EV Builder Guideの Winter 2025 の目次

OVER the last few years I have been lucky to spend my days in the middle of the EV conversion world— writing about it, learning from it, and building alongside it. Three lessons stand out from that time. First, lean into the community. This space is full of tinkerers, pioneers, and educators who share knowledge in forums, shops, and at events. The willingness to help is real, and it is what keeps the industry moving forward. Second, be skeptical of hype. Fancy renderings and big promises show up often in a fast-moving market. What matters most are the people behind the work. Ask what motivates them. Do your homework before committing time or resources, because it is easy to get burned if you do not. Finally, take time to slow…

YOU don’t drive a Phantom V so much as you enter it, like a private lounge that happens to have license plates. The James Young–bodied 1961 Rolls-Royce before us stretches like a boulevard. Close the coach doors, draw the privacy screen, sink into the immaculate rear bench, and the city recedes to a tasteful blur. There’s only the faintest thrum of tires and the soft choreography of air and light. Then it moves silently, and you realize the party trick: this Phantom is all-electric. This car is Lunaz at full stride. From its Silverstone, UK, base, within earshot of Britain’s temple of speed, the company doesn’t merely “convert” classics; it remasters them. The donor arrives tired, often hiding corrosion under shiny paint. The car leaves after an 18–24-month, nut-and-bolt restoration…

WHAT began as a Covid side project has since grown into a product now used by builders worldwide. The team at ampREVOLT has been reshaping classic cars since 2008 and along the way kept running into one of the biggest hurdles in EV conversions: how to safely package and mount large numbers of batteries inside vehicles never designed to carry them. Tesla modules made the challenge especially clear. Salvaged packs are powerful, compact, and affordable. However, once removed from their factory enclosures, they lose the structural protection and thermal safeguards they need. Compared to the lead-acid and prismatic lithium cells that were common before, these modules required a stronger, more adaptable housing solution. The result was a safe modular battery box system designed to flex around the unique space constraints…

THERE’S a specific kind of grin that a Moke pulls out of you. It’s the open-air, elbows-out, hair-in-thebreeze smile that says, “Errands can wait.” Australia’s Jaunt Motors’ new electric Moke leans hard into that grin and then future-proofs it. From a distance, it’s a pure icon: upright windshield, bathtub shell, and canvas top. Up close, you spot the tells: a pop-up charge port instead of a fuel cap, a modern gauge set where Smiths dials used to live, and a nearsilent drivetrain that swaps putt-putt for instant smiles. This isn’t a one-off or a backyard science project. It’s a fully engineered, government body-compliant, road-legal restomod you can order today, with deliveries targeting 2026. ”A Moke is essentially a bathtub on wheels; packaging EV hardware inside that footprint without wrecking the…

THERE’S a difference between modifying a car and shaping your personal identity through it. For Ryan Sanford, the 2023 Tesla Model 3 Performance he calls Titanium is the end result of obsession, frustration, inspiration, and pride. This is what happens when someone sees potential not just in the car, but in themselves. Long before Titanium wore its chrome blue sheen or had a crowd-gathering slammed stance, Ryan was driving a car that was far from show-ready. “I drove the same car for 10 years, a 2006 Scion tC,” he says. It had served its purpose, but it was time for something quicker, newer, and most importantly, something modifiable. “I wanted something fast, even if some people would call it ‘slow.’ And I knew I had the intention of modifying it…

FROM MODULAR battery systems to advanced thermal management and heavy-duty contactors, today’s EV conversions require parts that balance reliability, performance, and ease of integration. This lineup showcases some of the latest solutions available to builders, whether you’re putting together a street-ready Hyper 9 conversion, designing a marine propulsion system, or engineering a high-voltage platform that pushes the limits of power. Each product featured here has been selected for its proven performance and practical fit in real-world builds, giving you confidence that your system will deliver both safety and performance on the road. 1 HALOBLK Alloy Pedal 2 Pedal covers don’t usually grab headlines— but HALOBLK’s latest release might just change that. The Alloy Pedal 2 is billed as the world’s first quick-release pedal cover, and it’s a clever rethink of an…

WALK into Dynam Labs’ Los Angeles space and you will find a workshop in motion. One corner holds the fabrication tools: a welder, a CNC table, and the gear needed to turn designs into parts. In the middle sits the test bench with wiring harnesses stretched across tables, an oscilloscope, and laptops logging live data from motors under load. Another area houses the 3D scanner, used to capture precise measurements for custom components. A car lift and hand tools fill the rest of the floor, ready for the next installation or teardown. Every square foot is dedicated to building, testing, and refining the systems that define their work. ”Every connector, feature, and test comes from the same motivation: build tools that work for real builders. From the Garage to the…

