California man converted his 2001 Volkswagen Passat into an EV and shares what's it's been like to drive after 10 years and 90,000 miles

A 2001 Volkswagen Passat EV conversion might sound like a modern YouTube trend, but this one was already a decade old in December 2019.

Long before factory EVs were common, YouTuber Eric Tischer decided to build his own electric daily driver from scratch.

After getting his hands on a broken sedan on Craigslist, Tischer began his engineering experiment.

It wasn’t easy, but the result would surprise you.

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This 2001 Volkswagen Passat was revolutionary at the time

In his video, Tischer revealed that he bought the Passat back in 2008 after finding it with a seized camshaft, making it perfect donor material for an electric swap.

Originally an automatic, the car was converted to a manual transmission during the EV build, something almost unheard of today, as many people no longer know how to drive manual.

Power comes from a custom-built system running around 330 volts and up to 300 amps, delivering roughly 90 kilowatts.

The battery pack is spread throughout the car, including the trunk, under the rear seat, and where the fuel tank once lived.

This gave the Passat close to a 50/50 weight distribution after custom rear springs were installed.

Living with the converted Passat turned out to be surprisingly simple.

There were no oil changes, spark plugs, timing belts, or exhaust issues to worry about, and brake wear is minimal thanks to regenerative braking.

Tischer charged mostly at home using a 240-volt setup, programmed to kick in after midnight when electricity rates are cheaper.

He also added a J1772 adapter so the car can use public chargers.

With energy use around 320 Wh per mile, the car delivered about 100 miles of range, though he typically stayed under 70 miles to preserve battery health.

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The science project yielded unexpected results

Inside, the Passat feels like a science project in the best possible way.

The clock has been repurposed into a digital voltmeter, the tachometer is driven by an Arduino-controlled stepper motor, and a custom battery management system monitors every cell.

Electric power steering, a vacuum pump for the brake booster, and a DC-powered air conditioning compressor make the car fully functional year-round.

It even retained ABS and airbags, since the vehicle’s structure was never modified.

The EV conversion project also paid off in unexpected ways.

Tischer’s 2001 Volkswagen Passat helped him land a job at Tesla, where he worked as a senior staff engineer after literally driving the car to his interview and presenting it as his ‘rolling resume’.

After retiring and moving on to a Tesla Model 3, the Passat’s batteries and EV components were reused, and the chassis was donated to charity.

The car may be gone, but its decade-long experiment proved that homebuilt EVs were viable long before they became mainstream.

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