Philip Schuster, the owner of this Toyota GT86, faced the same problem as many others who bought this sports car: engine failure. Rather than repairing it, he decided to replace it with a Nissan Leaf powertrain.
Before the upgrade, the GT86 needed 7.6 seconds to reach 100 km/h (62 mph) and maxed out at 233 km/h (145 mph). Switching to all-electric enabled the coupe to reduce the sprint time to under five seconds. However, the electric motor’s 188 hp (140 kW) capped the top speed at 215 km/h (133 mph).
Schuster did a good job distributing the traction battery weight throughout the car, placing 20 cells where the spare wheel had been, 12 where the fuel tank once resided, and the remaining 16 where the gas engine sat when it was still needed.