Classic Jeep Engine Swap by Meziere Enterprises at SEMA
Meziere Enterprises is known for water pumps and drag racing, but Kyle Meziere took their electric water pump and dropped it into a Jeep along with a Tesla Motor and Chevy Volt battery pack for a one of a kind classic Jeep.
The end result is a beautiful classic restomod with 280 hp and 7000 ft-lbs torque at the wheels. Kyle excitedly told me that it pops wheelies both on acceleration and on deceleration if you let it. The battery pack from a Chevy Volt is just shy of 19 kwh, and while that is small compared to many OEM electric cars, it is plenty for this jeep to hit the trails all day.
Whenever someone embarks on a EV swap build there are a few potential “gotchas”, one of which is how you connect the electric motor to the existing drivetrain. In this case, Kyle got really lucky since the Tesla Model 3 motor fit almost perfectly. He basically has the electric motor taking the place of the Jeep transfer case, which cuts down on the total parts count significantly. To make sure nothing snapped, he upgraded axes and other suspension components.
Another challenge conversions face is how to deal with water pumps and brake pumps when they weren’t electric to begin with. For Kyle he had the solution with an electric water pump from Meziere that they developed for drag racing. I had never see one like this before, but it was really cool how the water pump bolted directly to the radiator.
This Jeep came out looking great and performing off road as it was meant to better than ever. I hope you enjoy the deeper discussion with Kyle, and I look forward to seeing more upgrades and builds from him.
Meziere Links:
Kyle’s Jeep Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/torquemountain/
Meziere Website - https://www.meziere.com/
Meziere Enterprises Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/meziereenterprises/
EVTUNERS Links: