By Cristian Gonzalez
A look at the current state of electric vehicle customization and how manufacturers are creating waves in motorsports and beyond. Photo courtesy of Larry Chen.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Technology advances, engines and powertrains transform, but the driver's need to modify and enhance their vehicle never deviates.
Looking at the automotive landscape, we are blessed with variety. The modern American consumer-enthusiast can choose from a century's worth of automotive innovation, and the aftermarket can supply endless modifications and performance enhancements to make any vehicle unique. For a while, this was only directed toward internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, but now, we have a new power technology to propel the specialty-equipment market.
THE LONG ROAD TO GET HERE
Consumers in the electric vehicle (EV) space are no different than those who are more interested in ICE vehicles. Most EV enthusiasts even come from the ICE world. They, too, search for ways to customize their vehicles to their tastes and exhibit some individuality--something you don't see much of coming off the lot. That leaves the aftermarket to meet that demand.
Nicole Hamilton, a recipient of the 2024 SEMA Visionary 8 Award and marketing manager at Engaged Media, has been immersed in the EV aftermarket culture for years. Having helped launch multiple publications under Engaged Media, including "Tesla Trends" and "EV Buyers Guide," Hamilton has witnessed the growth of the EV aftermarket and the culture that has formed around it.
In Tesla's early days, with no aftermarket modifications available, the EV custom culture was non-existent. However, the enthusiasts were still there. Tesla had its own cult following of drivers who fell in love with the brand's driving capabilities. If you bought one early on, you were kind of in this unspoken club, says Hamilton.
Customization started off slow. Initially, you would only see tire and wheel packages and car wraps to help stand out from the white/black/red color choices. Now, if you roll up to a Tesla meet, you'll find vehicles with upgraded headlights and interior glows, carbon-fiber kits, suspension upgrades and more.
"It's like on steroids now with the customization and turning it into your own personality," says Hamilton. "Companies like Unplugged Performance [UP] have full-body kits, performance upgrades and style packages that owners can buy. I think at the beginning it was just, get a Tesla, wrap it, [and] put the wheels and tires on it. Now all these manufacturers are creating these different parts and gadgets. Now it's like the sky is the limit."
Ben Schaffer, Unplugged Performance president, and former SEMA Board member Brian Reese, CEO of T Sportline and its sister company EV Sportline (for all other EV platforms), have led the charge in jumpstarting EV enthusiast culture through aftermarket products.
Tesla approached Schaffer's Japanese car-tuning company Bulletproof Automotive in 2013 to modify their vehicles, marking UP's inception. "We tried to facilitate building the pillars of the aftermarket for EV," says Schaffer. "No one made any parts for Tesla, so we started manufacturing products category to category to get owners excited about custom car culture."
EV experienced an alienated beginning in the specialty automotive industry, almost seen as a category unto itself, unbelonging to the aftermarket culture. Hamilton and Schaffer no longer see that as the case. "It's starting to all blend together where [now] many car manufacturers have an EV variation. The walls are broken down, and it's a bit more intermixed… and now it's not controversial to own an EV. It's just something that carmakers build and people [modify]," expresses Schaffer.
UP brought the first modified Tesla to the SEMA Show in 2014. Ten-plus years later, you'll find EVs scattered throughout the Show floor, side by side with ICE vehicles, demonstrating the demand and growth for aftermarket products for an expanding market with abundant opportunity. "SEMA has everything automotive and it's not a one-size-fits-all type of thing. But at the end of the day, all of us are automotive enthusiasts, we all made careers out of it, and we love the automotive community. Whether you have an EV or LS, whatever the difference is, we all love cool stuff that goes fast," proclaims Hamilton.
A NONEXISTENT NEED
EVs are much heavier than a typical ICE vehicle. Enthusiasts swap body parts with carbon-fiber kits for style and shedding weight. Photo courtesy of T Sportline.
Love them or hate them, one thing can't be denied--these EVs are fast.
Aesthetic mods aside, we wanted to know what the aftermarket landscape looked like for enthusiasts ready to spend money on making their Tesla or other EV model go faster. What modifications were drivers making to the motor or CPU to add more power? Turns out, none.
Reese from T Sportline has been working on expanding the EV aftermarket for years. According to Reese, there are a few reasons you don't see modifiers opening up and tampering with these complex systems. Primarily, consumers in the EV space haven't found the need for it.
"It's not a low-hanging need," says Reese. "They're tuned and operate really well, and if that ever changes or there's the perceived opportunity to tune for improvement, then that space will open up. But right now, there's not much need, so without the need, it doesn't percolate up to being served."
It seems almost blasphemous not to work on your vehicle's motor and try to get a few more horsepower, but according to Schaffer, going in and modifying the power system would remove something that makes a Tesla so unique: its over-the-air software updates. These downloads regularly update the vehicle's infotainment system, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and performance tweaks to the powertrain. Plus, there are other ways to modify a car for speed.
A FOCUS ON CONTROL OVER POWER
The Plaid mode is Tesla's high-performance feature in the Model S and Model X, outputting more than 1,000 hp and hitting 0-60 mph in 1.99 sec. So how do you make that faster without tampering with the electric motor or computer? You make it easier to control...
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