One of the hottest trends in the auto hobby these days is upfitting older cars with an electric drivetrain. Gone is the smoke-belching, internal combustion motor, replaced with clean energy and huge horsepower. We’ve seen everything from Porsches to old trucks get the transformation, but we think the coolest EV swaps are pre-war vehicles. The guy who invented Simple Green cleaner is bringing his electrified pre-war roadster to Las Vegas and holding court at SEMA 2024

Simple Green Founder & CEO Bruce Fabrizio will showcase a deft blend of classic automotive design and modern electric technology: a fully restored and electrified 1936 Auburn Cord 810 Phaeton. Designed by legendary industrial designer Gordon Buehrig, the Cord is famous as the first American-made front-wheel-drive vehicle with independent front suspension. This old coffin-nosed beauty has been reimagined by reVolt Systems, based in Oceanside, California. This project not only preserves the provenance of the Cord but also highlights the potential of EV technology in classic car restoration.

The conversion will be conducted by Eddy Borysewics’ team at reVolt Systems.  These guys are expert artisans in high-output electric drive systems for classic cars and hot rods. In an added twist to the complexity of the conversion, the Cord will retain its front-wheel drive configuration. Eddy’s team is rethinking the ancient old ICE front-wheel drivetrain with cutting-edge Tesla components and the latest EV controllers. Power delivery will be managed via a touchscreen interface, and the vehicle will feature a 75 kW battery, offering an anticipated range of 150-200 miles.

While the goal isn’t to create a quarter-mile drag strip terror, the Cord will boast an impressive power output of 600 horsepower and a boatload of torque. Simple Green is documenting the entire electric conversion process from start to finish. The Cord has been fully restored to concours condition, with the internal combustion engine removed and ReVolt Systems having completed their engineering drawings.

Thanks to the original Cord’s front-wheel drive and Lycoming V-8, the entire front running gear can be removed like an aircraft assembly. One of Bruce’s primary goals was to preserve the car’s structure, allowing for a reversible conversion back to its original state with a few hundred hours of labor. Currently, “Green Flash” is on ReVolt System’s rack, with a completion date set just around the corner on the first of September 2024.

The converted 1936 Auburn Cord 810 Phaeton will debut at the Simple Green booth #12061 in the North Hall at the November 2024 Las Vegas SEMA Automotive Show. Simple Green will also showcase their lineup of safer cleaners and degreasers, capable of removing even the toughest grease and grime from engines, tools, parts, vehicle exteriors, and more

Let’s face it, pre-war cars have a dwindling audience as the people who remember them are fading away. Hell, post-war cars have a waning audience as well. Converting gas-powered classics makes them relevant for a younger crowd and keeps the art of the golden era of automobiles in front of the kids and new enthusiasts. In the case of this Cord, we like the idea that the conversion is reversible so the car can return to its as-built state.

We think that after the conversion, most folks wouldn’t dream of going back. Because of that, the EV conversion business will be one of the hottest in the aftermarket arena. Not only are there shops like reVolt that will do the heavy lifting, but there are many firms that will aggregate the electric motor, battery pack, and controller into a kit for DIYers. What do you think the hottest classic car for conversion will be at the dawn of the EV revolution? Let us know on our social media pages.

The post Green Flash: 1936 Cord Gets Tesla Transplant By reVolt first appeared on Revolt Systems.

This Isn’t Your Grandma’s ’65 Ford Mustang 

Photos By DAN CORONADO

No, sir, this is not your grandma’s ’Stang. This classic beauty has been given a jolt of electricity that will make gas-guzzling purists faint. Meet Eddy Borysewicz of ReVolt Systems in sunny Oceanside, California. This dude knows how to make old-school muscle go electric with a touch of wit and style.

When Eddy stumbled upon a pristine ’65 Mustang, he saw more than just a pretty car. He saw a canvas for his electric masterpieces, and he got to work gutting it.

ReVolt proves that electrifying classic muscle cars are no different than what hot rod builders were doing a generation ago.

The electric drivetrain was a collaboration with Legacy EV, which designed a custom battery pack with a little help from AVS Fabrication..

Revolution

Ah, the Ford Mustang. A classic, a beauty, a true American muscle car. But, as with anything, time marches on, and sometimes even the greatest of things need a little sprucing up. That’s where Eddy came in with a plan to give this steed a modern makeover fit for a new era.

First up on the list? Designing the ReVolt CR-43 “crate” motor capable of 450 kW/600 hp and 1,085 Nm/800 lb-ft torque. It can be used with factory LS mounts and connects to the existing driveshaft for instant torque. The core of the CR-43 is a refurbished Tesla Model S motor and a Torque Trends 1.9:1 reduction box, ensuring exhilaration and quick acceleration.

