Kevin Erickson never thought that mixing gasoline with the electric guts of a Tesla Model S would feel this blasphemous to old Mopar purists, yet his EV projects the build he now calls Electrollite trace a mindset that started back in 1970, long before builders like Rich Rebuilds turned muscle cars into EVs on camera.
As a dyed-in-the-wool gearhead, he chose a Plymouth Satellite for his canvas, catching the eye of aftermarket companies and sparking a controversial debate about pulling parts from salvaged Teslas to replace a thumping Hemi.
His YouTube channel documents this growing trend straight from his home garage, where he works like a dedicated Tesla tinkerer exploring electric conversions one bolt at a time. Some skeptics joke that sorting dry beans takes more patience than wiring a Plymouth Electrolite, a car that once ran a booming V-8 on lazy Sunday mornings burning through ICE fuel.
Rich Benoist, known for similar builds, has pushed this kind of customization forward, nudging classic cars away from fumes and internal combustion engines toward quiet power. Electrollite, as Kevin named his finished creation, keeps the soul of the old car alive while running on battery cells, proving that EV conversions can be uncorked, electrifying, and worth the swap when a Tesla powertrain replaces the original heart of a muscle car.
Origin of Kevin’s Love for Mopar
Kevin Erickson traces his lifelong passion for muscle cars back to childhood nights in Denver, Colorado, watching Dukes of Hazzard air on CBS every Friday evening. The TV show’s first season introduced him to the General Lee, the orange Dodge Charger famous for its impossible jump, and to Daisy’s ride, parked beside Daisy Duke’s farmhouse.
He remembers Cletus, Enos, and Roscoe P. Coltrane chasing the Duke boys down dusty roads, asking viewers for a little suspension of disbelief each week. While the Charger got the fame, Kevin’s eye drifted toward smaller cousins in the same Mopar B-bodies family, including a 1969 Plymouth Road Runner and a 1971 Satellite coupe that looked nearly identical to the third-generation body style built through 1974.
He liked how the Plymouth Satellite and Dodge Dart shared a similar chrome plated knob feel on the dash, a small detail that stuck with him from those early episodes and later shaped the classic he chose to build.
Why He Built It
As a lifelong Mopar fanatic since his teenage days, Kevin found his 1972 Satellite listed on Craigslist by a previous owner who was already dumping the HEMI and had left behind a stripped engine.
At first, this project car looked like a simple restore needing only a fresh coat of paint, but Kevin wanted to learn something new and head into uncharted territory. He had tried engine swaps before, even flirting with a twin-turbo setup, but those felt like conventional ICE customizations next to what came later.
A few years ago, he landed on what friends called an insane idea: turning wrecked truck parts and a spare Tesla powertrain into a full EV conversion. With about a year and a half of hands-on experience, he traded internal-combustion engines for something electrifying.
Sourcing Parts from Stealth EV
To gather the right EV hardware, Kevin Erickson turned to Stealth EV in California, a shop known across many conversions and featured on its own YouTube channel for helping builders find sourced parts pulled from a wrecked Model S.
He picked up battery modules, cell tap boards, jumper bars, and a rear drive motor taken from a rear-wheel-drive Tesla, along with a complete subframe for the subframe assembly that would carry the Tesla powertrain under the Satellite.
Small details mattered too, like coolant hoses, clamps, and other cooling-system components borrowed in spirit from a Smart Fortwo Electric Drive, plus a heater core kept for comfort. Kevin had to rearrange these components and wire together the harness himself, treating the whole assembly like one big engineering challenge.
Some brackets simply did not exist, so he 3D printed custom pieces to make the Electrolite motor fit exactly where the old engine once sat.
Suspension & Subframe Work
The first big problem Kevin ran into was simple physics: a Tesla is very wide compared with a narrow old muscle car frame, so the Model S subframes needed real surgery to adapt to the existing chassis.
He kept the original rear axle where possible, working the geometry until it was fine-tuned enough to install a push-rod suspension system, since the factory Tesla struts left no room for springs in the stock mounting points.
