The Next Great Car Era

Today I am sitting down with Rishie Garg at his shop in Fremont - ZEVcentric. I met Rishie last year at an Electrify Expo event in San Francisco and we hit it off right away.

Now that I made it to his shop to make some adjustments to my Model 3, we had a chance to sit back and talk about our shared love for 90's tuner cars, the history of AutoRnD and ZEVcentric, tracking a Tesla, and all around great advice from someone who has been a leader in the car industry for years.

I...

Today I am sitting down with Kyle Meziere to talk about his 1953 Classic Jeep that he converted to an offroad electric beast with a Tesla Small Drive Unit and Chevy Volt Batteries.

Kyle grew up in the car world a part of Meziere Enterprises and their drag racing awesomeness. When it came time to restore this Jeep from his Grandfather he landed on doing somethings special and one of a kind.

Now complete, Kyle takes this Jeep into the desert offroading and doing what Jeeps do best. We cover the build and so much more...

Today I am sitting down with John Stringer and Kelvin Gee of Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley (or TOSV for short).

John founded TOSV in 2018, and Kelvin joined soon after as vice president. Fast forward and now they run one of the largest and most active clubs. Tesla Owners clubs are separate entities which are onboarded to Tesla’s club program, which allow them to use official logos and special Tesla branding and resources. The program has grown to an international scale, and you might even have one in your region! John and Kelvin helped me understand al...

Today I am sitting down with Brian and Joel, two of the founders of Scalar Performance.

After meeting at the track and teaming on some endurance racing, Brian and Joel created Scalar Performance to build a dedicated EV track car for the amateur racer. The performance of an electric powertrain is impressive, and Tesla cars have been breaking lots of records as more and more show up to the track. But at the end of the day, some must-haves for the street are not needed or even get in the way for a dedicated track car.

Hello and welcome, to The Next Great Car Era, a podcast by EVTUNERS. Today I am sitting down with Mike and Tessa, the Regional and Deputy Regional Director of the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) SoCal Region.

The NASA SoCal has been led by Mike and Tessa since 2021. Mike’s experience as an amateur and pro-racer and Tessa’s background in trade show and corporate marketing gives them a unique perspective unmatched by other organizers. 

We chat about what NASA is, how to start racing with them, the differences between other organizations, and what EV racin...

Today I am sitting down with Jimmy Underhill of EVSwap Conversions.  

Jimmy is a car enthusiast and has raced with both SCCA and NASA in Spec Miata. More recently he has gotten into 4x4 driving, and is now venturing into EV Conversions, the result of which is a EV Swapped Toyota Land Cruiser. 

For Jimmy, the driving experience, freedom, and advanced technology and engineering has been so fun he recently launched a conversion company called EVSwap Conversions out of Denver. 

Before we dive in, please remember to like...

Hello, and welcome to The Next Great Car Era, a podcast by EVTUNERS. I’m your host Daniel Martin and today I am sitting down with John Garcia of J5 Design and Fab.  

Jonny has been in the car space for a long time, and is an all around builder, designer, and fabricator! He has worked on offroad race cars, was part of the Electroliner team who broke electric land speed records, and has EV swapped around 10 cars working for EV West and for his personal collection.

Among the topics in our conversation, we chat abou...

Use code EVTUNERS at MaierEV.com for a discount off your order!

Today I am sitting down with Charles Maier of the Maier Corporation, formerly known as Maier Racing. 

Maier Racing  was originally started by Bill Maier to supply racing parts for Mustang enthusiasts. After years of success, Charles took over the business from his father and has continued its growth by adding new product lines and divisions under the Maier Corp umbrella. 

One of those divisions is called Maier EV which produces carbon fiber parts built for the racetrack. These parts leverage the...

Today I am sitting down with the Director of Electrify Showoff Neil Tjin.

Neil has been involved in the automotive space since 1995. He started with designing and building cars in the 10th grade as a hobby and quickly turned it into a business. Over the years he has been in sales manager roles, marketing director roles, head of technology for NDRA and NIRA, and consulted for major brands. Neil was the magazine editor for 8 years for HCI and B/Scene magazines, and he has worked with a ton of OEMs, including: Toyota/Scion, Honda/Acura, Chevy/Pontiac...

Today I am joined by Ryan Christopher, or on Instagram Stukinthe90s. Ryan is somewhat of a legend, with a 90’s car collection containing a Toyota Supra, Mazda RX-7, Nissan GTR, and Acura NSX. He also owns a Tesla Model S Plaid and a Tesla Model X, and takes all of his cars to the local drag strip. 

Ryan’s most recent project has been a second Mk 4 Supra, but this time he rebuilt it with a Tesla motor and battery pack. After that success and true to the Supra name, he is now building its next itera...

Today I am joined by Matt Henrichsen, the owner of a highly modified Tesla Model 3 dubbed Heavyn Unleashed. 

Matt’s Tesla journey started after a sandstorm damaged his paint, and he fixed the car with a wrap inspired by the Chargers football team. Many modifications and several iterations later Matt’s car is instantly recognizable on the street or the many events he attends, and he has achieved attending SEMA as an invited car. We sit down and talk all about his upgrade path, the EV community, attending SEMA, some of the less talked about safety benefits of dr...

Today I am joined by Geoff Budd, or as many know him on Instagram, RedGoesGreen. Geoff is the owner of a red 94 Acura NSX which he has rebuilt with a Tesla Model S motor, hence the name red goes green. But most importantly, this build adds significant HP to one of the most celebrated chassis from the 90s and due to his battery choices is still very light and nimble. We dive into details about Geoff's racing background, the history of his NSX, the build specifics and part choices, and what’s next for this awesome ride as he dia...

