Steam Whistle Brewing’s Retro Electro

The Retro Electro is a 1958 Chevy Apache that was restored and converted to an electric vehicle over about a year and a half by Vancouver based Steam Whistle Brewing Company. Steam Whistle is known for their fleet of vintage vehicles used for their local deliveries. The idea for the Retro Electro was born at one of their employee round table discussions on how to make the company more environmentally responsible. It’s powered by what appears to be Thundersky batteries and an Azure Dynamics AC-90 AC motor and inverter connected directly to a Ford 9 inch rear end. They claim the setup makes 90 horsepower and 456 foot-pounds of torque (this figure is probably at the wheels with the short ring and pinion gearing) in the videos. Steam Whistle also made sure they weren’t simply redistributing their carbon footprint by making sure the power used to charge the truck came from a local windmill farm. Breathing new life into a cool old truck with an electric conversion is just awesome. Check out their 7-part video series detailing the whole project.