Blending electric hardware into an existing suspension proved challenging, especially once the added weight of the batteries pushed down on every corner and every subframe. Kevin also worked to swap the motor while keeping the electric power steering system functional, so the pushrod suspension could still handle the Tesla powertrain without breaking under the new load.
Battery Pack & Weight Distribution
Every gram mattered once Kevin began working with cells and housings pulled from a wrecked Model S. Weight became the next puzzle, since the finished car tips the scale near 1,973 kg, close to a 4,358-pound curb weight not far from the 4,350-pound figure some early estimates gave for the Plymouth unibody once loaded with a full 100-kWh pack.
Kevin split sixteen battery modules, sometimes counted simply as 16 modules, between the engine bay up front and the trunk out back, giving the car front-mounted batteries as well as rear cells to chase optimum weight distribution near a 45/55 front-to-rear rearward weight bias.
QA1 coilovers and custom springs, paired with custom hardware throughout the chassis, replaced the stock setup from the original V8 era to handle the extensive modifications needed for an electric motor this heavy.
Stopping power came from Wilwood calipers and Tesla Model S brakes, using drilled and slotted rotors up front and matching hardware at the rear for solid traction on the street. A dual-loop cooling system keeps the battery management system happy, and with careful driving the car can cover 200-250 miles, or up to 300 miles under gentler daily needs, on a single overnight charge that often charges to 80% before Kevin heads out.
Compared with the old gas tank setup, the weight difference is real, yet the whole retained package still lands close to 600 pounds less than early rough guesses suggested once every part got weighed with a full charge topped off.
Interior
Step inside the electrified beast and the interior looks mostly stock, a nod from Kevin, a proud Dukes of Hazard fan, to keep his childhood hero car feeling familiar.
He swapped in a new steering wheel, a Momo steering wheel, in place of the original gauges, and mounted a digital instrument cluster alongside small Android tablets, or tablets for short, that track the electrical system and battery management system in real time.
He even kept a working Road Runner horn just for fun, a playful touch inside a car that otherwise runs on pure electric muscle.
Performance & Drag Strip Results
By the summer of 2021, after about a year and half of grueling work, Project Electrollite was ready to hit the drag strip, and Kevin posted 12.4-second quarter-mile runs, often just called 12-second runs, covering the equivalent of 402 km of testing over time.
With Holley High Voltage gear under the hood, the setup pushes close to 600 hp, enough to impress organizers at a SEMA appearance, where Kevin got interviewed about the build.
The car still works as a comfortable daily driver, thanks to a modern HVAC system, heated seats, and a first edition badge that marks this early dragstrip run of the platform, plus a handy line-lock system for clean launches. Around 250 miles between charges keeps the Satellite ready for car show rounds without much fuss.
What Makes Electrollite Special
Electrollite proves that not everyone calls Tesla-swapping their cup of tea, and Kevin admits missing the distinctive V8 growl he once got from a modern HEMI, yet he still calls this 1973 Satellite build the coolest thing he has ever finished.
He tracked every part on a Google spreadsheet to plan the drastic modifications, keeping the original body mostly untouched while the electric hardware sits flawlessly integrated under fresh LED headlights in the engine bay.
Friends see this well-executed build as real inspiration for the next classic muscle car EV conversion, and Kevin built in a failsafe so he could revert some choices if the old plan ever needed a rework, all while keeping true muscle car soul at the center of this fantastic build.
FAQs
Does Electrollite still feel like a classic muscle car inside?
Yes, the interior stays mostly stock, with just a Momo steering wheel and digital instrument cluster added.
What makes this build controversial?
Many Mopar purists see Tesla-swapping a classic muscle car as blasphemous, even calling it controversial.
Where did Kevin’s love for Mopar start?
His lifelong passion began watching Dukes of Hazzard and the General Lee during his childhood.
What’s the weight difference after the EV conversion?
Electrollite lands close to 600 pounds less than early estimates, thanks to careful weight distribution.
Has Electrollite been shown publicly?
Yes, Kevin brought the build to a SEMA appearance and made several car show rounds after its summer of 2021 debut.
