1978 Ferrari 308GTS has received second electric life

The San Diego-based company Electric GT partnered with engineers from EV West to convert 1978 Ferrari 308GTS into pure electric vehicle. As a result, we have received an all-electric vehicle with three motors and batteries that give vehicle enough juice to 80 miles (130 kilometers) on a single charge.

8/7/16 5:00 am chumakdenis 1

Electric and hybrid supercars are not something new for us – we already have LaFerrari, Lamborgini Asterion,Porsche 919 and a lot of other super-fancy vehicles.

However, when it comes to vehicles that were converted into EVs—kind of trendy thing to do —things are not that good.

I mean, there are always exclusions from rules,but overall statistics is quite sad — people just leave vehicles corroding all alone, as if they are nothing more but a throwback from the past.

Sad,horrifying,terrible...these are only a few of words that appear in my head when I hear so heinous news.

Nonetheless, don't get murky and dejected.

We always have silver linings: usually, collectors keep retro cars in a really good condition.

Plus, some cars are converted.

And today's lucky owner of all-new Li-ion batteries is legendary 1978 Ferrari 308GTS.

The San Diego-based company Electric GT partnered with engineers EV West to convert a 1978 Ferrari 308GTS to run on electricity. They removed a fire-damaged V8, and replaced it with three motors and enough batteries to keep it going for 80 miles on a single charge. They’re calling the result a 308GTE, and claim it’s more powerful and better to drive than the original.

Some history

Ferrari's CEO Sergio Marchionne announced that Ferrari will never build a pure electric car.

He drove Tesla Model S and afterwards said, that the idea of a Ferrari without an internal combustion engine would be "an obscene concept" and that it's something Ferrari will never do.

Unfortunately for Sergio, the world's first 100% electric Ferrari was recently completed by Electric GT , a San Diego-based electric car conversion company.

Electric GT rescued a salvage titled 1978 Ferrari 308 GTS from certain death.

Fires are nothing new to Ferrari and this car was no exception. Leaking fuel burned the motor and electrical systems of this former beauty beyond repair. Out of the ashes rose the perfect conversion opportunity. Restoration, design, engineering and recycling efforts beckoned a major undertaking for the formerly iconic 308 GTS.

Donations
The burned out Ferrari was stripped down to the bare chassis, and every original part that wasn't used was returned back to the Ferrari community and quickly found homes in other 308 projects around the globe.

"The Ferrari Chat community really contributed to this project" says Hutchison.

"Several guys from the forum came to see the project and some even flew across the country. The support was awesome."

Preserved integrity of the Ferarri

Hutchison worked with friend and EV specialist Michael Bream at EV West to engineer and design an electric powerplant that would preserve the integrity of the Ferrari.

"We have to be careful with iconic cars, as we want to preserve their history, but still make them impressive to drive" states Bream. "Technology changes and we are now in a time when an electric SUV is faster than a Ferrari sports car."

New 'entrails'

The V8 was replaced with a first ever triple electric HPEVS AC51 motor assembly providing 330 ft lbs of torque with a range of 100 miles. The current battery of 30 kWh delivers excellent performance, and Electric GT will a soon offer a pack with twice that capacity.

"We can make it even faster and give it more range, but instead chose to keep it light and maintain the original feel of a Ferrari," said Hutchison.

"With nearly double the torque of the original engine, the electric motors are no contest for even the finest tuned Weber carburetors."

Parts from Porsche
To capture the true driving experience, Electric GT used a Porsche G50 5 speed gearbox in a flipped midengine orientation to reliably deliver the electric Ferrari's increased torque.

*Manual gearboxes in electric vehicles are used to improve efficiency and performance. As evidence, in Tesla's planned inclusion of a transmission in the original Roadster, and Formula E's use of gearboxes in their racecars.

"The massive torque transferring through the transmission engages the driver in a clutch dropping gear pounding Ferrari experience," mentioned Hutchison.

Criticism

Justin Herrmann of Strategic Racing Designs, a person who assisted on the Electric Ferrari project said :"The Ferrari tube frame chassis makes it the perfect candidate for an EV conversion.The aerodynamics, race inspired suspension and light weight design is ideal."

"It will continue to be as iconic as ever with a new power plant that is always ready for some tire smoking, clutch banging driving," Hutchison added.

"I love that I can drive a high-performance Ferrari by charging it on my solar panels at home."

Production

The company has no intention in mass production of the following vehicles, but if you are up to buying one - contact them.