Electric power has opened up a whole new world of possibilities for automotive enthusiasts, allowing incredible performance to be built into cars that were never intended for it. The best example of this is this classic VW Beetle, which, as reported by Carscoops, hides power beneath its humble exterior that can put even modern supercars to shame.
The project is signed by the German workshop Knepper Bugs & More, which found this bug in a waste in California. After transporting it to Germany, they began a lengthy restoration process, discarding the original engine in favor of something much more powerful and more suited to the modern age.
A classic with a modern heart
The heart of this car is now a power unit taken from the rear axle of the Tesla Model S. The engine has been further modified to work at a higher voltage, which has raised its output to more than 600 horsepower and 700 Nm of torque. Power is transmitted to the wheels via half-axles from the Porsche 930, while energy is provided by 17 battery modules from the Porsche Taycan.
The performance is, as expected, stunning. According to the Knepper workshop, this Beetle needs only 2.9 seconds to reach 100 km/h. For comparison, the new Lamborghini Temerario with twin-turbo V8 hybrid drive completes the same sprint in 2.7 seconds, while the latest Porsche 911 GT3 needs 3.4 seconds. This means that a modern 911 would quickly become smaller and smaller in this Beetle’s rearview mirror.
With a single charge, the Beetle can travel about 250 kilometers. If you drive it the way it was designed to be driven, the range drops to about a hundred kilometers, but we doubt that anyone will care about that.
To cope with the massive increase in power, much of the suspension and braking system was taken from the Porsche 944. A number of KW and Bilstein components were also fitted to ensure the Beetle could safely put all its power to the road.
More than the drive itself
But they didn’t just focus on the powertrain. The body has been thoroughly restored and painted in a beautiful Marathon Blue shade. The car sits on classic Porsche rims and is lowered, giving it a more aggressive stance on the road. There’s also a small carbon fiber spoiler, but other than that, there’s almost nothing to suggest that this Beetle has power comparable to a Lamborghini Huracan.
The interior remained impressively simple. The original instrument panel has been retained, now restored but true to the car’s roots. Recaro seats from a 2002 BMW were installed and the old shifter was replaced with a small digital touchscreen for gear selection.
In order to prove the quality of workmanship and the reliability of the project, the owner of the Knepper workshop took the Beetle on a journey of 8,000 kilometers through Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, and even across the Strait of Gibraltar to North Africa.
