Category: Builds
VW Tesla Kombi progress video – Part 2
Builds, Videos
Finally the next installment in the video series documenting the conversion of our 1973 VW T2 Kombi to 100% electric Tesla power. In this episode we: Talk about the goals for the conversion project (will we be held accountable to achieve them all??). Show the good parts being salvaged from our wrecked Tesla Model X […]
Street Machine feature the electric Mk1 Cortina!
Builds, News, Videos
Iconic Australian auto magazine Street Machine have gone out on a limb and featured the electric Mk1 Cortina in the below video on their YouTube channel, posing the question: “Is this the future of Street Machining? This Cortina has ditched the factory four-pot for a single Tesla motor and a reduced battery back. It gets […]
Goals for the VW Tesla Kombi project, and restoration begins
Builds
There’s been some considerable progress on the 1973 VW Tesla Kombi restoration and electric conversion recently. Let’s start off with a reminder of what the goals for this project are: Successful “Tesla Swap” – whilst there are plenty of EV conversions utilising re-purposed Tesla parts salvaged from written off Teslas (the Charged Garage Mk1 Cortina […]
Recent articles and interviews in the press – updated Oct ’21
Builds, News
The all electric Cortina has picked up a bit of media coverage lately. Here’s a fantastic article by Iain Curry from EV Central. He took some great shots of the car and even had a quick drive which he enjoyed thoroughly. Given he drives high performance vehicles for a living this was quite a compliment! […]
Tesla Kombi EV Conversion video series – the start
Builds, Videos
What’s that? An electric conversion of a classic VW bus using a full Tesla battery pack and Tesla 300hp motor? Yes that’s our new project – and we are hoping you want to see the progress, so we are going to document the build and reveal all the details in these blog pages and on […]
Electric Car Conversion – how far can you go?
Builds, News
Range test – 100% to 0% So it was time to test out the range in the all-electric Ford Cortina following a recent battery upgrade. After stripping out a wrecked Tesla Model X100D, which have the rarer, more energy-dense 6.2kWh battery modules, I was able to swap out the previous 5.3kWh Tesla modules with the […]
Converting a classic car to electric – step by step photos
Builds
Here’s some photos of the major steps involved in converting a classic car to 100% electric power. In this case it is a Ford 1965 Mk1 Cortina. This isn’t meant to be a how-to guide, or an exhaustive build log – just a quick photographic breakdown of the major steps in electrifying a classic ride. […]
Can a converted EV charge at public fast chargers?
Builds
How hard can it be? We had the hardware (a CHAdeMO socket salvaged from a wrecked Mitsubishi i-MiEV), and the software (Orion BMS2), which proclaims to support CHAdeMO charging “out of the box”. Unfortunately it wasn’t exactly a plug-n-play exercise to get DC fast charging to work on a non-OEM electric car. See the previous […]
DC Fast Charging in a converted classic electric car
Builds
If you drive an EV you want to recharge it as fast as you can right? And you want the ability to travel long and far, often further than your range, and make the most of the ever-growing network of public chargers. Even though you may not need it everyday, on the occasion when you […]
100% Electric Ford Mk1 Cortina – Specs
Builds
Short on time and just want the nitty gritty details? Here they are: Battery: Tesla 31kWh (5 liquid-cooled modules from a 2018 Model X 100D) Range ~180 kms Motor: Netgain HyPer9 AC electric motor, 100kW peak, 235Nm (173lb/ft) torque, 120V Performance: 0-100km/h in ~7.5sec; top speed: not tested above 130km/h yet… Drivetrain: Reconditioned 4.44 ratio […]