Rat rods are traditionally powered by fuel-burning V8s that would make environmentalists shiver with anger. This one is a little different.
The following rat rod is owned by YouTuber Rich Rebuilds, who has made a name for himself as an electric powertrain expert best known for turning wrecked Teslas into fully-functional cars. Rich is an electric vehicle nut and wanted to put the 1930s rat rod he purchased on Craigslist to good use.
When he got it, it was powered by a Chevrolet 305 V8. As Rich says, this isn’t the most desirable of Chevy V8 engines and thought it would be a good idea to ditch it in favor of one that has a much greener footprint. A used motorbike from Zero Motorcycles was chosen for the project.
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Rich purchased the all-electric motorcycle at an auction for a very reasonable $3,200 but decided against simply restoring it and decided to take its electric motor and slot it into his rat rod.
Now, instead of a heavy V8 hanging in front of the cabin, there is a battery pack. And while there’s no denying the appeal of a V8 and purists might scoff at the idea of such a creation, the instant torque from the motorcycle’s electric motor means it can still spin up the rear wheels with ease and actually looks quite fast.