Posted on 02/02/2025 8:43:51 PM PST by Red Badger
The car of the future? Screenshot: Garage 54 via YouTube Taking an old car and making it run on electricity is so hot right now, with startups the world over popping up with the aim of electrifying everything from old Jaguar E-Types to lovely little Miatas. Now, a rusting Lada has been given the EV upgrade, but instead of cribbing its power from a Tesla or Cascadia Motion, it comes from an unlikely source: cordless drills.
Specifically, the battery-powered Lada is motivated by hashing together 50 cordless drills by YouTube channel Garage 54. If that name sounds familiar, that’s because we’ve previously covered all their crazy antics involving ATVs, exploding tires and Ladas. Lots of Ladas.
For this latest project, the bonkers Russian wrenchers worked to build a kind of electric engine out of cordless drills. The 50 battery-powered drills were mounted around a common crankshaft, which linked all fifty motors together via a complex array of belts and pulleys. It’s beautiful in its complexity. It’s a little like that electric-swapped Porsche that raced at Pikes Peak that one time, but more Russian.
When the drill-powered motor was first revealed, we estimated that it could produce as much as 25 hp and “400-ish lb-ft of torque,” which our Brad boldly claimed “should be more than enough to move a little Lada around.” It’s almost like the folks at Garage 54 read his mind post, as that’s exactly what they set about doing next: powering a Lada.
VIDEO AT LINK....................
To do this, the team took a Lada that had already been lengthened to make space for a chainsaw-powered V16, stripped away all those nasty gas motors and dropped in the gargantuan electric motor.
It’s quite the site to behold, with the bright orange arms of half the drills sticking up out of that enormous hood. You’d certainly do a double take if Garage 54 rolled past you in this on the highway.
When it comes to driving the battery-powered Lada, the motor is connected up to the car’s gearbox and there’s a rudimentary switch inside to control the power. On the first test, the car (amazingly) moves away from the stand under its own steam with the roar of 50 power drills soundtracking its first steps.
The rest of the tests that the garage 54 crew put the car through are, as you’d expect, a bit ridiculous and a lot of fun to watch. There’s a bit of smoke and a few minor disasters, but the drill-powered car really does work. If you want to see how well it works for yourself, hit play on the video above.
400 lb-ft of torque at 150 RPMs?
The Russia Ukraine war has produced some odd side effects.
Some peeps have WAY too much time on their hands.
Total fun though....
I wonder if it has a ‘reverse’?...............
moving 50 switches wouldn’t do the trick?
Fifty power drills. I can imagine the racket!
The Zeepers (or British press, same thing) will likely claim that Russia is reduced to building cars like this due to European ‘sanctions’.
The guys at Garage 54 have too much fun. Great channel. 👍
Well, if they are connected to the car’s original transmission, it may go in reverse............
Rush used to play a parody of that theme song for the David Dinkens update theme.
I’ve seen quite a few crash videos. If you are driving one of these and get hit, you’re dead.
Probably a lot more reliable than the original Lada.
Its ok though. They built them so small and crushable that if you did get hit and die, they just buried you in the car.
Kinda like how “smartcars” are now.
FWIW I’ve been watching this channel on YT for a LONG time. They never talk any politics, and always do some CRAZY things. I assume there are tons of old Ladas around as they’re always cutting one up, or doing something to the engine, transmission, or diff on them and it’s usually hilarious.
In short, HIGHLY recommended.
Old Russian Joke:
1st Russian: Hey, have you heard there’s a sweepstakes contest and the first prize is a brand new Lada!
2nd Russian: What is 2nd Prize?
1st Russian: TWO LADAS!..............
Electric motors generally develop maximum torque at 0 rpm.
Now with Russian sanction, the chance of getting spare parts for a LADA is pretty close to zero.
The original Lada Riva* was a copy of the Fiat 124 the Soviets bought a license to build in 1970.
It speaks volumes about your technocracy when the best you can do it to rent a four-year-old car design from the Iteys.
*Some models had a ‘door’ in the front passenger’s footwell so you could drive out on frozen lakes and go ice fishing from the warmth of your car (auuuming the heater was working).
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