This beauty underwent a motor swap by the skilled hands at ReVolt Systems and AVS Fabrication, now powered by the 2021 Revolt Systems CR-43B with 450 kW and 600 Nm at the motor shaft and an impressive 1,200 Nm at the driveline

The came time to toss the old chassis system out the window (or, you know, somewhere more appropriate). With Eddy’s design for a brand spanking new drivetrain, complete with a battery pack the size of a small island, it only made sense to start fresh.

Enter the suspension experts at Roadster Shop with their SPEC Series chassis ready to take on the task. This bad boy boasts a rack-and-pinion front, rear 4-link, four-wheel double adjustable coilovers, custom Pro spindles and front sway bar from Roadster Shop, and an array of other suspension components, all with one goal in mind: giving the Mustang superior performance handling and ride quality that’ll make your grandma jealous.

But the ride quality isn’t the only thing Eddy set his sights on. No, sir. He also had his eye on some fresh wheels and tires. And boy, did he find a doozy: 18×8 in the front and 19×12 in the rear, Billet Specialties and Nitto tires, respectively, do just the trick to make this Mustang stand out in a sea of mundane vehicles.

Last but certainly not least, Eddy knew that with all the power he planned on bestowing upon the Mustang, stopping was just as important as going. And that’s why the braking system received a much-needed upgrade. Say hello to Baer’s 12-inch 4-piston calipers with regenerative braking, ready to ease this pony car to a screeching halt. Because let’s face it, who wants to be cruising down the highway only to realize they can’t stop? Not Eddy, that’s for sure.

Leaders of the Pack 

The electric drivetrain was a collaboration with Legacy EV, which designed a custom battery pack with a bit of help from AVS Fabrication for some bead-rolled metalwork under the hood and trunk lid.

If you thought a custom battery pack was just a simple addition to an electric drivetrain, you thought wrong, my friend. ReVolt Systems and Legacy EV have pulled out all the stops to create the ultimate prototype for their 1965 Mustang build.

The custom metalwork alone is a work of art, with bead-rolled panelling under the hood and throughout the interior, one-of-a-kind wheel tubs, bumpers, and an impressive roll cage. But it wasn’t just about looks, oh no. The team had to tackle the challenge of placing the batteries in just the right spot for optimal weight distribution. And when they finally got that sorted, they moved on to even more extensive fabrication jobs that elevated the Mustang to a whole new level.

Hot Dog Kustoms’ Pete “Hot Dog” Finlan put the finishing touches on the bodywork before the final paint job was applied, with a pearl white base and red accents.

components, from the sleek and comfortable seats to the cutting-edge AEM EV gauges and the sporty Sparco steering wheel. Don’t need A/C? Roll down the windows and feel the wind in your hair. The custom-painted dash is a work of art, and the iPad radio head unit is the cherry on top.

From the custom diffuser by AVS Fabrication to the custom carbon hood by Airtech Design, this Ford Mustang is a true head-turner. The LED 7-inch headlights are bright and bold, while the custom Revolt Systems LowPro 65 Billet aluminum taillights complete the sleek and stylish look.

This Mustang is more than just a pretty face; it’s a trailblazer in the EV restomod world. From showcasing at events like SEMA 2021 and local car shows to the countless hours and custom work that went into it, this Ford is sure to turn heads and leave a lasting impression.

And for those considering building a similar EV, the team has some words of wisdom: plan ahead, take your time and seek out the pros for good knowledge. This is a new and vastly different world compared to traditional gas engines, so keeping an open mind and prioritizing safety when working with high-voltage systems is essential.

So hold on tight, as ReVolt Systems and their talented partners are far from finished with their electric conversions journey. Instead, get ready to be wowed by their upcoming builds, just as sick as this clean-as-hell ’65 Mustang. And they’re doing it with a witty touch that’ll make even fuel fans smile.

The post Electrifying Classic: The 1965 Ford Mustang Reinvented first appeared on Revolt Systems.

The Revolt Crate Motor built by Revolt systems combines the best of modern electric vehicle technology with the simplicity of a bolt-in crate engine. The reVolt CR-43 is designed to mount in the engine bay of your existing car. It will connect directly to your drive shaft to provide instantaneous torque of the electric motor straight to the rear-end of your favorite classic car.

