Rich Benoit’s gospel has made new disciples. Such as Kade Vallace from the Kader YouTube channel. This boy apparently recovers salvaged cars and resells them for a profit. He decided to do that with a Tesla Model 3, and his experience with the car so far tells us more about the EV than about recovering it. Remember that battery buffer story? This salvaged EV seems to deny it, but not if you dig a little deeper.

Sadly, the video and the description do not clarify a lot of aspects that would enrich this story. When did Vallace buy this Model 3? Where? How much did he pay for it? We searched his YouTube channel and found the video in which he receives the car from shipping. It is so connected to the main one we thought it was a good idea to publish it as well.

This other video makes us understand a little better how everything happened. It was necessary to jump the 12V battery to open the frunk, unlock the car, and unload it from the semi-truck that delivered it. Perhaps this is the explanation for the buffer not to help, but we will get there at the right time.

After unloading his salvaged Model 3 Long Range, Vallace searched on Google for the closest charging station. He discovered one 1.7 miles away and drove there only to find out there were no charging points at that place. To make matters worse, the car stopped working altogether.

Tesla Model 3 charging

Vallace made sure he found a charging spot, jumped the 12V battery to load his Tesla on another trailer and hitched it there. After jumping the 12V battery again, the car started working and almost made it to the parking spot where the charger was. 

After the charging process started, the car locked, and another 12V jump followed to fix that. At this point, Vallace realized the 12V battery was probably causing all this and decided to replace it. That’s what sorted things out.

NoCo 1000 Amp 12V Jumpstarter Lithium Battery

Whenever he jumped the 12V battery, his car would work despite showing it had no charge on the battery pack. Vallace even wonders how that is possible: probably because of the buffer. But he is clearly getting to know the technology and the company. We wonder why he didn't take the car to a Supercharging station in Salt Lake City, for example. It would drastically reduce his charging time. 

The video conclusion is that the Tesla will not work correctly – not even charge – with no juice in its 12V battery. The buffer may be there, but we have no idea about how much it would allow this salvaged Tesla to run. If anyone discovers how big is this buffer, please let us know in the comments below.

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