Alpicool TSL35: A 35L Fridge Made for the Model Y Trunk

Open the trunk floor and there’s the fridge. The cargo space on top stays untouched.

Direct Answer & TL;DR

I bought the Alpicool TSL35, a 35L fridge built to fit the Model Y’s under-trunk compartment exactly. It slid in without a gap on my 2022 US-built Model Y. I bought it as a direct import from China for about ₩165,000 (~$120), and it beats the Alpicool K25 on capacity while using zero cargo space up top. Two catches: the bundled power cord had a plug that doesn’t fit Korean outlets, and the fridge shuts off if camp power is too weak. Fixes for both below.

Camping with a soft cooler

I’d been camping without a fridge. Just a soft cooler. Cold drinks, food kept chilled — neither was easy. After a few 2-night, 3-day trips, it was clear a real camping fridge would earn its keep.

The problem was space. The Model Y is an SUV, so you’d expect a deep trunk. In practice it’s coupe-shaped — the roofline drops toward the back — so less camping gear fits than you’d think. Every trip became a packing puzzle.

First candidate: the Alpicool K25

The first one I looked at was the Alpicool K25. A 25L compressor fridge, and I’d read it fits neatly into the Model Y’s under-trunk compartment. Under-trunk means it doesn’t eat into the cargo space above it. That sold me.

Right around the time I’d decided to buy the K25, I found out there was a fridge made specifically for the Model Y: the Alpicool TSL35. The name alone looks like a Tesla part. It’s not — Alpicool makes it too.

K25 vs. TSL35, by the numbers

Danawa is a Korean price-comparison site — it aggregates listings across sellers so you can see the lowest going price for a given product.

At Alpicool’s official store, the TSL35 lists for $499.99, sale price $449.99. The price I found at a Korean shopping site was nothing like that.

Screenshot from the evening of May 19, 2026. Coupon price ₩164,590 (~$120), duties included, via direct import.

That’s well under the official store’s sale price. I never confirmed why it was so much cheaper. My guess: it wasn’t selling well, so the price got cut. It’s cheaper than the K25, 10L bigger, and it’s built specifically for the trunk. It looked like the better pick. I paid the same day I took that screenshot.

Installation: drop it in, done

It arrived, I put it in the under-trunk compartment. Fit exactly. My car is a 2022 US-built Model Y.

At first, the trunk floor panel sat slightly raised. I loaded camping gear on top of it. The panel settled flush.

The power cord didn’t fit Korean outlets

To use it at a campsite, I needed to plug it into an outlet. This is where I hit a snag. Alpicool’s official store says the TSL35 ships with only a 12V/24V DC cord — no AC cord, no AC adapter. What I got in the box included an AC/DC adapter. Contents seem to vary by seller.

Input rated 100–240V. The adapter itself works fine on Korea’s 220V without modification.

The adapter’s input is rated 100–240V, so it works on Korea’s 220V mains without any conversion. The problem was the figure-8 cord that plugs into the adapter. Its wall end was an 11-shaped plug — two flat, parallel pins. This is commonly called the “US-style” plug (Type A), but China uses it too. Since this was a direct import from China, it looks like they just shipped the plug they normally ship.

The adapter was universal-voltage. The cord that came with it had a foreign passport.

A plug adapter (“돼지코” — literally “pig’s nose,” Korea’s slang for a travel plug adapter) fixes this. But carrying one every camping trip got old. So I bought a separate figure-8 cord with a Korean KS two-pin plug on the end.

C7 figure-8 connector to KS two-pin plug, rated 250V 2.5A. Swap out just the cord on the adapter side and you’re set.

To summarize:

Using it at the campsite

On camping days, I load it up with food and ice and stow it in the under-trunk compartment for the drive. At the campsite, I pull it out, set it inside the tent, and plug it into camp power. Getting it in and out feels about the same as any cooler. Nothing special there.

What changed was the drinks. I can pull a cold drink out of a fridge at a campsite now. My family loved it. Food and ice held up well too.

The night it shut off

One night the fridge started beeping. It shut off, then came back on. Here’s what was running at the time: the rice cooker was going, the electric blanket was on, and the fridge was running. Rice cooker, electric blanket, fridge — all three at once, and the fridge was the first to give out.

The cause was the campsite’s power capacity. Rated capacity varies site to site, and a weak one just didn’t have enough headroom. In my experience, the fridge seems to draw a lot of power while it’s actively cooling down. If the rice cooker and blanket happen to spike at the same moment, it can’t keep up. At a site with thin power capacity, it might be better to switch off something else while the rice cooker is running.

Downside: heat buildup on the road

The TSL35 can run off the car’s 12V outlet while driving. But a complaint shows up again and again in reviews: sitting inside the under-trunk compartment, heat doesn’t vent well. Some owners say they crack the trunk floor panel open while driving to help it breathe. I haven’t run into this myself — it’s something I read, not something I’ve experienced. Worth checking if you plan to run it for long stretches in summer.

Found out later: Tesla’s own frunk cooler

I learned this after buying. Tesla’s official shop sells a cooler built for the frunk (front trunk).

The official frunk cooler. It’s not an electric fridge — it relies on insulation, not power.

It’s priced at ₩350,000 (~$255), 40L, and weighs 10kg empty. Per Tesla’s description, high-performance insulation holds the temperature. It’s not a fridge you plug in.

If you want power, get the TSL35 — it’s an actual fridge. If you want no power involved, the official cooler is the insulated option. I’m satisfied with the TSL35.

🔗 References

• Alpicool TSL35 Car Fridge For Tesla Model Y — Alpicool official store — 35L, under 45dB, DC cord only included (no AC cord/adapter), list $499.99 / sale $449.99
• Alpicool TSL35 — Amazon UK — temperature range -20 to 20°C
• Alpicool K25 Portable Fridge specifications — Energian — 25L, -20 to 20°C, includes 12/24V DC + AC charger
• Alpicool K25 (smartphone-linked) — Danawa — Korea lowest price ₩225,590 (checked 2026-09-24)
• Plug and outlet type used in China — Wise — China uses Type A, C, and I; Type A has two flat, parallel pins
• Model Y/Y L Cooler — Tesla Shop — frunk-only, ₩350,000, 40L, 10kg, high-performance insulation
• Model Y 20-inch tire replacement