Motor Specifications: 

• Rated Power: 350-450 kW
• Torque: 800+ [lb-ft] at the yoke
• RPM: 8000 max at the yoke
• Current: 1000 Amps
• Weight: 300 Lbs
• Input Voltage: 275-400 Volts
• Length: 43″ Inches
• Width: 13.5″
• Height: 15”

Drivetrain Components (Fully assembled and tested)

• Tesla Model S motor core fully refurbished, includes new seals and bearings (sport or standard)
• Revolt System full motor assembly, includes motor mounts and coolant fittings
• Torque Trends 1.9:1 reduction box
• Inverter (sport or standard)
• High-voltage input ready for 400-volt DC
• Output yoke (driveline ready)

Electronics Package

1. MCU (Motor Control Unit) by EV-Controls
2. Illuminated drive selection switches: drive, neutral, and reverse
3. Throttle pedal with dual sensors
4. Full motor wiring harness (Does not include vehicle specific 12v systems)

The Revolt Crate Motor holds the Electric Land Speed record at 353 miles per hour. If you are looking for one of the fastest electric motors that the market has to offer, look no further than the reVolt CR-43.

The post Revolt CR-43: The Ultimate Electric Crate Motor for Classic Cars first appeared on Revolt Systems.

Matthew Deeley is hoping to debut at the 2024 Bonneville Speed Week an electric land-speed record motorcycle, developed in conjunction with California-based ReVolt Systems. The company specialises in producing high-output electric-drive systems for classic cars and hot rods.

The bike was originally built in 2009, by Kent Riches and Randy Nelson, and it set the first certified electric motorcycle record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. The duo went on to set nine speed records with the bike, the fastest being 206 mph, before it was retired around 2012 due to battery limitations. However, it was recently offered to Deeley so that he could fit it with newer, more powerful batteries.

The aim is to reclaim the Southern California Timing Association electric motorcycle record, currently 215.9 mph. Deeley reports that the bike needed extensive work to get it ready, including almost a complete rewiring due to salt corrosion affecting the vast majority of wires and connectors. The motorcycle was ready to run at the 2022 Bonneville Speed Week, but the event was cancelled due to poor weather.

Alas, the conditions at the 2023 Bonneville Speed Week were too wet to run in safely. Deeley also reports that in the same year, he took the bike to El Mirage dry lake so that he could get the licence status required to run the record speed. Alas, again, poor weather and track conditions, along with a (now resolved) electrical gremlin prevented the bike running at anywhere near full power.

Deeley says: “We’ve taken the bike up to 172 mph on a shakedown run and there’s no doubt in my mind that we have the power to go 230-plus mph when this year’s racing season comes around.”

The Deeley ReVolt bike has a UQM Powerphase 150 motor, modified for an output of 200 kW. Deeley explains that the normal application for this motor is a light- to medium-duty commercial vehicle or bus. As such, it has a peak torque of 480 lb-ft before modification. The battery uses 456 prismatic cells (4P, 114S) and the maximum output is 350 kW – more than 450 bhp.

The post Deeley ReVolt battery electric motorcycle powertrain first appeared on Revolt Systems.

What do you get when you convert a gas-guzzling muscle machine into an EV? A ride that “hauls more ass.”

Kevin Emr was bouncing from company to company as a product development engineer in Dallas when he got a call about a dream job he didn’t know he wanted. He had been a car enthusiast for as long as he could remember—the kind of boy who could identify any vehicle by the shape of its taillights, the kind of teenager who got his first job in a mechanic’s shop. The Houston native chose his college, the University of Texas at Arlington, because it offered a motorsports program, and imagined a career with a professional racing team. But the 2008 financial crisis sent motorsports into a slump right as he was graduating. He’d settled for building and racing sports cars on weekends.

Then came the call. It was from Bill Schofield, an executive with whom Emr (pronounced “Emmer”) had worked about ten years earlier, at a company that sold large-scale circuit breakers for power plants and other industrial customers. They hadn’t been particularly close—Schofield was twenty years older and the president of the company—but the two had bonded over their love of cars. Schofield explained to Emr that he had made a small fortune when the circuit breaker company was sold, and he had decided to retire early, at 57.

At an auction, Schofield had bought his teenage fantasy, a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro RS, one of the original muscle cars. It was Grotto Blue with a pristine white convertible top and a clean interior—not quite museum ready but close. Then he’d bought another classic Camaro, a white ’67 SS hardtop. There was only one problem: the cars were a nightmare to drive and maintain. They leaked coolant and transmission fluid and needed constant tune-ups. He kept a tow truck on speed dial. Schofield’s regular ride, a Porsche Taycan EV—and before that a Tesla Model S—accelerated faster, handled better, and didn’t break down.

