What Do Electric Vehicles Mean for the Future of Hot Rodding?

Electric vehicles are gaining in popularity and EV swaps are starting to show up in hot rods. Will this spell the end of traditional hot rodding?

- By Steven Rupp

Well, I’m honored to be tasked with penning this page for the first issue after David Freiburger’s final column last month. In a weird coincidence, it turns out that Freiburger and I both touched on the same topic in our latest columns: electric vehicles. His piece, which can be found on his Facebook page, delves into the question of whether EVs are really that great for the environment (spoiler alert: it’s more complicated than you think). For my take on electric vehicles, I want to talk about how EVs will or won’t change the face of hot rodding.

To be honest, even a few months ago I hardly gave EVs a second thought—I saw them as a wealthy person’s second or third car. Then I went to SEMA to cover the EV conversion of our 1957 Chevy, Project X, and learned a ton about EV-swapping a hot rod and about EVs in general. Love or hate the electric-motor swap, the truth is that it was right in line with the job of Project X; namely to try out new hot rodding technologies, and EV stuff certainly qualifies. For now, it’s expensive and requires a certain skill set to accomplish. In time companies like Chevrolet Performance will drop the costs and make packages like the eCrate even more accessible to the average hot rodder.