Hot rodders and horsepower enthusiasts tend to have a dismal opinion of electric cars. Once accurately described as slow tin cans, today's electric vehicles are the future of the muscle car and the hot rodding hobby.
As you probably know, an electric car has no internal combustion engine, but relies on an electric motor and battery for motivation. The upside as a commuter vehicle is reduced operating costs, zero engine noise, and zero at-vehicle emissions. The downsides have traditionally been style and handling, as most early electric cars had all the aesthetics of a melted bar of soap, and all the driving charisma of a kid's pedal car. Times have changed.
Source | Unsplash/Tim Wright
The future is fast
Tesla currently leads the charge (puns blatantly intended) with overpowered versions of the Model S sedan and Model X crossover. The Model S P100D in the appropriately named Ludicrous Mode can achieve 0 to 60 mph in just 2.5 seconds. That's an impressive number, especially when you consider the electric sedan weighs over 4,600 lbs and can seat seven passengers. This electric $130k American sedan shames million dollar super exotics from Lamborghini and Pagani.
And Tesla isn't the only one doing electric performance — Porsche's Mission E looks incredible and should offer terrific performance. GM also recently trademarked the Corvette E-Ray name, so electric performance may be affordable very soon.
Source | Tesla
Under the hood with electric cars
But enough about buying new cars. Half the fun of hot rodding is tinkering under the hood and spinning wrenches, right? That can still happen in the age of electrics. While these cars don't need oil changes, they will need maintenance. Everything from the A/C and power steering to shocks/struts and related suspension parts will eventually need replacing. That electric Nissan Leaf still needs brake pads. There's hot rod parts for electrics, too. Just like a gas burning ride, you can upgrade the wheels, stance, handling, braking and so on. If you are just into appearance mods, electric cars will have aftermarket options like body kits, giant wings and vented hoods. 
Electric aftermarket mods
Aftermarket tuning companies will survive in this new electric era just fine. Saleen has been making Ford Mustang parts for decades, but now also fully reworks the Model S into their own distinctive performance sedan renamed the GTX. And let's not forget the DIY hot rod market. The motors may be unusually quiet, but they are relatively easy to replace with something more powerful. Just like a small block to big block engine swap, but with more torque and fewer emissions.
There's even the option to retrofit modern electric motors into a classic. There's nothing wrong with a '57 Chevy with 1,000 lb/ft of instant torque and no gas bill. In fact, that's pretty cool. This era is much like the transition from carburetors to electronic fuel injection (EFI) in the late '70s and early '80s. Enthusiasts said EFI would be the death of the performance car, the DIY mechanic and hot rodding, but instead the highly-adaptable technology lead to the modern golden age of performance we now enjoy. EFI is the reason we can have street cars running 9 second quarter miles.
The electronic age will be different too, but it has the potential to expand the hot rodding hobby into new markets and areas of interest. This is not the end of performance cars, but an exciting new chapter full of potential.
Do any of you have experience maintaining or modding electric cars? We want to hear about it!
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About the Author(s)
Andy Jensen is a freelance automotive writer specializing in car news, technology, and culture. Specific areas of interest are '80s muscle, kit cars, and EVs. When not writing, he can be found under the hood of his Scion FR-S.