“I’ve got a crazy idea,” he told Emr.

Less than two years after that fateful call, Emr sits in a small office off the showroom floor of a monster-truck-tuning shop on the Interstate 35E access road in Denton. The forty-year-old’s new job: president of E-Muscle Cars, a company he and Schofield launched to convert classic cars into electric vehicles. EVs were hardly Emr’s automotive specialty when Schofield called, but high-performance sports cars were. “I’m a gearhead, a hot-rodder,” he says, while his baby-blue polo shirt and tendency to lapse into long technical explanations betray his inner computer geek.

The engine bay of an electrified 1968 Chevrolet Camaro RS.
Photograph by Trevor Paulhus

Schofield had bought a few pieces of commercial real estate around North Texas with his windfall from the sale of the circuit breaker company—mostly gas stations and car washes that could generate steady cash flow. One was this showroom. He planned to store his new hot rods in the garage out back and use the office to do some business consulting. That plan got a little more complicated when he decided to let the existing tenant, Havok Truck Accessories, stick around, and more complicated still when he invited Emr to join him.

Schofield, who has the clenched-jaw energy and bravado of an NFL coach, now had a space where myriad motor trends converge. Posters for an annual spring break truck show the Havok guys put on called Rednecks With Paychecks adorn the showroom walls. In Emr’s office, his racing schedule hangs near a large portrait of the German-born Formula One legend Michael Schumacher. In the garage, an array of MAGA flags hangs over an area where two young mechanics peer into the back end of a 1965 royal blue Shelby Cobra with white Le Mans stripes. Between the rear wheels of this celebrated artifact of the golden age of internal combustion sits a cylindrical repurposed Tesla engine.

At first Schofield’s idea for the EV business was little more than a fun excuse to convert his collector cars and maybe do the same for a few of his friends. But in the fall of 2022, he and Emr visited the SEMA auto show in Las Vegas, the predominant exhibition for aftermarket car parts and hot rods, named for the Specialty Equipment Market Association. There they were motivated to pursue a much bigger opportunity. If they combined their professional skills—Emr’s electrical- and mechanical-engineering background and Schofield’s business acumen—they could create 3D computer–aided design models, build a reliable supply chain, and perfect the process of converting a handful of popular classic cars, ones with a proven market among collectors.

Inside the E-Muscle Cars garage.
Photograph by Trevor Paulhus

Today, in a corner of the showroom just outside the two men’s adjacent offices, sits Schofield’s ’68 Camaro, its hood open and most of the original parts replaced, awaiting its batteries. In the engine bay of an EV, there are no belts, and the various gears and other moving parts are contained within the compact electrical motor—but the batteries occupy even more space than those modifications free up. In the Camaro, about two thirds of the battery array will sit in the rear and another third up front.

Once it hits the road, Emr says, this car will have double the horsepower and double the torque of its original configuration as a gas burner. That means it will accelerate from 0 to 60 in about three seconds, easily twice as quickly as it used to, and will have a top speed of about 150 miles per hour. Most of E-Muscle Cars’ vehicles will offer about 150 miles of range before they require recharging, but Emr hopes this one will top 250—enough to drive nonstop from Denton to Austin.

If E-Muscle Cars were to sell the Camaro, it would go for at least $200,000. It’s an eye-popping number, but the car itself cost Schofield nearly $50,000 at auction. The company spent another $120,000 for modifications, including the battery array and motor, which cost about $40,000 each. The electronics and other upgrades made up the balance.

Those other upgrades? Not just a charging port and new gauges built to match the originals (a kilowatt meter where the tachometer was, a battery-charge display where the fuel was) but also new steering, brakes, suspension, and cooling systems. “Old cars have loose and inaccurate steering and sixty-year-old components,” Emr explains. The batteries add weight that can change the suspension needs. If you were to hammer the accelerator in a converted muscle car without any of those systems being replaced—well, “we would highly advise against that,” he says. You’d end up in a ditch.

The future of wheeled transportation this is not—but that’s not the motivation anyway. “It’s taking internal-combustion muscle and just swapping for electric muscle,” Emr says. “It actually hauls more ass.”

Schofield and Emr were hardly the first to start building EV conversions—it’s been done for decades, for much of that time by garage tinkerers frustrated that they couldn’t get an EV any other way. “Back in the day, these dudes would get a forklift motor and a bunch of batteries and make a mad-scientist experiment in their Geo Metro,” says Marc Davis, the founder of Moment Motor Company, an EV conversion shop in Austin. “They were just trying to get it down the road.”