WHEN Richard “Moggy” Morgan of Electric Classic Cars set out to build Bugzappa, the plan wasn’t just to create another wild YouTube build or quirky EV conversion. From day one, the target was the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, the legendary “Race to the Clouds” in Colorado. That meant building a car capable of surviving 156 turns, 4,720 feet of elevation gain, and weather that can switch from summer to snow in a single run. It meant rethinking everything from the drivetrain to cooling. And it meant taking a humble Volkswagen Beetle and turning it into one of the most technically ambitious EV race cars ever attempted by an independent shop. “Ultimately, the aim was always to go Plaid,” Moggy explains with a grin, referencing Tesla’s most powerful powertrain. “But…

OVER the years, EV Builder’s Guide has featured a wide range of electric builds, from faithful restorations to bold, ground-up creations. Choosing just a handful is difficult because every project reflects the vision and hard work of builders who are pushing what is possible. The six highlighted here do not take away from the many others we have covered. Instead, they show the creativity and variety that define this community and remind us that the future of electric builds is every bit as exciting as the past that inspired them. 1 Evolved Imports Nissan Skyline GTR ERIC and Amanda Dotson of Evolved Imports in Albuquerque, New Mexico, set out to merge JDM heritage with electric power, and the result is EVzilla, a reimagined 1990 Nissan Skyline GTR. Known for its legendary…

BATTERY management is one of the most critical yet overlooked parts of an EV or storage project. Without a reliable BMS, even the best lithium pack can become unsafe or underperform. That’s where EMUS comes in. The EMUS G1 Centralized Battery Management System is a modular platform designed to give builders, from DIY converters to ESS engineers, professionalgrade control over their packs. At its core, the system combines a master control unit with multiple Cell Group Modules (CCGMs) that directly connect to your cells. This centralized approach keeps wiring simple while scaling to hundreds or even thousands of cells when needed. In a typical light EV build, one control unit is all that’s required. It handles CAN communications, safety logic, I/O mapping, and data logging. Each CCGM supports 6 to…

THUNDERHILL Raceway, Northern California—It’s three in the morning, 95 degrees of heat are still radiating off the tarmac, and a beat-up 1970s Datsun 620 pickup is howling through the darkness. It’s not the howl of carbs or a straight pipe. It’s the turbinelike whine of a Hyper 9 electric motor, buried inside one of the most improbable endurance race cars ever to roll into a 24 Hours of Lemons paddock. In the driver’s seat is Nick Chimento, a Colorado engineer who, along with teammate Tyler Joy, ripped this truck down to the rails and rebuilt it into a science project on wheels. Under him: Miata suspension, Jaguar I-PACE batteries, and a water-cooled charger rack in the pits that looks like it came straight out of NASA. On the dash: a…

ESTES Park, Colorado— The air is thin, crisp, and tinged with pine. Parked against a backdrop of mountain ridges, a patient but proudly green 1978 Ford F-150 sits in the wild. Known as Gator, it looks like a clean but unassuming workhorse of another era. But under its hood and down its drivetrain lies something more radical: the first prototype in a patented vision to simplify EV conversions, scale them, and open the door to an aftermarket that needs order, safety, and efficiency. At the center of it all is Rocco Calandruccio, founder of Current EV Motors—a Texas-based company that isn’t content to just swap motors into old classics. His ambition is to design and deliver patented, bolt-on, reversible EV drive systems for trucks, SUVs, and fleet vehicles— numerous solutions…

WHEN Joseph Salama stands beside Aziza, his Pearlescent Gold 1978 Volkswagen Type 2 bus, he’s revealing a blueprint for the future of classic motoring. Aziza is more than a beloved family camper with 18 years of road trips under her belt with Joseph; she’s proof that electrification can be reversible, affordable, and scalable, all without butchering heritage. And in true Joseph fashion, she’s also been tested the hard way—nearly 10,000 miles since conversion, including almost 2,000 grueling rally miles across Europe. Aziza isn’t a show queen; she’s a working development vehicle, and a rolling business card for Jack’s Garage and its latest partnership with Fellten. From Tripoli to Ladbroke Grove Joseph’s love affair with Volkswagens began before he could walk. At six months old, his father packed the family into…

AT a glance, it could be any high-end car meet in South Florida: sunbleached tarmac, a skyline painted in gold by the setting sun, and silhouettes of slammed cool rides lining up as spectators gather on the beachside. But then three Teslas roll in, one glistening in a Verde Solaris wrap that flips between gold and lime depending on the light, another sporting a Koenigsegg-inspired wing and splitter that could double as GT car aero, and a third wearing a purple widebody kit so aggressive it looks ripped from a video game. Cameras rise. Heads turn. Welcome to the Florida chapter of Ruined EV, a growing force in the national EV aftermarket modification movement, and a club determined to rewrite the rules of car culture—one bagged electric build at a…