The beast known as the 1996 Chevrolet Corvette is a gas-guzzling machine which packs quite a punch of horsepower, but Wayne Bickley must have turned over a new leaf or something after he caught the electric bug. Bickley actually decided to transform his beloved ride to a “zero-emissions” vehicle, and went about it by removing the pride and joy of the Corvette – its supercharged 396 engine. Once that has been removed, Bickley threw in 18 XS Power XP1000 batteries, a DC electric motor, a Zilla HV 2000 controller, several coilovers and a ZF6 constant-mesh six-speed manual transmission.
What you get in the end won’t impress anyone in the racing world, it has a top speed that maxes out at just 85 mph, while you get a mere 20 miles of “spirited driving”. The whole reason behind this madness is because Bickley is sick and tired of trying to squeak by California’s stringent emissions tests. Car lovers would call this a travesty, but others might think of him as being practical.
Filed in . Read more about Chevy, DYI, Electric Car, Electric Vehicle and Ev.