Jerry's SEMA Cybertruck Has a Secret Power System

If you own a Cybertruck and you’ve ever tried camping or overlanding with it, you know the 12-hour power feed problem. You plug in a fridge, run it off the truck’s outlets, and if you forget to reset the timer before midnight, your food is warm by morning. Jerry didn’t just complain about it. He built around it.

I ran into Jerry at SEMA 2025, and his orange Cybertruck is something else. On the outside, it’s an Empire Customs wrap, designed by the Cyber Owners team and executed by Dave and Natasha over at Empire Wraps, with a custom Skypod rooftop rack from Burkut Manufacturing. The whole build has a cohesive visual identity that makes it stand out even in a sea of custom rigs at SEMA. But the real story is what’s under the hood. Or more accurately, in the frunk.

A Dedicated 12V System Powered by Optima Lithium

The vault is now home to two Optima Lithium Deep Cycle 150Ah batteries running in parallel, mounted in a custom display enclosure. They’re orange, obviously, and brand new at the time of SEMA. The whole reason Jerry went this route is that his build is covered in 12V accessories: a winch, multiple light bars, rooftop lights, auxiliary bumper lights. Running all of that through the Cybertruck’s onboard converter would be a mess. So he pulled it all off the stock 12V system entirely and gave it its own dedicated source.

Here’s where it gets interesting. Those two batteries add up to roughly 3.5kWh of usable energy. That’s enough to give back about 10 miles worth of range to the Cybertruck’s main pack in an actual emergency. The kind where you’ve crept to 1% on a long highway stretch and need just enough to make the charger. Jerry still needs to finalize that hookup, but the infrastructure is there.

And the 12-hour timeout? Gone. Every 12V fridge on the truck now runs off the Optima batteries, not the screen-controlled outlets. No more midnight resets. The batteries are rated for boats and RVs running off-grid for days. They’ll outlast the show, the camping trip, or whatever else Jerry throws at them. His backup plan for recharging them is to connect directly to the inverter and charge in about 30 minutes.

The Wrap, the Lights, and the Little Details

The wrap is by Empire Customs, and I’ll be honest, it works. Orange base, black accents, and NovSight Halo Pro lights across every bumper and the roof rack. The light pattern is what ties the whole aesthetic together. Jerry specifically mentioned he loved the Halo wraps from Empire because they complemented the NovSight Halo Lights. 8-inch Halo Pros out front, 3-inch units on the sides, all with dynamics.

He would’ve lit the whole thing up for me right then if he hadn’t left the controller at the hotel. Classic SEMA moment.

Off-Road Gear That Actually Makes Sense

Beyond the power setup, Jerry has been refining this truck for real off-road use. He swapped out an 80-pound 3-ton floor jack for an ARV jack that weighs 32 to 36 pounds, rated to 4,400 lbs, and designed to work with the Cybertruck’s Terrestrial Package lifting points. The Terrestrial Package itself is the Tesla-branded system, but Jerry added the Abstract Ocean top piece, which he strongly recommends. The Abstract Ocean Terrestrial Package improves usability and he’s added their fender flares across most of the body too.

The rear is where the off-grid setup really comes together. The bed has a two-fridge setup: an Alpicool portable fridge inside and another up front in the frunk, plus a microwave. The fridges run 12V directly off the Optima batteries. The microwave is the one exception: still on 110V through the inverter. Everything else is 12V.

Why This Build Matters

Jerry’s Cybertruck is a good example of what happens when you actually use one for its intended purpose and build around its real-world limitations instead of just posting pretty photos. The 12-hour power cutoff is a genuine friction point for anyone using the truck as a mobile overlanding rig. His solution is a fully independent 12V battery system that’s clean, practical, and adds an emergency range buffer on top of it.

I’ve covered custom Cybertruck builds at the Anaheim Hills Tesla event and a custom solar build tour on my own truck, but this one is a cut above in terms of off-grid intent. Jerry’s not building for the show floor. He’s building for what comes after.

Follow him on Instagram at @cyberoffroad_ to see where this truck ends up next.

If you’re picking up your own Cybertruck and want to support the channel, use my Tesla referral link. And if you’re building out a portable power setup, the Anker Solix C1000 is what I keep in the R1S on camping runs.