Today I am joined by Laurent Frugier, one of the 3 co-founders of Fuel2Electric. Founded in 2021 after doing research for their own ‘66 Mustang project, Fuel2Electric is a platform dedicated to EV conversion which helps people define and design their build, receive proposals from vetted shops, and compare and purchase parts for the do-it-yourselfer. Laurent and I talk about how he got into cars, watching F1 with his family, the Fuel2Electric journey to date, the 66 Mustang flagship car, and much more. Enjoy!

Contact:

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Website

Today I am joined by YouTuber and Influencer Ben the EV Guy. 

Originally from Austria and now living in the US, Ben started his EV journey with a Ford Mustang Mach E in early 2021. Shortly after, Ben started making tutorials and helpful videos where he explained how to do things with the electric Mustang. Fast forward, now he has switched to a Tesla Model 3 and is making content about car shows, events, and the modifications he is doing to his car. We dive into all this and more, right now. Enjoy!

Links:

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Today I am joined by Keith and Melissa Silva with EVolve Racing. 

Keith and Melissa are the driver and co-driver of the “TesTen”, the first Tesla Converted Ultra 4 truck to run the Ultra 4 and Mid America Series. Their truck is a Chevy S10 that's now powered by Model S batteries and motors which tie into the purpose built off road racing gearing and suspension, hence the name “TesTen”. In addition to driving, they also were the builders of the truck, and despite this being their first EV build ever they were able to complete it in only 10 months in...

Today I am joined by Kevin Erickson, or as some may know him from Social Media, MrMoparMan. Kevin is the builder of the Electrollite, a 1972 Plymouth Satellite powered by a Tesla Large drive unit. Kevin has always been a classic muscle fan, especially of Mopars. He still has his first car he got at 14 - a 69 Dart GT - which he has running a turbo 340. After finally getting a B body Plymouth Satellite, Kevin set his eyes on an EV swap as a way to make big power and dive into a new frontier of technical possibilities. We cover...

For today’s episode I had the pleasure of recording on-site with Ryan Basseri. Ryan is the owner of Rywire Motorsport Electronics and specializes in custom wire harnesses and engine bay parts for all types of sport compact cars. His passion for cars began with the Honda CRX, and he  has been building and modifying cars since 1998. Over the years Ryan has owned many different rides and helped build some of the most well known cars on the scene today. 

After a thrilling tour through the shop where I saw multiple different projects, Ryan and I sat down...

Today I am joined by Petrolhead turned Chargehead Tim Aylen, who has been into fast and loud cars since he was little. He's recently joined his passion of cars and the environment together, going on a journey of building an exciting electric sports car #TVRWedgee, using used batteries and Tesla drive unit. He's vlogging this build, EV shows, visits to specialists and other projects like a modified Tesla model 3 #RusteeTesla. Also a crazy 1970's Trike that is nothing short of danger on 3 wheels #specialtrikee. Today we sit down to chat all things electric cars.

YouTube Channel

Today I am chatting with David Durazzo out of Oahu, Hawaii. Dave is a Climate-concerned car enthusiast and Currently owns a 2014 Tesla S 85, a 2014 Nissan Leaf, and the bits and pieces comprising his exciting EV Conversion dubbed the Miata1EV. Retired Navy with no formal engineering or mechanical background outside of college, Dave has owned over 20 cars and tinkered with them over the past 30 years. This Miata/Leaf motor project will be his first EV conversion! Tune in to hear more about Dave's Miata1ev and his progress to date. Enjoy!

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Today I am talking with Gregory from Wrenchology. Gregory and his wife Stormy started Wrenchology in 2022 in southern California. Their focus has been primarily in the EV space but have a large background in automotive technology. Gregory is an engineer for a large OEM and has been transitioning out of the ICE-ages of his career for the last several years. Their transition into the EV conversion space began with a 1962 Chevrolet Corvair that has become a popular vehicle within the EV community and helped to push them into starting Wrenchology to fulfill a growing demand for EV customers. Stormy...

Today I am joined by Terry Breheny. Terry founded Ohm On The Range, Ltd., at the start of 2022 for the purpose of “e-Mobility Exploration & Education"—both 2-wheels and 4—but with an emphasis on the conversion of classic vehicles. In addition to his background in bicycling advocacy, Terry is a lifelong gear-head — having worked as a professional test driver and certified driving instructor. When not (happily) busy tinkering in the garage, he can be found on his mountain bike in the foothills of Colorado.

Ohm On The Range Website

State of Charge 2023 Event Details

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Today, and calling in from Formula D, we are joined by Nishanth who is a former time attack competitor / grassroots drifter who now instructs for High performance driving experience programs and tinkers with cars for fun. Currently, he's converting his time attack / drift Subaru BRZ into an EV. He's built several car related hacks (using your car as a sim racing controller and open source flex fuel analyzers). You can check out some of that work on his website linked in the show notes, and hear more about Nish right now.

Nishanth's Website

Instagram

Today I am joined by Tiffany Tucker, the founder of a car design application called Electric Mods. Tiffany’s app brings together a growing list of EVs with different rims, body kits, colors, and details, all of which are actually manufactured. So if you ever had a wild idea to customize, this app makes it so you can see how it would turn out, and then know just the parts to buy to make it real. We cover everything from Tiffany’s entrepreneurial journey to the changing concept of tuning and advice for people wanting to get into it, enjo...