Then along came Tesla and a few early electric models from established car companies, such as the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt, which quickly erased the need for homemade EVs. This also ushered in a new generation of battery tech, and by the mid to late 2010s, the focus in the conversion community turned to power and speed. If you wanted a get-around-town car, there were good, reliable ones to buy the traditional way. If you wanted something that might turn heads, there was suddenly a whole new world of automotive performance to explore.

Davis, fifty years old with white hair and piercing blue eyes, is a computer science graduate from Cornell University who started his career as an IBM software developer and then spent more than twenty years at Austin tech start-ups before he founded Moment, in 2017. In the back corner of an industrial office park in South Austin, he presides over a team of ten that works primarily on classic European sports cars.

A yellow 1965 Ford Mustang Fastback and a turquoise 1959 Chevrolet Corvette, waiting to be converted at E-Muscle Cars.
Photograph by Trevor Paulhus

Whereas E-Muscle Cars buys and sells its own vehicles, Moment operates as a custom shop for owners who want their cars modified. Like E-Muscle Cars, Davis’s company aims to professionalize the process enough to unlock time and money savings, especially on the more popular models that come through again and again. In its six years, Moment has completed 37 conversions, Davis says, and in the process identified several models that are becoming house specialties—Porsche 911s and Speedster replicas, Mercedes SL convertibles, and BMW 2002s.

There’s at least one other EV conversion company in Texas—Flash-Drive Motors, in tiny Coupland, about thirty miles northeast of Austin—but overall the market remains in its infancy. Luis Morales, the director of new vehicle technology at SEMA, first decided to showcase EV conversions at the association’s annual show in 2019. There were four cars that year but twice as many in 2021. Then in 2022—the year Emr and Schofield showed up—the EV exhibit covered 21,000 square feet of floor space and featured about twenty converted vehicles, as well as training programs, tools, and equipment.

Nobody’s sure how many companies have sprung up in the conversion market nationwide, but Morales’s best guess is in the dozens—“definitely less than one hundred,” he says. Many of those are little more than a couple of hot rod mechanics trying their hand at something new, turning out one-off novelty projects. Morales calls these fabricators, because the work is largely manual, more gearhead art than science. E-Muscle Cars and Moment Motor are what he calls integrators, shops that build repeatable, precision-engineered systems. (The biggest brands in the space, such as Southern California–based EV West, have evolved to supply parts and even whole conversion kits to other shops.)

As all of those types of shops proliferated, the wider market for collector cars boomed, with record numbers selling at U.S. auctions during the peak COVID-19 years, according to the Hagerty insurance company, which specializes in collector vehicles. (Sales surged in 2021, peaked in June 2022, and have since receded closer to pre-COVID levels.) A rise in gas prices during the same period helped drive up sales of EVs. And meanwhile people from all over moved to Texas.

Those factors demonstrate why Emr and Schofield believe their business is launching at just the right time and place. “We have more roads, more money, and more people in Texas,” Emr says. “And it’s a car culture here. There are racetracks and drag strips here. So it makes sense why people adopt fast, new cars.”

One phrase that neither he nor Schofield utters is “climate change.” The main reasons to be drawn to EV muscle cars, they maintain, are for their performance, ease of maintenance (relative to gas-powered classics), and “cool” factor. “The side effect is less emissions,” says Emr.

A 1961 Chevrolet Corvette (left) and 1991 Grumman LLV (a former U.S. Postal Service truck.)
Photograph by Trevor Paulhus

Moment’s Davis puts it another way, pointing out that old cars simply weren’t built to accommodate big, heavy batteries or designed down to the millimeter to maximize aerodynamics and drivetrain efficiency. As a result, they have a shorter battery life and require more energy per mile than a new EV—and cost several times as much.

“Cars are emotional things,” he says. “A client will bring in their dead father’s car, and it’s deeply meaningful to them, but they can’t bear to drive a combustion-engine vehicle. Does it make sense? No. It costs a gazillion dollars, and you’ll never make it back on gas savings or anything like that. But if the car is important to you, this is the way to do it.” He pauses. “Of course, some people bring us a car and just want us to make it flaming hot.”

Back in Denton, a greatest-hits list of dream machines sits in the E-Muscle Cars garage and in a parking area just behind it. There are two ’67 Camaros and a ’68, two ’59 Corvettes and a ’61, two ’66 Mustangs and a ’65. Inside the garage, Emr’s crew continue their work on the blue Cobra. They’re focused on finishing that car and the ’68 Camaro, Schofield’s baby, in order to bring both to the fall 2023 SEMA show for a public launch of the company, one year after Emr and Schofield were inspired in the same place.

