Florida-based automaker E.C.D. Automotive Design Inc. has been within the enterprise of restoring and constructing customized basic Land Rovers since 2013. From working in what was primarily a gutted-out workplace constructing to now using a 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility with three meeting traces, E.C.D. says it now pushes out 100 automobiles a yr.

However E.C.D’s co-founder Scott Wallace attributes the agency’s development to 3 guidelines. “We wished to do all the things in-house, we wished to do one-of-one car construct customizations, and the third factor was {to do} one thing that all of us loved and would excite us,” Wallace informed InsideEVs. Primarily based on these ideas, the Florida automaker wished to shift sources towards one other car. “So the E-Sort was a no brainer.”

Wallace mentioned he and his staff had been serious about engaged on E-Sorts for years however lastly determined to take action when migrating into the brand new manufacturing facility. Including the E-Sort diversifies E.C.D.’s lineup by being the corporate’s first sports activities automobile. E.C.D. gives the E-Sort in its authentic coupe and convertible guise, each beginning at $289,995.

Each variations could have upgraded braking, suspension, inside upholstery, and, most significantly, a vastly improved powertrain. E.C.D. gives consumers two major choices: a 450-horsepower LT1 engine and a Tesla powertrain that packs the identical energy determine.

The latter Tesla-powered configuration consists of repackaged Tesla battery cells and drive models. “We’ve taken the engine out of the {E-Sort}, and we’ve carried out the scan of the physique in 3D, after which we redesigned the battery packs to slot in a barely completely different means,” Wallace mentioned. Regardless of repackaging a battery pack to slot in a car made years earlier than trendy electrical vehicles turned mainstream, Wallace says that the E-Sort’s distinctive proportions enable for lots of house to appropriate the battery placements.

“However the good thing about the E-Sort is that it’s obtained an enormous bonnet— the hood is immense. You’ve obtained loads of room to play with there, and for the electrics notably, you’re eradicating greater than you’re including, and also you’ve additionally obtained the gas tank which is able to by no means be there within the electrical {model},” Wallace informed InsideEVs.

6 Images

Whereas the British 2-doors will characteristic all-new powertrains, above all, E.C.D. doesn’t need its renditions to develop too disparate from their roots. “{The E-Sorts are} not going to have loads of the trendy conveniences that we put within the Defenders. Proper now, the purchasers within the E-Sort are very a lot about protecting it in its authentic look and retaining that character of the car,” Wallace mentioned.

“Our intention is all the time to take care of as a lot of the traits of the automobile as you may.”