A fully electric 1979 Porsche 911? I'm not sure how to feel.
Completely mixed emotions
The world of restomodding has snowballed in popularity in recent years with an ever growing audience wanting the gorgeous classic's aesthetic with modern engineering and performance.
Companies, such as Singer, have been at the forefront of this wave, especially with the Porsche 911, producing some of the most sought after cars on the market today.
A company called Electric Classic Cars has taken this to a new level by... you guessed it, producing a 100% electric circa 1979 Porsche 911.
This 911 has been restored from an 'almost non-runner' situation, to a fully electric one using 54kWh Tesla roadster batteries. Apparently, with sensible driving, you can achieve a 200 mile range.
The performance and driving experience of the electric 911 is a bit of a weird one. The 0-60 mph time is around 0.5 - 1 second faster than the original 3.2 petrol engine, but obviously it is an entirely different concept to the original.
The weird aspect that I was referring to was the manual gearbox. This has been fitted to keep to the classic aesthetic, but it isn't actually necessary meaning that you can just use one gear if you want. I can understand this choice as it gives you the feeling of driving the car closer to its original form, but if there is no sound and no clutch, what is the point?
My feelings toward this electric 911 are all over the shop. On the one hand, the virtually true to original styling can be taken into the next generation of cars, which is fantastic. However, without any sound and a fake manual gearbox, it feels completely soulless.
Even if you were to pump in authentic sounding gear and engine noises through the speakers to create as close a representation of the fully fledged 3.2-litre engine as possible, you'd just know and sense it wasn't the same.
However, there isn't much choice really, with the impending doom of the combustion engine, this provides a small hope to clinging on to the classics in the dystopian future.
Here is the full video (at 11 mins 20 seconds, he gives it the full beans):
Let me know your reasons why you are or aren't a fan in the comments below.
Join In
Comments (14)
It's not a fake gearbox though. And it has a clutch which you need to use if changing gear on the move. It's just that the torque and flexibility of the electric motor means the gears are needed less. You still need to use a low gear for low speed high acceleration and a taller gear for higher speeds. Get your facts right!
I'd be more worried with weight distribution. All batteries in the front??
look folks we won't have gasoline forever it will run out. what we enjoy is driving and going fast . the design part will remain , how we power our cars will change. I love driving but its 2017 and we got new issues that we need to solve
If this is right how would you all feel if we put a Chevy 572 in a Tesla?
Well I'm not sure a Chevy engine can improve anything. Now if you rip the guts out of a Jag F-type and put it in the Tesla, then yes, now you're onto something, improving a Tesla.
Well a Chevy engine will improve a Tesla just as much as an electric motor would a 911 😂
I like it! Seen a tesla burning up the competition on YouTube. So I won't hate as I know this thing can do the same now. Sounds are great but my guts love the g force more. This thing would be fun! I don't care what anyone says, Kudos to this guys build. New, different and faster!