000 Tesla That Barely Looked Like a Car
Evans says he got the call about the gutted Tesla while hunting for another ridiculous project.
The seller had originally planned to use the Model 3’s electric guts in a 1970s-style concept car build, but after stripping the Tesla down, the project stalled. The result was a bizarre half-car, half-go-kart machine that still ran and drove, even though it looked like it had survived the end of the world.
The asking price was $3,000.
Evans offered $2,000, the seller accepted, and suddenly he owned what may be the cheapest functioning Tesla around.
No Windshield, No Sensors, No Problem
The seller explained that many of the safety systems had already been removed or disabled.
Teslas are normally packed with software and sensor-based controls that do not exactly encourage drifting, burnouts, or general stupidity. Now, with much of that gone, the stripped Model 3 apparently behaved more like a giant electric kart than a modern EV.
That is exactly what Evans wanted.
He and his friends immediately started hooning it around, doing burnouts, swinging the rear out, and sending it across private property like it was some kind of silent, overpowered toy.
It Apparently Drove Shockingly Well
One of the funniest parts of the video is how quickly everyone involved starts admitting that the thing is absurdly fun.
Evans describes it as the “funnest car” he has ever driven, while one friend compares it to a Polaris Slingshot, only faster. Another says it feels like a “big boy go-kart,” which honestly sounds about right.
Despite missing most of its body, the Tesla still had serious shove.
It also had enough battery to show over 200 miles of range when fully charged, which made the whole thing even more ridiculous.
The Tires Did Not Enjoy the Experience
The Tesla itself may have loved the abuse, but the tires definitely did not.
After a day of donuts and sideways antics, the rubber was already coming apart, with one set reportedly delaminating badly enough to expose wire. Evans quickly swapped on another set of wheels and kept going, because of course he did.
That is really the whole spirit of the project.
Nothing about this build was careful, polished, or sensible. It was pure “let’s see what happens” energy from start to finish.
Charging Became a Major Problem
As with most questionable EV projects, the fun eventually ran headfirst into charging complications.
Evans struggled to use public fast chargers, tried modifying an adapter to make it fit, and then realized the stripped Tesla still needed software support to properly use certain charging setups. That is where the car stopped behaving like a dumb toy and started acting like a Tesla again.
Because Teslas are never just cars.
They are software-defined machines, and that means the company still has a say in what happens when critical components go missing.
Tesla Software May Have Killed the Party
The turning point came when Evans downloaded the Tesla app and started poking around the car’s systems.
Soon after, the Model 3 began throwing service warnings and appearing to tighten up its behavior. Evans openly worried that Tesla might effectively blacklist the car once it realized how much of it had been stripped away.
That fear is not exactly irrational.
A gas-powered project car can sit half-disassembled in a shed for years and come back to life with a battery, fuel, and a little luck. A Tesla is different. If the software decides something is too wrong, the fun can end very quickly.
The Best Tesla Is Apparently the Dumbest One
There is something weirdly fitting about this story.
Tesla built its reputation on high-tech, over-the-air intelligence, tight software integration, and safety systems layered over everything. Evans took one of those cars, ripped away most of what made it normal, and turned it into the exact opposite: a raw, stupid, hilarious machine built purely for chaos.
And for a brief moment, it looked amazing.
However, in the end, the same thing that makes Teslas so advanced may also make them terrible project cars. The machine may be willing, but the software is always watching.