A Tesla powertrain, along with several other Tesla parts, were used to turn Johnny Cash’s Rolls-Royce into a unique electric car with 200 miles of range.
SHIFT EV revealed a very cool EV conversion project that started as a resto-mod of Johnny Cash’s own 1970 Silver Shadow Rolls-Royce.
The late legendary singer songwriter’s car was in bad mechanical shape so the family considered resto-modding it, but they went a step further by hiring SHIFT EV to turn it into an electric vehicle.
Normally, for an EV conversion, people will use used Tesla parts from salvaged vehicles, but they spared no expense for this project and bought a brand new Tesla Model S.
The team shared a few pictures on their website:
Tesla parts have been popular in EV conversions, but when it comes to the battery pack, it is generally too big to put the whole thing in the car and people have to break it down into modules.
It wasn’t the case for this project. The long wheelbase of the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow allowed for the whole Tesla 75 kWh battery pack to be installed.
SHIFT EV commented on the picture:
“The complete Tesla Model S battery pack (grey) fits surprisingly well in the bottom-center of the car. All Model S and Model X battery packs have a pillow shaped lump on top. We purchased a Tesla with the 75kWh battery pack, knowing the lump was not populated with batteries, making it an easy modification to remove for clearance. Also visible, is the Tesla electric power steering rack.”
They also installed a Tesla drive unit in the back of the Rolls-Royce:
SHIFT EV didn’t stop at using Tesla’s powertrain. They also used several other components:
“A new Tesla Model S was purchased specifically for this project. Test drives of the converted Rolls-Royce began in the Fall of 2019. The powerful and shiftless drive enhances the already ultra-smooth Rolls-Royce ride. It has a respectable range of over 200 miles, but this accomplishment is on a whole new level. The car is also equipped with Tesla luxuries like ABS, TPMS, traction control, stability control, and all-electric power steering, brakes, heat, air conditioning, and more. It is arguably the most high-tech 1970 Rolls-Royce on the road, Johnny’s car is now quicker, more reliable, and stops faster. We think he would approve of the updates, assembled “one piece at a time”.”
In order to be able to control all those systems, they also included Tesla’s center stack.
But they didn’t want to change the interior look so they installed it in the trunk:
What do you think about this EV conversion? Let us know in the comment section below.
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