Never has an all-wheel-drive Chevy truck with 4,000 pounds of torque sounded so peaceful.
Classic square body Chevrolet pickup trucks are beyond hot right now. You’ll find an old 70s or 80 Chebby truck, either lifted or slammed, with a V8 engine underneath. This 1985 C10 is ready for the big time by going a different route to car show glory. It won’t actually rock the world, but it will shock it. Beware, purists.
You’ve probably guessed that this modified SEMA show truck does not have a V8. It doesn’t even have an internal combustion engine. The Salvage and Savage crew managed to find two electric motors out of a Tesla Model S. With LS V8 swaps becoming increasingly common, it was decided to electrify the sucker. It’s not as easy as it seems.
The video at the beginning of this article shows the efforts to finish the truck in time for the 2021 SEMA show. And the Salvage and Savage Instagram account confirms that they did it. The truck isn’t yet ready to perform viciously silent all wheel-drive donuts. The truck was not ready to perform the last-minute cooling problems for the battery due to mechanical issues with the old driveline. However, it is functional for the show and looks amazing. The interior is completely custom and includes a large touchscreen in Tesla-style for monitoring and accessing various systems.
After everything is set up, the truck should produce 800 horsepower (596 Kilowatts) per axle and upwards of 4,000 pounds (5,423 Newton meters) of torque. It can also run each motor separately, so it can do forward, reverse, and all-wheel donuts. The steering wheel doesn’t have to be cranked, the truck should reach ridiculous speeds in a matter of seconds. A handbrake, which actually works electrically, stops the rear wheels from turning for drifting fun. The theory is that it works.
Because the Salvage and Savage team has promised to get some tires off the road after SEMA, once they have the replacement cooling pumps. We are confident that this electric classic will show some truly amazing levels of performance, based on what we’ve seen so far. It will it be enough for the V8 crowd to be impressed? It will only be time.