If you’re anything like us, you’ve looked at a classic old jalopy at the junkyard and envisioned it as a ripping electric car. But after you get home and actually research what it’d take to make a running electric car from the rusty mess, you probably quickly forget the project (like we did).
However, Juan Ehringeras, a Pennsylvania high school student, looked at a damaged, aging yellow Honda S2000 and had the audacity to take on a custom electric car build project.
Ehringeras got the S2000 home and tore out the standard drivetrain components. In their place he installed a homemade battery pack, a control unit he designed and built himself, two electric motors and a Ford 8.8 rearend.
If that weren’t impressive enough, the 686-kilo Watt system that Ehringeras compiled puts out 920 horsepower (782, factoring parasitic loss) and 1,500 pound-feet of torque – right from zero RPM.
Where does a high school student find the time for such a project? “Well, I am finally a senior in high school, so in my off-time I do homework and work on this car. I also am a jetski enthusiast (stand up) and work at my business (Laser Werks). My business basically comprises of me designing things in CAD and cutting them on my laser,” Ehringeras said in a Motor Authority interview.
Ehringeras reports he is struggling with rear axle vibration and reliability issues from his self-made charging system. We hope this isn’t keeping him off the road, though.
As you can see in the video above, with an empty engine bay, most of the significant weight of the drivetrain has been removed from the front of the car. We’re a bit concerned that a car designed for completely different weight distribution would handle rather erratically with 700+ horsepower and a teenager at the wheel. But we tip our hats to Ehringeras for the ingenuity and creativity.
