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The Story of Kevin Erickson’s 1972 Plymouth “Electrolite”, a Tesla Swap Done Right

As controversial and downright blasphemous as this form of customization might be to some of us, electrifying muscle cars is a growing trend that we have to get used to. Luckly, builds like Kevin Erickson’s flawless Plymouth Electrolite will make it easier for us to adapt.
Project Electrolite 12 photos
Photo: Holley
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For older enthusiasts, the Dukes of Hazzard TV show was the spark that ignited a lifelong passion for muscle cars. While most fell in love with the 1969 Dodge Charger driven by the Duke boys, some where captivated by Daisy Duke’s car. In the first five episodes of the first season, it was a yellow 1974 Plymouth Road Runner, and for the rest of the season, it was replaced by a similarly-painted 1971 Plymouth Satellite. If you’re not a muscle car fan, you should know that the Road Runner was based on the Satellite, so the two cars used in the show were nearly identical.

One of the kids who stood in front of the TV with their jaw dropped to the floor at the sight of Daisy’s ride was Kevin Erickson of Denver, Colorado. That car triggered his love for Mopar B-bodies, and although he ended up owning a 1969 Dodge Dart which he continuously customized in the years that followed, the third-generation Satellite coupe always held a special place in his heart.

A few years ago, he found one on Craigslist and decided it was time for a new project car. The 1972 Satellite’s previous owner intended to restore it but only managed to work on the body and give it a fresh coat of paint, so it was perfect for what Kevin had in store. No, electrifying it had never crossed his mind at that point. The plan was to power it with a twin-turbo Gen III HEMI, and he went as far as buying a wrecked truck, stripped its engine, and preparing it for the Plymouth.

Project Electrolite
Photo: Holley
However, one day the insane idea of dumping the HEMI in favor of a Tesla powertrain began to seep into his mind. As a lifelong Mopar fanatic, he was familiar with conventional ICE customizations and engine swaps, having worked on numerous muscle cars since his teenage days, but an EV conversion was uncharted territory.

Realizing that the engineering challenge was too difficult to tackle by himself, but adamant about going through with it, Kevin contacted California-based Stealth EV, a company that specializes in such conversions. The idea was simple, yet difficult to implement: take a Tesla powertrain and fit it inside the Satellite, but retain the car’s original rear-wheel-drive.

Getting the right components straight from Tesla was out of the question for obvious reasons, but the Stealth EV team helped him source a rear drive motor and the entire subframe assembly from a wrecked Model S. All other necessary components followed and when his garage was overflowing with EV hardware, the actual assembly began. Kevin documented the entire project dubbed Electrolite, and you can watch it taking shape on his YouTube channel.

Project Electrolite
Photo: Holley
Arguably the coolest thing about this build is that everything bolts on to the original body, which didn’t receive any drastic modifications. This was done as a sort of a failsafe, in case he wanted to give up on the EV conversion and revert to the old plan of fitting a modern HEMI inside the Plymouth’s engine bay.

The complete Tesla powertrain and its subframe were mounted in place of the muscle car’s original rear axle and subframe. Everting seemed to fit together well, except for the factory Tesla struts which posed the first big problem. To go around this issue, a custom push-rod suspension system was developed, and fine-tuned to support the added weight of all the electric hardware.

To power the electric motor, the team managed to get a hold of a 100-kWh pack. While the Model S was designed to house the cells inside the chassis for optimum weight distribution, this layout was out of the question with the old Plymouth unibody which would have required extensive modifications.

Project Electrolite
Photo: Holley
The problem was ingeniously solved by installing ten of the sixteen battery modules inside the engine bay, and the remaining six in the trunk. This gave the 4,350-pound (1,973 kg) car a weight distribution of 45/55 front-to-rear. To counter the weight difference between the original V8 and the front-mounted batteries, the muscle car got a pair of QA1 coilovers with custom springs. Stopping power came courtesy of Wilwood calipers hugging drilled and slotted rotors in the front while for the rear, the original Tesla Model S brakes were retained.

Like I mentioned earlier, Tesla-swapping a classic muscle car is not everyone’s coup of tea. Personally, I was never fond of such builds, but the fact that Kevin flawlessly integrated the electric hardware without drastic modifications to the exterior made me fall in love with this car, as much as I hate to admit it. With the exception of the LED headlights, the car looks exactly like a meticulously restored 1973 Satellite. Even the interior is mostly stock, with only a couple of tablets fitted in place of the original gauges and a Momo steering wheel hinting at the true nature of this electrified beast. As a nod to his childhood hero car, the Dukes of Hazard fan installed an original Road Runner horn that was hooked up to the car’s new electrical system.

Capable of around 600 hp and 250 miles (402 km) of range, Project Electrollite was completed in the summer of 2021, after about a year and half of grueling work. A few months later, it was taken to the drag strip at the first edition of the Holley High Voltage where it consistently laid down 12-second runs. The organizers interviewed Kevin and put together an awesome video that you can watch below.

Even if it lost its distinctive V8 growl, this 1972 Satellite's muscle car soul is still there, and even if you don’t like EV conversions, it’s hard not to admire this fantastic build.

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About the author: Vlad Radu
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Vlad's first car was custom coach built: an exotic he made out of wood, cardboard and a borrowed steering wheel at the age of five. Combining his previous experience in writing and car dealership years, his articles focus in depth on special cars of past and present times.
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