People that love cars are probably very familiar with engine swaps. And with EV conversions. But there is at least one of the last cases that fits very well in the first ones. An EV conversion that is an engine swap. Better said, a motor swap, since these guys from Polykup – in association with Edge Motors – put the soul of a Tesla Model S P85 into the body of an Audi S5.

You have already read about this car here at InsideEVs. At the time, the YouTube channel Rich Rebuilds had paid a visit to the guys that made it, but the Audi was still in the works. Now it looks pretty much finished. A long way until this stage, as the interview from the Deutsche Auto Parts YouTube channel makes very clear.

The S5 transformation demanded a lot of extra work. Not only because the owner of the car and of Polykup, Samuel Polyak, wanted to retain the Quattro system the original S5 had. He also intended the car to fully communicate with the Tesla engine. 

Besides promoting a motor swap, Polyak also managed to make Tesla and Audi talk to each other and get to good terms. The S5 now has a 10-in touchscreen that is fully integrated with the car.

The video brings lots of interesting details on how the conversion was made, what the shop had to do to make everything work and also about how the car now behaves.

One of the most interesting adaptations made by Polyak was putting the whole battery pack of the Model S inside the S5. Instead of replacing the Audi’s floor, he divided the pack into 16 modules and stacked them where the German coupé previously had rear seats.

Polyak also had to make arrangements for the batteries to retain their thermal management, the BMS.

Too much work for an S5 with the proper powertrain? Perhaps, but when you know that Polyak’s business is precisely to turn gas-powered cars into EVs, the S5 makes for a perfect business card. 

If Polykup was able to make all this, it will probably also be able to handle what you and many others have in mind for their dream cars. Vehicles that did not offer the EV derivative Polyak’s company is now willing to create.

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