Arthur DeVitalis, Rollinsville. Woody Boyd began the Electromod Garage with one goal in mind; to convert all the cars that people love into electric cars.
“We truly do believe that electric cars are going to be the future of moving people around in this country and the world,” he said. “We just got started professionally here a couple months ago.
The business has been open for just two months, but Boyd’s expertise stretches back years. He worked for BMW for 13 years, and more automotive shops after that. He has full electric and hybrid certifications through BMW, and continues to tinker today. The shop can service Priuses, Teslas, and other electric vehicles, hybrid or not. A lot of these vehicles deal with normal automotive problems, but Boyd is also versed in the electrical half (or whole) of cars and SUVs.
“We’re working on a 1998 BMW M3. We’re going to get a 300 horsepower Tesla motor in there, and we’re hoping to get about 100 to 150 miles out of the range,” Boyd said. “Just the motor is the only thing we’re taking out of the Tesla for this, at least. It’s going to an electric drive train. We’re going to try to make it as clean as possible.”
The shop also specializes in European-brand automotive repair, with Boyd having experience in BMWs, Volvos, Audi, and quite a few other manufacturers. For small or large repairs, the shop can handle it all. Of course, when Boyd began learning, it was all gas.
“We have a second swap lined up with a Toyota Landcruiser. We’re going to take a large Tesla drive train and make it all-wheel drive. That’s probably going to have 450 horsepower, and hopefully a much bigger range; 250-300 miles at that,” he said. “It’s a little easier to get the batteries into a vehicle like that.”
He doesn’t have what he considers to be true classics, like a Chevelle or a Malibu, but he has a couple cool old BMWs. He has an old 3 Series from the 1980s with a V8.
“We had an 1986 635 CSi [of the BMW 6 Series] that we did a manual swap for and a whole new engine swap for one of our good customers,” Boyd said. “There’s all different kinds of electric motors you can put in. We like to use Teslas just because they have a proven track record of being reliable and make quite a bit of power. But the Teslas don’t use any gearbox [transmission] whatsoever. It’ll just be one speed, no shifting or anything like that.”
Look out for swap meets and other classic car events to accompany the shop when Covid-19 restrictions lighten. Boyd is thinking weekly or monthly meets to introduce owners to the electrifying idea.
“We’re going to have a big event in the summertime, maybe grill out,” he said. “We’re hoping to get people on board. We know not everybody loves electric cars but we’re trying to change hearts and minds.”
For more information, visit www.electromodgarage.com, give them a like on Facebook or Instagram, or call Woody at 303-258-9150. The shop is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
(Originally published in the March 4, 2021, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)
