Buying an electric car is prohibitively expensive for many, which is why making your own garage-built EV is becoming increasingly popular.
Not all builds are worth a look, but there are projects, such as this custom Factory Five 818, that certainly are. The 818 is a cool little kit car that would warrant a look on its own (it's a unique model, not a replica of something else), but this particular one is especially noteworthy.
Instead of the Subaru powertrain the car is supposed to come with, this one has been fitted with the powertrain of a Tesla Model S P85D (it previously ran just the rear motor), so it has around 700 horsepower, yet it weighs around 1,100 kg (2,400 pounds). The Tesla with this powertrain hits 100 km/h from standstill in 3.3 seconds, so you can imagine how much faster this lightweight sports car is with the same output.
It has been tested and it can consistently run the quarter mile in the low 9s (its record is 8.95 seconds), and its benchmark sprint time is surely under the 3-second mark. Its top speed was also measured at 220 km/h (137 mph).
Power to the two motors is not provided from a Tesla battery pack, as that would have been way too big for this car’s small frame. Its creator opted to have it draw juice from a pair of Chevrolet Volt battery packs with a total of 32 kWh - they apparently bestow this car with a real world range of around 200 km (120 miles).
Another cool peculiarity of this project is that because it runs a custom controller for the electric motors, the driver can actually switch power to each axle on or off. In other words, the car can be run in front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, all at the tap of a screen - this apparently helps with warming each set of tires up individually before an acceleration run, but we’re sure more fun uses can be found for this feature.
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