This Audi RS5 Has The EV Heart Of A Tesla

In the enthusiast world engine swaps are nothing new. All sorts of cars end up with engines that were never meant to be crammed under their hoods, but that doesn't stop performance fans. If you thought that the dawn of EVs would mean the end of engine swaps you would be wrong.

The video at the bottom of this story shows off what is being called the first Tesla powered Audi. The car started off as an Audi S5 with a V8 engine. At some point, the owner stripped that V8 out of the car and shoehorned in the electric powertrain from a Tesla.

The owner claims to have done the entire swap himself. When asked about how many Tesla pack modules he has crammed in the back of the car, the owner states 16. That is a full Tesla battery pack. You can see in the video that installing the battery and electronics required the replacement of the back seat of the car but leaves the trunk open for carrying groceries.

There are also battery packs in the front of the car where the radiator used to sit for the V8. The entire build took six months to pull off according to the owner. The car is all-wheel drive and uses a custom gear reduction in the front under the hood.

The owner does talk about his driving range, but it is hard to understand what he said in the video. The charger for the battery pack is installed into the fuel filler area. It's an insane project to have completed in six months with the only help from a guy who claims to be working on an electrical engineering degree.