Tesla Owner Swaps His Model S's Electric Powertrain With a V8 Engine

In what would be an entire episode on Ripley's Believe it or Not, a Tesla owner has swapped the electric powertrain on his vehicle for a gas-guzzling V8 engine, The Drive reported. When the world is just starting off on the electric bandwagon, this EV owner seems to be heading in the wrong direction.

Before you start judging the vehicle owner, here's a little background. The car owner also happens to have a YouTube channel called Rich Rebuilds where he keeps rebuilding old cars. Among their previous videos, you will find a Corvette that they have turned electric and even a Tesla that is off-road capable. 

The car called ICE-T has been in the works for two years and you can see incremental changes on the Tesla if you keep going back on the videos on their channel. Last month, the modified car made its debut at the SEMA held in Las Vegas where it attracted visitors and raised many eyebrows.

The V8 engine used in ICE-T is sourced from a Camaro and the team had to custom build a gear tunnel to connect the engine with the manual gear stick. The exhaust pipes have also been neatly hidden away similar to the gas tank under what was once the charging port on the electric vehicle. 

The Tesla suspension has been replaced and so have been the wheels on the drive. Tesla's displays continue to function even if they are highlighting missing components of the electric vehicle. The return of the combustion engine brings back oil changes for this car, perhaps the world's first as well for a Tesla.

The million-dollar question though is what would Musk have to say about this? It is engineering. It looks neat. It is a functional vehicle that can take you around. Looks like a Tesla too. Would he choose this or the one powered by jet engines?