Unusual. A Volkswagen Golf 2 GTI with a ... Tesla engine

This Volkswagen Golf GTI hides an electric motor.

In the United Kingdom, a retrofit company attached a Tesla electric motor to a 1980s Volkswagen Golf GTI. The performance of the compact is increased and its emissions reduced, but the conversion is very expensive.

eDub Services is a British company specializing in retrofitting, which cut its teeth by converting Volkswagen Combis from the 1960s and 1970s to electricity. The firm is now tackling cars and has just presented a Volkswagen Golf 2 GTI of which 112bhp 1.8L 8s four-cylinder with manual transmission has been replaced by a 100% electric powertrain.

Volkswagen Golf GTI retrofit eDub street — Externally, the Golf remains almost unchanged.

TO READ. Volkswagen Golf GTI: evolution since 1976

The GTI which was no longer a GTI

The engine installed in this Golf comes from Tesla and eDub offers two power levels to choose from: 164 hp or 274 hp. In addition, thanks to the instantaneous torque of the electric motor, performance is a clear leap forward compared to the original. You can opt for the e30 battery of 35 kWh or the e50 pack of 54 kWh, the latter offering nearly 275 km of autonomy according to eDub. The first “customer” copy is recharged using a CHAdeMO format cable, but the CCS2 socket will soon be adopted, with a maximum charging power of 70 kW. In the passenger compartment, the automatic transmission selector has taken the place of the gear lever, the clutch pedal has disappeared, and meters adapted to the new engine have been installed. As for the GTI coat of arms, initially “Grand Tourisme Injection”, eDub wonders with amusement what new meaning could be attributed to it.

Volkswagen Golf GTI dynamic eDub retrofit — eDub announces a power of up to 274 hp.

A € 60,000 retrofit

From the original vehicle, the retrofit of a Golf 2 GTI at eDub starts at around € 60,000 with the e30 pack and € 65,000 in the e50 version, prices several times higher than the value of the car on the second-hand market. The company presents its services as a means of continuing to drive these cars in low-emission zones and specifies that the conversion is reversible. It is already working on other classic cars such as the BMW 700 or even the Porsche 911, and provides in total a range of five powertrains with powers of up to 608 hp and battery capacities of up to 80 kWh. But the prices reserve these changes to a very small clientele.