In an unlikely marriage of classic car culture and green technology, sophisticated hot-rodders – mostly Californians – are cannibalizing crashed electric cars and using their batteries to create electrified sports cars and muscle cars. latimes.com/business/story…
They are expanding the auto world’s consciousness about what can be done in the electric-vehicle space – and making good money doing it. Their price can run from $30,000 for a DIY conversion kit to several hundred thousand dollars for a full overhaul. 📸: @myung_chun 
Most of the retro-EV customizers power their vehicles with batteries from wrecked Model S, Fiat 500 or Nissan Leaf cars that have less than 20,000 miles on them. Builders say they are likely to last well past the 100,000-mile mark typically exceeded by Teslas. 📸: @myung_chun
Tesla has discouraged the use of salvaged vehicles or parts, and has been charged with disabling the software on cars it has written off. It takes work by dedicated hackers to write third-party code allowing builders to remove the batteries and use them. latimes.com/business/story…
As many as 700,000 Teslas may be on U.S. roads. Some of those cars will crash and wind up in salvage yards – but their batteries could have a second life powering custom electric vehicles. latimes.com/business/story…
