Finding
Most high-power ICE-to-EV conversions are built around salvaged Tesla drive units sold through specialist kit houses; Ford and GM crate motors added OEM parts but not the integration a buyer needs
A Tesla drive unit arrives as one integrated motor, inverter and gearbox; the OEM crate offerings arrive as a motor or a motor-battery package that a shop still has to make work in a donor car.
A Tesla large or small drive unit puts motor, inverter and reduction gear in one housing, turns up in salvage yards in volume, and runs without the Tesla car once an aftermarket controller replaces the vehicle network: AEM EV and Ingenext sell controllers, and the open-source openinverter project publishes firmware. EV West in San Marcos, California, built its business on mounts, adapter plates and battery boxes for these units, and Legacy EV and Electric GT sell kits and crate systems around Tesla-sourced motors.
Ford Performance and Chevrolet Performance brought OEM parts into the trade. The Eluminator is the Mustang Mach-E GT motor sold as a crate part, shown in the F-100 Eluminator concept truck; the eCrate packages a Bolt EV motor with battery and controls and was shown in the K5 Blazer-E and E-10 concept builds. Both give a builder new hardware with documentation, but neither removes the work that makes a conversion hard: battery enclosure, thermal management, brake-booster and steering replacement, charging control and registration.
The high end is concentrated in the UK. Lunaz at Silverstone, Everrati, Fellten and Swindon Powertrain build or supply electric restorations of Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Range Rover Classic, Porsche 911 and Classic Mini donors, sold as finished cars or bolt-in kits. In the US, Zero Labs builds electric first-generation Broncos on its own chassis.
Chinese suppliers sit underneath the trade rather than on its front shelf. Golden Motor in Changzhou and QS Motor in Taizhou sell motor-controller kits used in motorcycle and light-car conversions, and surplus and salvage CATL and BYD modules end up in packs built by kit sellers and owners. Inside China, aftermarket ICE-to-EV conversion of registered cars is a small trade, because registration rules do not allow a change of powertrain type; the domestic answer to an old car is a cheap new EV such as the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV or BYD Seagull.
Suppliers
Conversion kit and parts suppliers
18 suppliers: kit sellers, OEM crate motors, donor hardware, specialist motor makers, UK and US restomod builders, and 3 Chinese sources. Status: active, unconfirmed or discontinued.
| Company | Country | Role | What it supplies | Typical donor cars | Drive hardware | Status | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EV West | US (San Marcos, California) | kit seller and parts | Conversion kits built around salvaged Tesla drive units: motor mounts, adapter plates, battery boxes, BMS, charging and controls parts | VW Beetle and Bus, Porsche 911 and 914, BMW E30 | Tesla LDU and SDU; NetGain Hyper9 | active | 2026-10 |
| Legacy EV | US | kit seller and builder | Tesla drive-unit conversion kits and completed builds | Classic Porsche and VW | Tesla drive units | unconfirmed | 2026-10 |
| Electric GT | US (California) | crate-system maker | Bolt-in EV crate systems: motor, controls and battery boxes sized to replace an engine | Ferrari 308 demonstrator; V8-era American cars | Tesla-sourced motors | unconfirmed | 2026-10 |
| Zero Labs Automotive | US (Los Angeles) | restomod builder | Electric first-generation Ford Bronco builds on its own modular chassis | Ford Bronco (first generation) | In-house platform | unconfirmed | 2026-10 |
| Moment Motor Co. | US | restomod builder | Electric conversions of classic cars | - | - | unconfirmed | 2026-10 |
| Ford Performance Eluminator | US | OEM crate motor | Mustang Mach-E GT motor sold as a crate part; builder supplies battery, charging and integration | F-100 Eluminator concept truck | Mach-E GT motor | unconfirmed | 2026-10 |
| Chevrolet Performance eCrate | US | OEM crate package | Bolt EV-derived motor packaged with battery, controls and a GM gearbox interface | K5 Blazer-E and E-10 concept builds | Bolt EV motor | unconfirmed | 2026-10 |
| Tesla drive units (salvage) | US-built, sold worldwide | donor hardware | Large drive unit (Model S, X) and small drive unit (Model 3, Y) from wrecked cars, run on aftermarket controllers from AEM EV, Ingenext or the openinverter project | Most high-power conversions | Integrated motor, inverter and reduction gear | active | 2026-10 |
| NetGain Motors | US | motor maker | Hyper9 AC motor and controller kits; legacy WarP DC motors | VW, small pickups, kit cars | Hyper9 AC motor | active | 2026-10 |
