Until the likes of the full-electric Rivian R1 S or battery-powered Hummer arrive, it's accurate to say that the current crop of EVs are all pretty terrible at off-roading.
That's because, when the going gets rough, even the tough Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo quickly runs out of ground clearance, lacking the level of wheel articulation needed to clear minor obstacles.
Teslas are a case in point, despite offering all-wheel drive on all models, you wouldn't get far in a Model Y or Model X off the beaten track, while a Model 3 would struggle to find its way out of a muddy puddle.
But that didn't stop intrepid and, slightly unhinged, YouTubers Rich Rebuilds and Grind Hard Plumbing Co in their combined attempt to create a Jeep-humbling version out of a crashed dual-motor Model 3 Long Range.
The plan, once they'd found a Model 3 with minor front damage, was to adapt the small Tesla for a roll-cage, high-lift suspension and then fit it with a heavy-duty winch – the kind of kit you normally find on a hard-core 4×4.
The reason they started with pre-crashed Model 3 was to both save money and 'not ruin' a perfectly good Tesla.
Luckily the non-running Model 3 bought by the pair was saveable and up and running and driving in no time, thanks to Rich Rebuilds who has become something of a Tesla whisperer in the EV community.
From then on, it's fair to say both YouTubers faced obstacle after obstacle that included having to downsize the wheels they had planned to use after it became clear the tyres would foul the Model 3's sills.
Grind Hard then got busy with the fabrication in an attempt to reduce the front overhang, relocate the radiators and add plenty of underbody armour to ensure it could cope with a life of rock crawling.
Deleting the standard headlamps for a set of LEDs and inexplicably carving a hole within the bonnet completed the first stage of the conversion.
It was then time to test the fruit of their labours on nearby tracks where, ironically, considering the big wheels and high-lift kit the Model 3 still ran out of ground clearance but all the mods still proved their worth and, importantly, not once did it get stuck.
Perhaps more promising is Grind Hard and Rich Rebuilds have even bigger, more radical plans for their off-road Tesla, so stay tuned.
Keyword: Watch a Tesla Model 3 go off-road on purpose