KISSIMMEE, Fla.—At the upper end of the automotive market, there exists the restomod. A portmanteau of restoration and modification, the restomod is usually a reimagining of a classic car, with a fit and finish far in excess of factory spec—and a price tag to match. It’s a less conventional alternative to spending six figures on a supercar and a great way to stand out from the crowd (or blend in, depending on how stealth you go). And nothing in the world of restomodding appeals to me as much as the electric conversion.
Some classic cars lend themselves to the electric restomod treatment better than others—like the gloss-white 1995 Range Rover Classic you see in the photos here. No one’s really going to miss its old Rover V8, originally originally an engine of Buick design as nerds will know. And while you could replace it with a modern V8 fresh out of a crate (as is the case for most of ECD Automotive’s restomods), doesn’t a Tesla drive motor and some Tesla lithium-ion sound a whole lot cooler?
It looks a lot cooler under the hood of the electric Range Rover, too. Instead of an oily engine bay, you find one of the two battery packs, nestled with ancillaries like the cooling system beneath a custom cover. The other pack is at the far end, where it takes up some (but not too much) space in the cargo area. In total, the batteries amount to 100 kWh, good for about 220 miles (350 km) of range. The packs feed a single 450 hp (335 kW) drive motor from a Tesla Model S, mounted roughly where the transmission used to be so they can drive the front and rear axles in a 50:50 torque split.
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