| HPEVS | US | motor maker | AC induction motors paired with Curtis Instruments controllers | Light cars, kit cars, utility vehicles | HPEVS AC motors | active | 2026-10 |
| Canadian Electric Vehicles | Canada | kit seller | Conversion kits and parts | - | - | unconfirmed | 2026-10 |
| Swindon Powertrain | UK (Swindon) | motor maker and kit seller | HPD crate e-motor units with integrated gearbox and inverter; Classic Mini conversion kit | Classic Mini, kit cars, light trucks | Swindon HPD | active | 2026-10 |
| Lunaz | UK (Silverstone) | restomod builder | Factory electric restorations; electric refuse trucks through Lunaz Applied Technologies | Rolls-Royce Phantom V, Bentley S-type, Range Rover Classic, Jaguar XK | In-house | unconfirmed | 2026-10 |
| Everrati | UK | restomod builder | Electric restomods built to order | Porsche 911 (964), Land Rover Series IIA, Ford GT40 (Superformance), Mercedes-Benz SL Pagoda | In-house | active | 2026-10 |
| Fellten | UK | builder and kit developer | Electric conversions and bolt-in kits | Range Rover Classic, Porsche 911 | In-house | unconfirmed | 2026-10 |
| Golden Motor Technology | China (Changzhou) | motor-controller maker | BLDC and PMSM motor-controller kits for light-vehicle conversions | Motorcycles, small cars, golf carts | Golden Motor HPM series | active | 2026-10 |
| QS Motor | China (Taizhou, Zhejiang) | motor maker | Hub and mid-drive motors used in motorcycle and light-vehicle conversions | Motorcycles and scooters | QS hub and mid-drive motors | active | 2026-10 |
| CATL and BYD modules (surplus and salvage) | China | donor hardware | Cell modules resold through brokers as conversion packs | Any build sized for module-level packs | LFP and NMC modules | active | 2026-10 |
Paths
Five ways to convert a car
The motor source decides power and price; who fits it decides the warranty and the paperwork.
| Path | Motor source | Battery | Controls | Who fits it | Tradeoff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salvaged Tesla drive unit kit | Wrecked Model S, 3, X or Y | Salvaged Tesla modules or new modules | Aftermarket VCU (AEM EV, Ingenext, openinverter) | Owner or local shop with an EV West or Legacy EV kit | Most power per dollar; no OEM warranty, and the builder owns every integration fault |
| OEM crate motor | Ford Eluminator or GM eCrate | Builder-sourced (Ford) or packaged (GM) | OEM-supplied controls where the package includes them | Hot-rod and restomod shops | New parts and documentation; less complete than a kit, so integration still falls to the builder |
| Specialist crate system | Swindon HPD, Hyper9, HPEVS | Builder-sourced | Matched controller from the motor maker | Owner or shop | Lower power than Tesla units; designed as bolt-in parts with support |
| Turnkey restomod | In-house | In-house | In-house | Lunaz, Everrati, Fellten, Zero Labs, Moment | Finished, registered car; the price sits well above the donor car's value |
| Low-power Chinese kit | Golden Motor, QS Motor | Surplus CATL or BYD modules | Kit-supplied controller | Owner | Cheapest route; suited to motorcycles, karts and light cars, not highway cars |
Parts
What a conversion has to replace
Every engine-driven accessory needs an electric replacement; these are where kits differ.
| Removed | Electric replacement | Typical source | Integration issue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine | Traction motor and inverter | Tesla drive unit, crate motor or specialist motor | Mounts, torque reaction and adapter plate to the old gearbox, or a drive unit with its own reduction gear |
| Fuel tank | Battery pack | Salvaged Tesla, Chevrolet Bolt or Chinese modules | Mass, crash-safe enclosures and weight distribution decide where the modules go |
| Alternator | DC-DC converter | Tesla or aftermarket unit | Keeps the 12 V system charged from the high-voltage pack |
| Engine-vacuum brake booster | Electric vacuum pump or electro-mechanical booster | Aftermarket pump; Bosch iBooster from donor cars | Braking feel and fail-safe behavior must match the original |
| Belt-driven power steering | Electric power-steering pump or rack | Donor-car EPS units | Needs its own power and control |
| Engine coolant heater | PTC heater or heat pump | Aftermarket PTC units | Cabin heat now draws on the pack |
| Fuel filler and gauge | Charge inlet, onboard charger and state-of-charge display | J1772, CCS1 or NACS inlet; aftermarket charger and gauge | DC fast charging needs charge-port control the kit must supply |
Sources
Sources and scope
- Scope
- EV Conversion Kits
- Sources
- Company sites (EV West, Swindon Powertrain, Lunaz, Everrati, Fellten, Zero Labs, NetGain, HPEVS, Golden Motor, QS Motor); Ford Performance and Chevrolet Performance parts announcements; openinverter project; original ElectronsX kits table.
- Updated
- October 2026