Forget Teslas: Converting vintage muscle cars into electric vehicles is a thing now

Despite being almost silent, the classic American muscle car isn’t broken. It’s electric.

Erickson is among a small but growing group of tinkerers, racers, engineers and entrepreneurs across the country who are converting classic cars and trucks into greener and often much faster electric vehicles.

Despite the ridicule of some purists about converted cars resembling golf carts or remote control cars, electric powertrain conversions are becoming more mainstream as battery technology advances and the world turns to clean energy to combat climate change.

“RC cars are fast, that’s really a compliment,” said Erickson, whose renamed “Electrollite” accelerates to 0-60 mph (0-97 km/h) in three seconds and has a top speed of about 155 mph (249 km/h). h) reached. It also invites curious looks at public charging stations, which are becoming more common across the country.

In late 2019, Erickson, a cargo pilot who lives in suburban Denver, bought the car for $6,500. He then embarked on a year-and-a-half project to convert the car into a 636 hp (475 kW) electric vehicle, using battery packs, a motor and the entire rear subframe from a crashed Tesla Model S.

“It was my way of taking the car I like — my favorite body — and then taking the modern technology and performance and mixing them together,” said Erickson, who has poured about $60,000 into the project.

Jonathan Klinger, vice president of auto culture at Hagerty, an insurance company and automotive lifestyle brand specializing in collectible vehicles, said converting classic cars to electric vehicles is “definitely a trend,” although research on practice is limited.

In May, the Michigan-based company conducted a web-based survey of approximately 25,000 self-proclaimed car enthusiasts in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. About 1% had either partially or fully converted their classic vehicle to some form of electrified powertrain.

Respondents’ top three reasons for converting their vehicles were faster acceleration and improved performance, a fun and challenging project, and environmental and emissions concerns. Around 25% of those surveyed stated that they support the partial or complete conversion of classic vehicles to electric vehicles.

“Electric vehicles deliver pretty amazing performance just by the way their mechanics work,” Klinger said. So it’s not surprising to him that a small percentage of people converting classic cars into electric vehicles are interested in improving performance. He compared the current trend to the hot rod movement of the 1950s.

But Klinger, who owns several classic cars, said he doesn’t think electric motors will replace all internal combustion engines — especially when you consider historically significant vehicles.

“There’s something satisfying about having a carbureted classic car,” he said, because it’s the same as new. Some enthusiasts want to keep the sound and roar of the original engines of older cars.

Other barriers to car conversion include the knowledge required to delve into such a complicated project, safety concerns when tinkering with high voltage components, parts availability and the time it takes to make positive environmental impacts to achieve. Since classic vehicles are driven an average of less than 1,500 miles (2,414 kilometers) per year, it takes longer to offset the initial carbon footprint of manufacturing the batteries, Klinger said.

And then there’s the price.

Sean Moudry, co-owner of Inspire EV, a small conversion shop in suburban Denver, recently converted a 1965 Ford Mustang that was destined for the landfill. The year-and-a-half project cost more than $100,000 and uncovered several other obstacles that underscore why conversions are not “plug-and-play” endeavors.

Attempting to pack enough power into the pony car to “burn the tires out” on a drag strip, Moudry and his partners replaced the underpowered six-cylinder petrol engine with one from a crashed Tesla Model S. They also installed 16 Tesla battery packs a total weight of about 800 pounds (363 kilograms).

Most classic vehicles, including the Mustang, weren’t designed to handle that much weight – or the increased power that comes with a powerful electric motor. So the team had to improve the car’s suspension, steering, driveshaft and brakes.

The result is a Frankenstein-esque vehicle that incorporates a rear axle from a Ford F-150 pickup and rotors from a Dodge Durango SUV, as well as disc brakes and sturdier coilover dampers front and rear.

Although Ford and General Motors have or plan to have standalone electric “box” engines that will be marketed to classic vehicle owners, Moudry says it’s still not realistic that a casual auto hobbyist would have the resources to take on such a complicated project. Because of this, he believes it will be a while before EV conversions become mainstream.

“I think it will take 20 years,” he said. “It’s going to be 20 years before you go to a car show, and 50 to 60% of the cars are running some variant of an electric motor.”

But that reality could be here sooner than expected, according to Mike Spagnola, president and CEO of the Specialty Equipment Market Association, a trade group focused on aftermarket vehicle parts.

He said that during this fall’s annual SEMA show in Las Vegas, about 21,000 square feet (1,951 square meters) of convention space was dedicated to electric vehicles and their parts. That was more than just 2,500 square feet (232 square meters) at the 2021 show.

Companies are developing universal parts as well as lighter, smaller and more powerful battery packs. They also develop wiring components that are easier to install and countless other innovations. Some even build vehicle frames with the electric motor, batteries and components already installed. Buyers can simply install the body of a classic vehicle on the platform.

“The early adopters of this would take a crashed Tesla and pull the motor and the wiring harnesses and batteries and all that out of the vehicle and figure out a way to plug it into the vehicle that they wanted to build,” Spagnola said. “But today many manufacturers are starting to make components. … We are very happy about it.”