Lines of attendees formed outside of the Tampa Convention Center during a recent trade show event, to jump into the seat of a parked DeLorean DMC vehicle, the car model made famous through the 1985 Back to the Future film. A local entrepreneur has converted the displayed sports car into an all-electric vehicle.
Automotive technology company Ampere EV has replaced the original 130-horsepower PRV six-cylinder engine with a Tesla Small Drive Unit (SDU) and a triple battery setup. The electric powertrain system boosts the vehicle’s ability to reach 60 miles per hour in just over four seconds.
“It’s us old guys who have this undying love of retro cars, but the maintenance is horrible, and we wanted to remove that piece of it and still have an amazing vehicle with reliability and performance,” said Matt White, owner of Ampere EV.
The internal combustion-turned-electric DeLorean model displayed at the trade show earlier this year is among the other vehicles White’s company has worked on, including a Porshe 911 model designed for a customer.
White, a St. Pete resident, receives the electric variants from overseas and manufactures the systems in Georgia. The seven-member company plans to open a light manufacturing warehouse in Tampa within the next two years.
“Our main customers are the businesses converting and selling high-volume retro vehicles. There’s a company that sells the old Range Rovers, classic Jaguar and Chevy vehicles. They were putting high-performance motors in them, but they shifted to doing EV buildouts instead, working with our competitors in the U.K. There were issues and that’s when we stepped in,” White said.
Ampere EV, founded in late 2020, is on track to earn $1.2 million in revenue this year and $3.5 million in 2024.
“We could’ve entered the do-it-yourself market, but because of the turnkey, all-inclusive product we deliver, everything is expensive and would be out of reach for the average car guy,” White said.
His lowest-priced level system, which does not include the vehicle and cost of full conversion process, is $55,000. The most expensive system is priced at $109,000.
“There are companies out there trying to invent the mouse trap and cobble together parts or hire engineers – but there’s only so much bandwidth,” White said. “We are the only company in the U.S. with a plug-and-play deliverable system.”
Matt White, CEO of Ampere EV.
White, who studied aerospace engineering at the University of Central Florida, is also the founder of Tampa-based Meter Technology Werks (MTW), a leading U.S. water meter supplier. In 2020, the Tampa Bay Chamber named MTW a Small Business of the Year awardee.
White, who continues to serve as president of MTW, previously worked as a mechanical design engineer for Lockheed Martin and Pratt and Whitney, repairing development before entering the field of applications engineering.
“I never imagined myself in the water meter business,” White said.
Throughout his corporate journey, he never lost his early interest of the auto industry and how the rise of fossil fuel bans and push to electric could make owning and operating internal combustion vehicles a rarity.
The making of a motorhead
“In the early ’90s, my wife and I backpacked around the country. My bag had two or three pairs of shorts, a couple T-shirts and about 15 books about converting cars into electric vehicles back when people used boat batteries and forklift motors. It was always something I wanted to do,” he recalled.
White participated in the 24 Hours of Lemons race series that’s hosted on paved roads and courses across the U.S. The series is named after the annual 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car race in Le Mans, France, and the notion of “lemon cars,” according to the organization’s website.
After competing in eight races and placing first at one event, White took on a new challenge of the race – converting a tradition vehicle into an electric car. The EV owner would receive “one million nickels” if they placed first.
“I used my engineering skills to try to convert a car into an electric vehicle and it would cost us $70,000 to potentially win the $50,000 prize,” White said. “One afternoon, I was so frustrated and didn’t understand why there wasn’t a plug-and-play model so you could skip the buildout and go play with your toys.”
The pain points sparked White’s mission to develop such an envisioned product, but not without roadblocks.
“We started the business during the supply crisis. There’s a battery component that typically costs $100 per part, but the price increased to $250. I tried to buy out as many domestic pieces and also bought cables by the kilometer. Everything was customized and hard to get,” White said.
“I cashed out my IRA, barrowed money from friends and family and took out another mortgage to fund the $2.5 million upfront costs. I was buying $1 million worth of inventory, hiring engineers and consultants.”
However, the team has since inked a significant partnership with an unnamed domestic competitor.
“I learned in other businesses, that if there’s an opportunity to work with your competitor, you can take advantage of the holes in the market,” White said. “I’m providing a comprehensive list of our components with my costs, and we agreed to the markup. I’m buying roughly $100,000 worth of motors from them.”
Several customers have approached Ampere EV about a possible acquisition, but White said he’s not ready to exit the driver’s seat.
The post St. Pete entrepreneur electrifies retro and classic cars first appeared on St Pete Catalyst.
The post St. Pete entrepreneur electrifies retro and classic cars appeared first on St Pete Catalyst.