This Tiny 1970s EV Is A 500bhp Tesla Eating Monster

Owing to their current popularity, we think of electric vehicles as a recent phenomenon, but manufacturers have been attempting to (and usually failing) to crack the whole EV thing since the dawn of the motorcar. Just one of the many EV flops is the Enfield 8000. Around 120 were built in the 1970s using a tubular space frame chassis with an aluminium body. The range is around 40 miles and the top speed just under 50mph - similar figures to the much more recent and rather hateful G-Wiz, as it happens.

Jonny’s own Enfield 8000 - dubbed the ‘Flux Capacitor’ - does a little more than 50mph. That’s because the lead acid batteries have been replaced with lithium-ion items (the same sort that drive the miniguns on a Bell SuperCobra helicopter, actually), and it’s now rocking twin direct drive motors from Current Racing. There are many more modifications (full details can be found on the car’s website), but the important thing is this: it can absolutely demolish the quarter-mile, as demonstrated here at Santa Pod.

Who else would love to see this thing take on a Tesla Model S P85D?