Icon’s 1949 Mercury Coupe EV Is A Tesla Powered Beauty
The vehicle comes with a dual-motor setup and a Tesla 85 kWh battery
Every time you wake up, the sun is shining and you feel good even though you gotta go to work, you know something positive is in the works. Today is a day like that, as I get to write about one gorgeous vehicle that takes you back to the golden ages of cars in an instant. Coming from Icon as part of their “Derelict” series of conversion, this 1949 Mercury Coupe is one EV conversion that will make you pause, stop and appreciate something mechanical in a way we seldom do these days.
Icon is a Los Angeles, California based company that converts old school beauties into vehicles powered by modern powertrain systems. Well, that’s actually a lie. Icon is a company that started off specializing in truck & offroad conversion and masterful tuning, working in bringing some badass offroad builds to its customers. However, this new venture into the world of converting retro beauties into pieces of art is definitely an awesome business move in the right direction.
This old Mercury was completely taken apart so that all of it’s rubber parts could be replaced with new, modern replacements. It also features brand new insulation, sound-deadening materials wherever possible and definitely looks good with its rusted out, albeit completely mechanically sound look.
The Icon Mercury features a completely new chassis, developed with Art Morrison Enterprises, with an independent suspension front and rear. However, its old V8 is replaced with a rather sick solution: in place of the old engine now sit the battery controllers and a few of the battery modules. Furthermore, the electric motors powering the vehicle are mounted in the transmission tunnel, balancing the vehicle perfectly.
The dual electric motors provide the power equivalent of 400 horsepower and 470 lb-ft (637 Nm) of torque. They are powered by a Tesla Performance 85 kWh battery, fully rechargeable in 90 minutes. In turn, this vehicle (even though you’ll probably not gonna drive it far on a daily basis), comes with a range of 241 to 322 kilometers (150 to 200 miles) – according to the company. Finally, there’s a rather cool fast-charging plug behind the front license plate, which goes hand-in-hand with the Tesla Supercharger plug out back, placed instead of the original fuel filler.
For those that live in Europe, we have some great news. This Icon 1949 Mercury Coupe EV is coming to the 2020 Geneva Motor Show, where you’ll be able to admire the craftsmanship that went into making this gorgeous modern iteration of a classic retro vehicle in the flesh. For those that won’t be able to make it to the show or are scared of the whole coronavirus thing, you can admire the vehicle in the detailed media gallery right below.
Source: Icon VIA CarScoops