But it’s another project that lights Emr up the most. Parked on a lift right next to the Cobra is a U.S. Mail truck, a Grumman LLV, with red and blue racing stripes and whitewall tires. Converting fleet vehicles to run on electricity—not just mail trucks but school buses, food trucks, and so on—is an entirely different business model and a potentially lucrative one that holds the allure of enormous scale with a single contract. As a boutique-size passion project, E-Muscle Cars isn’t anywhere near ready to tackle that kind of volume, but Emr can’t help grinning at the prospect.

For now, the mail truck is a curiosity, just the kind of oddball project that could get people’s attention and stoke their imagination at future exhibitions. “We’re going to hot-rod it out,” Emr says. “Put a flap in the side with a couple TVs. Maybe a Kegerator inside for trade shows.” Schofield sees two other auxiliary business opportunities that could emerge from the E-Muscle Cars effort: a repair shop for EVs and a battery-disposal service.

Out in front of the building, facing I-35, a twelve-foot-tall monster truck looms over the passing traffic. It’s a marvel of extreme automotive engineering from E-Muscle Cars’ officemates at Havok that requires an elevator to reach the cab—and a modified V8 gasoline engine to get it moving. Emr can’t hide another sly grin as he admits, “We already bought the website E-MonsterTruck.com.”

This article originally appeared in the December 2023 issue of Texas Monthly with the headline “Electrifying Performance.” Subscribe today.

The post These Texas Garages Turn Classic Cars Into Electric Hot Rods first appeared on Revolt Systems.

Eddy Borysewicz, the mastermind behind the eye-catching 1965 Ford Mustang, is making waves in the custom EV car scene with his disruptive build. This ain’t your ordinary Mustang, folks. Borysewicz’s love for classic American cars, combined with his passion for innovation, led him on an electrifying journey to create something truly extraordinary.

A Love for Classic American Cars

Borysewicz’s fascination with classic American cars started way back in high school. He reminisces about his first Mustang, which his father worked tirelessly on, instilling in him a deep appreciation for these iconic vehicles. But Borysewicz wanted more. He craved power and torque that traditional internal combustion engines (ICE) simply couldn’t provide. And so, the seeds of an electrifying idea were planted.

1965 Ford Mustang: The Heart of the Beast

Borysewicz’s vision of an electrified Mustang became a reality with the help of Revolt Systems’ electric crate motor. Packing a whopping 450kW of power and 850 ft⋅lb of torque at the yoke, this motor brought new life to the classic pony car. As Borysewicz proudly proclaims, “My favorite modification is the electric motor by Revolt Systems. It’s the heart of the beast!”

Power and Control

To harness this electrifying power, Borysewicz incorporated top-of-the-line performance electronics. The T2C system took charge of the LDU control, ensuring every watt of electricity was channeled efficiently. AEMEV CCU, BMS, and VCU took care of the 12-volt battery, electrical system, and charging needs, while AEM’s HV Charger kept the high-voltage battery juiced up. It’s a symphony of electrifying components working in perfect harmony.

1965 Ford Mustang: Tackling the Track with Style

The electrified Mustang needed more than just power; it needed the right shoes to strut its stuff on the track. Billet Specialties wheels, accompanied by 345-19-35 rear tires, provided the perfect blend of style and performance. And when it came to stopping power, Baer Brakes stepped up to the plate, ensuring this electrifying stallion could come to a screeching halt when needed.

Handling Like a Dream

A race car of this caliber demands a chassis and suspension system that can handle the twists and turns of the track. Enter Roadster Shop’s full chassis and suspension, which turned the Mustang into a nimble beast, gripping the road with unrivaled precision. It’s a marriage of power and control, making every drive electrifying.

Customizing the 1965 Ford Mustang Beyond Expectations

Borysewicz’s attention to detail extended beyond the performance aspects. The exterior paint, crafted by Hot Dog Kustoms and Custom Shop, ensured this electrifying machine turned heads wherever it went. Custom LED lighting added an extra touch of flair, making the Mustang shine like a star on the track. And while the interior by AVS fabrication might not boast audio and multimedia features, it’s designed with one thing in mind: pure racing focus.

A Legacy of Achievement

The electrified Mustang built by Eddy Borysewicz has made waves in the car scene, capturing the attention of enthusiasts and judges alike. It won the Best Paint award at the 2023 Electrify Showoff in Long Beach, CA, and graced the front cover of the prestigious EV Builders Guide. To top it all off, it claimed the coveted Ultra-EV Best of Show award, solidifying its place in the annals of automotive greatness.

