• A YouTuber built a custom Tesla-powered mini jet boat.
• The project took three years to complete.
• Everything was built from the ground up, with a souped-up Model S motor sending over 350 hp to the pump-jet.

Electric boats are very slowly rising in popularity, and that’s great for the companies that make them and for the people who have enough money to buy a finished product with all the bells and whistles.

However, for someone who wants a small, very powerful, and very fast electric jet boat, there aren’t any real options out there. The people behind the Prop Department YouTube channel figured that out on their own, but instead of lamenting, they started building the mini jet boat of their dreams themselves.

We’re talking about a completely custom job, with a hand-made hull and battery enclosures, as well as a custom electric motor, controller, and inverter. The project started three years ago, and the mini boat was initially powered by a Tesla Model 3 motor that made roughly 280 horsepower.

That’s plenty for most people, but not for these guys. So they upgraded to a custom-tuned Tesla Model S motor that’s good for over 350 hp. Then, two of the four battery modules were swapped with fresh ones because the original setup had a couple of dead cells that cut all power output when pushing the throttle a little too far.

An aftermarket BMS was used, and each custom module is liquid-cooled, just like on the original Tesla pack. A custom stub shaft that was fitted directly to the output shaft of the motor, eliminating the need for the original transmission and increasing the final RPM.

Tying everything together is an aftermarket controller board for the motor inverter, which enables the tinkerers to control the drive unit however they want without being limited by Tesla’s safety guards.

There’s a J1772 charge port, so no fast charging here, but it’s still such an impressive project that was three years in the making, and there’s still a lot of small things to finish. And, more importantly, it’s a hoot to drive, with more than enough power for such a small hull.

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