BUGZAPPA

From Wales to the Clouds

- JEROME ANDRE

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 before we could unleash that, we had to dial in the chassis and learn what the car wanted. Pikes Peak is unforgiving-you don't get second chances up there."

BUILT FOR PIKES PEAK

Choosing a Beetle was more than nostalgia (Moggy's first custom cars were Beetles, and his first EV conversion was also a Beetle). The car's compact footprint, rear-engine layout, and enormous aftermarket support made it an ideal test bed. At the same time, its underdog image fit Moggy's trademark sense of humor. "Everybody loves a Bug," he says.

"But nobody expects one to go four-wheel drifting at 80 miles an hour up a mountain.

That's the fun of it." From the beginning, Bugzappa wasn't about comfort or range. It was about power-to-weight, repeatable launches, and surviving the mountain's brutal mix of hairpins and flat-out sprints. That meant race car engineering and plenty of compromises.