Eddy Borysewicz: The Man Behind the Wheel

But who is Eddy Borysewicz, the man behind this custom creation? Besides being a passionate car enthusiast, he has an intriguing backstory. Borysewicz served in the United States Armed Forces, embodying the spirit of dedication and commitment. Now, he’s channeling that same energy into his electrifying builds, leaving a mark on the car scene that will be remembered for years to come.

Eddy Borysewicz, the man who electrified a classic American muscle car, has proven that the future of automotive performance is electric. His innovative vision, combined with Revolt Systems’ cutting-edge technology, has birthed a masterpiece that defies expectations. This electrifying Mustang is a testament to the boundless possibilities of electrification and a true symbol of automotive excellence.

The post Power Packed: Eddy Borysewicz’s Electrified 1965 Ford Mustang by Revolt Systems first appeared on Revolt Systems.

In 2016, I wrote about Ohio State University’s Venturi Buckeye Bullet-3 (VBB-3) all-electric, four wheel drive land speed record (LSR) car, which set an FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) world electric vehicle two-way land-speed record (Category A Group VIII Class 8) at an average speed of 341.4 mph (549 kph) on 19 September 2016. (https://lynceans.org/all-posts/vbb-3-the-worlds-most-powerful-electric-car-will-challenge-the-land-speed-record-in-2016/)

That FIA two-way world speed record still stands, but on 1 October 2021, the Team Vesco 444 reVolt Systems streamliner, Little Giant, set a faster US national electric vehicle Class E3 record at 353.870 mph (569.499 kph) driven by Eric Ritter.  This is a US national record because the team was not able to recharge to Little Giant’s batteries fast enough to enable it to make the return runs within the 60 minute time limit set by the FIA for world records. The highest recorded speed of the Little Giant on the four runs was 357.0 mph (574.5 kph).

Little Giant electric LSR car and the team members at the 2021 Bonneville Speed Week. Source: Team Vesco via WonderfulEngineering

You can watch a short video of the 1 October 2021 speed run from the driver’s perspective here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cji50zWnxjE

Two views of the narrow, streamlined, all-electric incarnation of the veteran LSR car Little Giant.
Source, both photos: Team Vesco

The Little Giant was powered by two highly modified Tesla electric motors and 1,152 prismatic (not cylindrical) lithium-ion battery cells.  Engine power and battery rating were not revealed.  As a point of comparison, the VBB-3’s battery was rated at 2 MW.

Little Giant is a veteran streamliner that made its debut at the 1957 Bonneville Speed Week, where it reached a speed of 169 mph and received the “Best Engineered Car of the Year” award.  Over the years, it has been rebuilt several times.  Through 2020, Little Giant was powered by a variety of piston engines. You’ll find more history on this car here: https://www.teamvesco.com/history.html

Well done to the Team Vesco 444 reVolt Systems efforts to raise the electric car land speed record!

Reposted from The Lyncean Group of San Diego

The post Veteran LSR Car Little Giant Raises the US National Electric Car Speed Record first appeared on Revolt Systems.

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Published on Jalopnik on Oct. 5, 2021

The world of electric hot rodding is hotter than it has ever been. I know I say this a lot, but it feels like the 1950s all over again, with speed freaks stealing motors out of big luxury sedans and stuffing them into streamliners and going really frickin’ fast. As Everyday Joes continue to figure out what makes electric propulsion tick, these machines are only going to get quicker, faster, and better. This week that case is made ever more clear by the fact that a Eddy Borysewicz and a few of his friends put together a volunteer effort to build the fastest electric car in the world.

To figure out exactly how this whole project went down, I called Eddy to get the lowdown. As it turns out, Eddy got salt fever a few years ago when an old friend of his invited him out to Bonneville. That friend was David Spangler, driver of the 500-mile-per-hour Turbinator. Keep interesting company, I always say. In 2020 Eddy worked with EV West on the Electraliner effort, which broke an electric class record easily. Getting a car into the 200s proved relatively easy, but breaking into the 300s and beyond proved a little more of a challenge.

Since his time with EV West, Borysewicz has since broken off to start his own EV swap company called Revolt Systems. And Bonneville never left his heart. Spangler put Eddy together with the Team Vesco folks, who field the world-dominating Turbinator turbine car. As luck would have it, the team had a second streamliner kicking around which could use an injection of electrified horsepower.

The car in question was The Little Giant #444. This car was originally put to paper back in 1957, and has been racing basically non-stop since it was built in 1958. Of course over the years lots of the car’s systems have been updated and changed and rebuilt, so there isn’t much 1958 technology left in it, but it makes a good story. For decades the car has been raced with a variety of different internal combustion engines in it, and even held some records in its time. Both Vesco and Revolt had the SCTA record in sight when they decided to work together.

