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Giovane Turatti, a resident of Araranguá in Santa Catarina, repaired the battery of a Tesla Model X that experts considered unrepairable in Brazil, avoiding a loss of R$ 150 thousand. The industrial electrician with 26 years of experience had already built a handmade electric car using reused notebook batteries and video game control. Now, the demand for his services is skyrocketing.
The specialist who performed an unprecedented repair on a Tesla in Brazil is not an engineer graduated from an elite university nor an employee of a multinational automaker. Giovane Turatti is an industrial electrician from Araranguá, in southern Santa Catarina, with 26 years of practical experience accumulated from repairing equipment, studying batteries, and building projects that others would consider impossible. When the battery of a Tesla Model X belonging to businessman Alexandre Brullinger, known as “Xandão,” was damaged, the only solutions presented were to import a new battery or send the vehicle abroad, options that would cost around R$ 150 thousand. Turatti accepted the challenge, opened the module, identified the compromised cells, and performed individual replacements, solving the problem for a fraction of the cost.
The repair on the Tesla brought Turatti national attention, but those who know his journey were not surprised. Before working on a Tesla, he had already assembled an electric car from a Cherokee model using reused notebook batteries, a functional vehicle that featured a detail summarizing the creator’s personality: it could be controlled with a video game controller. “If it’s a normal project, it seems like there’s no fun. It has to be something challenging,” summarizes Turatti, who turned the need to occupy his mind after leaving the industry into a career in automotive innovation that no one planned.
The repair on the Tesla that no one in Brazil knew how to do
The case that made Turatti known involved the repair of a battery from a Tesla Model X, one of the most sophisticated electric vehicles on the market. When the battery was damaged, workshops and specialists consulted in Brazil said that the repair was unfeasible in the country, and the alternatives were limited to importing a new module or shipping the car abroad. The estimated cost of either of these options was around R$ 150 thousand, a loss that the owner wanted to avoid.
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Turatti approached the problem with the mindset of someone who has spent decades solving failures in industrial equipment. He opened the battery module of the Tesla, individually identified the compromised cells, and replaced them one by one, a procedure that requires deep knowledge of lithium battery chemistry, precision soldering, and the architecture of the power modules that power electric vehicles. The result was a Tesla functioning again at a much lower cost than a complete replacement, and an electrician from Araranguá who proved that practical expertise can solve what formal diplomas could not.
The electric car with notebook batteries and video game control
According to information from the portal ndmais, before making headlines for fixing a Tesla, Turatti had already accumulated projects that challenge the conventional. He built an electric car from a Cherokee model, using repurposed notebook batteries as a power source, demonstrating that creativity and technical knowledge can transform scrap into a functional vehicle. The project did not use new high-cost components, but rather materials that most people would discard without a second thought.
The most surprising detail of Turatti’s electric car is the video game control system. The vehicle could be operated with a console controller, a functionality that has no immediate practical application, but demonstrates mastery over electronic control systems that are the basis of the operation of any modern electric vehicle, including the Tesla he would go on to repair years later. For Turatti, each project is a school: “I study what I need. If a new technology appears, I go after it and learn it.”
The 26-year journey that prepared Turatti to fix a Tesla
Turatti’s ability to open a Tesla battery and replace individual cells did not come out of nowhere. Originally from Joinville and raised in Araranguá, he started working as a teenager and accumulated about 26 years of experience as an industrial electrician, with training in electromechanics and various technical courses. Over more than two decades in the industry, he dealt with complex electrical systems that require precision and deep knowledge of circuits, batteries, and electronic components.
The industry’s exit was involuntary, but transformative. “I lived under pressure all the time. When I stopped, I felt a great anxiety and needed to create something to occupy my mind”, says Turatti. It was during this transition period that he began to invest in his own projects and delve into batteries, a field that would become his specialty. The experience accumulated in the industry, combined with the creative freedom of working for himself, created the conditions for him to do what no one else in Brazil could when Tesla showed up with the damaged battery.
What Turatti does besides fixing the Tesla
Currently, Turatti works in the development and maintenance of technological equipment, with a primary focus on drones and batteries for different applications. His area of expertise covers everything from electric vehicles to agricultural equipment, including any device that relies on batteries to function. “Everything that involves batteries is my area. If I need to build one from scratch, I can do it,” he asserts with the confidence of someone who has proven what he says.
Turatti was also connected to the technological incubator in Araranguá, where he developed projects and used the space as a showcase for his creations. After the repair on the Tesla, the demand for services increased significantly, especially for repairs on electric vehicles and custom projects. “I spent my whole life doing maintenance, and suddenly, one job gains all this visibility. It’s rewarding,” he says, acknowledging that the Tesla case was the catalyst that transformed decades of silent experience into public recognition.
Turatti’s plans after the repair that put him on the map
Even with the growing demand, Turatti remains focused on innovation and is already thinking about the next steps. Among his goals is to develop his own products and expand accessible technological solutions that can be marketed on a larger scale. “The dream is to create something that goes to market and truly grows,” he envisions, demonstrating that the repair on the Tesla was a turning point, not a final destination.
The story of Turatti is that of a professional who transformed practical experience into the ability to solve problems that specialists with much greater resources could not. In a country where the maintenance of electric vehicles like the Tesla still depends on importing parts and sending them abroad, an electrician from Araranguá with laptop batteries and a video game controller proved that the most valuable knowledge does not always come with a diploma; sometimes it comes with 26 years of hands-on experience and the courage to open what no one else dared to open.
A person from Santa Catarina fixed a Tesla that no one in Brazil knew how to repair and had already built an electric car controlled by a video game. Do you know someone with this kind of practical talent? Do you think Brazil needs more professionals like this? Share in the comments.
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