Zelectric Motors and EV West have a bold vision for the electric future of classic cars. Not content to let the vintage cars they love age themselves into obsolescence, they decided to create a vintage 1968 Porsche 912 running an eco-friendly Tesla electric vehicle (EV) powertrain.
The brainchild of their company’s respective founders, Americans David Bernado and Michael Bream – the project is the latest to remind us that there really is such a thing as aging gracefully.
The EV engine used in the vintage Porsche 912 conversion project is from a Tesla Model S P85. Their final creation is now capable of a certified monstrous 550-horsepower with 4,500 pound-feet of torque.
Eco Friendly Tesla, Inc. Hardware Makes it Happen
The vintage 1968 Porsche 912 now uses Tesla’s electric motor, inverter, rear differential, and throttle pedal. It doesn’t use a Tesla battery though. Instead, a smaller 32kWh pack from LG Chem is utilized. To get the mod to work and balance the weight of the car sufficiently, the battery had to be split into two 16kWh pieces.
EV West Founder Michael Bream describes the sweat equity poured into his electrified Porsche 912:“[It was] a little bit of a challenge, engineering-wise because the car is much smaller than the cars that we’re pulling the components out of. A Tesla drive unit comes out of a 5,500-pound car, and we’re trying to shoehorn into about a 2,300-pound car. So there’s a lot of engineering challenges there.”
As cool as this project sounds, one of the absolute best things to come out of it is the news that Zelectric Motors and EV West has decided to produce conversion kits so that electric vehicle hobbyists can modify their own vintage Porsches.
Unfortunately, not all vintage car enthusiasts are happy about this emerging trend of electrifying classic cars.
“They look at it and consider it — and many have a point — a desecration of whatever vehicle it is. Because you’re taking a vehicle they’re not making anymore, and you’re turning it into something it’s not and was never meant to be. The whole idea of getting a classic car is getting an authentic motoring experience. And part of that authentic motoring experience is the rev of the engine,” said Leslie Kendall of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.
Porsche is Committed to Sustainability
The 2020 Porsche Taycan, the company’s first modern all-electric vehicle recently debuted at a triple demo run series of international events. The Taycan has been attracting attention around the world at to date, Porsche has secured more than 30,000 deposits from buyers interested in owning the company’s first EV.
Porsche has also created a project called Porsche Impact which allows its customers to off-set their carbon footprints by targeting donations to environmental projects around the world. The company also advises its customers how to best recycle their old automotive batteries and vehicles in the most environmentally sustainable ways.
Source: The Verge