Ohio State University took the outright EV record way back in October of 2004 with the original Buckeye Bullet, setting a top speed of 314.95 miles per hour in a flying mile, and it went on to set the FIA record for electric vehicles with a 341.26 mile per hour run over the flying kilometer. The team knew it could aim for the SCTA record, but wasn’t positive if the world record was on the table. Nothing to it but to do it.

A deal was struck in May of this year, and the car had to be ready to go by August for Bonneville Speed Week. That’s a pretty quick turnaround, but they made it and the car was ready to roll about a week before the big show. A few issues immediately presented themselves. Because this was originally an internal-combustion car, and modifying the structure of the car was a non-starter, the team had to fit a pair of Tesla motors and all of the batteries within existing holes, where the motor, transmission, and fuel tank of the gas-powered drivetrains would have gone before.

Revolt’s business model is taking Tesla motors and making them longitudinal for motor swaps. The team developed a new layout for The Little Giant which would house two Tesla Model S large drive units joined together. The bottom motor is connected directly to the quick change rear end with a shorty 4-inch driveshaft. The top motor is belted to its twin using a Gates 6-inch wide carbon industrial purpose belt, which looks more or less like a big supercharger belt. According to Eddy, it’s ‘bomb-proof’.

For Speed Week in August they couldn’t source enough of the batteries they really wanted to use, and were forced to stuff a Tesla P100 pack into the car. They were pretty sure from the off that the pack wouldn’t produce the amperage and voltage that the car needed to run with the full beans. In August the team could never seem to reach the 300 mile per hour barrier, and knew that it wouldn’t come close to the record. They used that run as a shakedown opportunity, logging a whole bunch of data, getting their driver and car qualified to run the long course, and figuring out a few cooling things. From that first run, the plan was to return in late September for World Finals.

In the time from mid-August to late September, the team built a new battery pack by hand from the prismatic cells cribbed from a Ford CMax Energi plug-in hybrid. These are something of a dark secret in the EV hot rodding scene, as they are super potent, but somewhat hard to get a hold of. But the car was back together and ready to go with a few days before needing to take off for Bonneville again.

On the first run the car was immediately and visibly much faster. On September 30th the car shot away from the start and tripped the timing beams at 328.020 miles per hour, well in excess of the Buckeye Bullet record. The new batteries were working just as Borysewicz had planned. Run one done, the team went back out to back up their record and set a conservative 316.442 mph. The SCTA record was theirs with a two-run average of 322.231 miles per hour.

What Revolt hadn’t told anyone, however, was that they were running an extremely conservative power curve on their Tesla motors. Not only had they already scored the record in convincing fashion, they had more in the tank! Eddy looked at the team on the morning of October 1st and said “What do you guys want to do? You want to turn it up?”

As it turns out, there was a lot left in the motors and batteries, but it proved a lot to deal with for a lot of the ancillary components. The power was so potent that the car’s maintenance switch blew in the middle of mile three, and the car coasted down dead stick. It had run 350.234 miles per hour without power. With that problem fixed, it was time for another backup run, and again a fuse blew in the third mile and the car coasted down to a 357.507 mile per hour run. Average those two runs out to 353.870 mph and you’re looking at the official fastest EV in the world.

Here, watch the onboard, it’s wild.

As it happens, the current record for electric motorcycles was embarrassingly low, so the team put different tires, lower bars, and a faster sprocket set on an otherwise stock Alta Redshift. So in addition to taking the outright four-wheel electric record, Revolt now has two different SCTA class records for electric motorcycles as well! The Motorcycle Omega class record has been bumped up to 109.406 mph. The team installed the Alta’s factory fork guards and number plate to push the Motorcycle Partial Streamliner Omega class record to 112.719. The bike apparently could have run faster, but the tires weren’t rated for anything more.

It’s amazing to see not only how quickly EV speed is building, but that a relatively small team of just a few enthusiastic engineers can totally smoke a University engineering program with seriously high budgets. The team learned a lot in the process, and has a ton of new data to pour over for the next time. If Team Vesco is interested in continuing the program with The Little Giant into the future, there are bigger and bigger speeds to chase with EV power. And don’t think the competition will end there, because EV West is aiming even higher with its electric rocket, and there are others waiting in the wings to take down the new champ of electric speed. I don’t think it’ll be 17 years before this record is broken.

The post Here’s How The Revolt Systems Streamliner Set The Electric Land Speed Record At Bonneville first appeared on Revolt Systems.