Photo: Electric Classic Cars UK
The Porsche 914 is not a Volkswagen Beetle, at least not entirely. There were a fair amount of VW engines and other parts underneath the eloquent sports car body. Still, compared to the 911 of the day, the 914 is often the butt of people's unsolicited jokes. Even so, there's a thriving aftermarket for this car. Despite all the quips and jeers levied at it.
Does removing the offending air-cooled Volkswagen engine from the equation and replacing it with an electric drivetrain known to be awesome, no matter the scenario, solve the problem? That's exactly what Electric Classic Cars in the Welsh town of Newton, United Kingdom, have done with this Porsche 914 of an unspecified model year.
In its native form, the largest engine ever found in a 914 was a two-liter, air-cooled version of the Porsche six-cylinder boxer engine making about 110 horsepower. With its new Tesla rear-wheel small drive unit from the high-efficiency variant of the Model S and Model X, you can more or less triple that figure to 300 screaming horsepower. The battery packs are mounted at the front and rear of the vehicle for better weight distribution.
With 52 kWh to play with from the front and rear battery units, what was once a slow, noisy, but no less sprightly little car now has the power-to-weight ratio that'd make modern sports cars blush. It'd be admirable enough if the exterior of this car was well sorted, but the interior was barren and stripped down.
But with leather-wrapped bucket seats and a stylish-looking custom dashboard with two display screens on offer, there's a level of quality on offer from this Welsh custom EV conversion that equivalent internal combustion swaps don't always bring to the table. One can only suppose the danger of being zapped by sensitive EV hardware makes it so true professionals even bother trying.
In its native form, the largest engine ever found in a 914 was a two-liter, air-cooled version of the Porsche six-cylinder boxer engine making about 110 horsepower. With its new Tesla rear-wheel small drive unit from the high-efficiency variant of the Model S and Model X, you can more or less triple that figure to 300 screaming horsepower. The battery packs are mounted at the front and rear of the vehicle for better weight distribution.
With 52 kWh to play with from the front and rear battery units, what was once a slow, noisy, but no less sprightly little car now has the power-to-weight ratio that'd make modern sports cars blush. It'd be admirable enough if the exterior of this car was well sorted, but the interior was barren and stripped down.
But with leather-wrapped bucket seats and a stylish-looking custom dashboard with two display screens on offer, there's a level of quality on offer from this Welsh custom EV conversion that equivalent internal combustion swaps don't always bring to the table. One can only suppose the danger of being zapped by sensitive EV hardware makes it so true professionals even bother trying.
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