The electric vehicle revolution has ushered in a whole new lexicon for gearheads and average drivers alike, from “DC fast-charging” to “regenerative braking” to “kilowatt-hour.” One of the most consequential new terms, however, is a deceptively simple one: “platform.”
When you hear the phrase “EV platform,” you might equate it with the chassis on your average gas-powered automobile — mainly because it looks similar; a flat, skateboard-like underbelly — but it’s much more than that. The platforms include the chassis, batteries and the electric motors, among other things, and can be used across vehicle types, as automakers from Volkswagen to Cadillac to the team of Audi, Bently and Porsche have shown.
The concept of sharing a platform across EVs has mostly been the purview of new vehicles, but Zero Labs wants to bring the concept to classic car conversions with a new initiative. This month, the California shop behind the stick-shift electric Bronco unveiled an EV platform designed specifically for converting classic cars into electric vehicles.
Zero Labs has been doing this kind of work for a while, and the company notes that this platform has already technically been available on their complete electric builds (including the aforementioned Ford Bronco, as well as Series III Land Rovers), but this is a huge deal because now anyone can bring in their own collectible car and easily swap out the powertrain, whereas before you basically had to be an EV expert yourself so you could oversee the project and make sure your conversion wasn’t being mangled.
Zero Labs has set the first available slots about a year from now in the fall of 2021, so you’ve got plenty of time to look over the details. But what cars will they accept for the first conversions? As Motor Trend writes, the company “isn’t quite ready to release a full list of eligible cars and trucks, but it confirmed four distinct categories; classic 4x4s from between 1947-1975, muscle cars built pre-1975, two-door coupes from 1948-1975, and classic pickups from 1947-1975.”
“On the new platform’s landing page, there are silhouettes of an air-cooled Porsche 911, 1950s-era Ford F100, and a late 1960s Ford Mustang fastback, giving us a small hint at what type of conversions we can expect,” the publication added.
For more information on what the conversion entails or to sign up for a slot, head to Zero Labs here.
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