Tesfalia is a Wonderfully Wacky EV Van

Get Ready for Weird

Otmar Ebenhoech is embarking on one of the wackiest and most intriguing builds that can be found in the deep and cavernous annals of the interwebs. His Frankenstein's monster goes by the name of Tesfalia. Otmar fully intends to lay the body of a stretched VW Vanagon Westfalia upon the carcass of a Tesla Model S. An early love of both electric vehicles and VW van camping has ultimately led Otmar to combine his two loves to create the ultimate camping vehicle. To get things rolling, Otmar bought his way into the Tesla club at a steep (for a salvage vehicle) price, albeit a bargain for a new Tesla Model S at $42k including fees.

Photo: Otmar Ebenhoech

A Project Begins

The plans were set in motion shortly after Otmar's stretched VW Vanagon Westfalia, affectionately named "Stretchflia" threw a rod in its TDI engine while returning home from California. Now with the Tesla Model S in hand, Otmar had to bring things up to snuff. Otmar started by trying to get the Tesla's high voltage system operational. Turns out the connectors were taped over and all was well in the battery department. With that, the next order of business was getting the base of the EV fully functional again. 

Photo: Otmar Ebenhoech

>>Join the conversation about this Tesfalia creation right here in the Electric Vehicles Forums!

Putting Hammer to Nail

Otmar began by fixing the electronic power steering rack himself, saving $2500 over a new Tesla part in the process. Otmar also added a full set of used Model S shocks to his arsenal to back up the currently installed set (including the one new strut). At this point Otmar discovered just how difficult it can be to perform your own repair work on the Model S citing Tesla's unpublished diagnostic and electronics information. Thankfully, vehicle hackers exist.

Photo: Otmar Ebenhoech

>>Join the conversation about this Tesfalia creation right here in the Electric Vehicles Forums!

Intervention

Things were looking quite bleak with making the Stretchfalia work as part of the build when out of the blue Otmar happened upon a 1990 VW Multivan in Orly Blue within 150 miles at just the right price. "Before the bank closed at 6 pm," shares Otmar "I had a cashier’s check and an appointment to see it the next day."

Photo: Otmar Ebenhoech

>>Join the conversation about this Tesfalia creation right here in the Electric Vehicles Forums!

Getting a Good Look

Otmar later took a trip out to Portland to visit a Tesla showroom and laid his eyes on a Tesla chassis stating, "I couldn’t ask for a better reference for my project. Here are the wheels, suspension, and the lower part of the frame on display without any body parts in the way." This proved invaluable as a mere month later Otmar had the Tesla running and tested it on the Supercharge system. And with that, the transplant may begin.

Photo: Otmar Ebenhoech

>>Join the conversation about this Tesfalia creation right here in the Electric Vehicles Forums!

A Bump in the Road

Other hiccups quickly arose though as Tesla sent Otmar a letter stating they would no longer be providing replacement parts for his salvaged Model S. Otmar pondered the peculiar decision but granted it may simply be Tesla's attempt to guard against bad press due to a wreck/injury if Otmar or any other self-mechanic improperly fixed their vehicle. As Otmar shares, the headlines would surely leave out the salvaged nature of his vehicle if such an incident were to occur. Luckily for Otmar, the growing Tesla salvage market still offers solutions by way of additional parts.

Photo: Otmar Ebenhoech

>>Join the conversation about this Tesfalia creation right here in the Electric Vehicles Forums!

A Work in Progress

In Dec 2019, Otmar shared that plans had now shifted to using an AWD Model 3 as the base vehicle. Furthermore, the blue Vanagon he had previously purchased had now been stretched and was the prime candidate for continuing the Stretchla project. Plans quickly progressed and by January Otmar had the Model 3 completely stripped and ready for test fitting of the newly-stretched blue Vanagon. That was the last real update we got. According to the project's Twitter account, the project is still in process and it seems he's looking to add a solar roof to the vehicle as well. We'll be anxiously awaiting further updates.

Photo: Otmar Ebenhoech

>>Join the conversation about this Tesfalia creation right here in the Electric Vehicles Forums!