It feels as if electric vehicles are on the verge of becoming the mainstream cars everyone buys. However, for many people, an electric vehicle was their very first car long before they even had a driver’s license. If you were lucky enough to have a Power Wheels vehicle as a kid, then you know the shrunken-down replicas of real-world cars come with a battery and electric motor.
A new video shows the Grind Hard Plumbing Co team modifying a miniature Porsche Boxster, one of the biggest Power Wheels they could purchase. It’s beefy, with a metal chassis, rubber tires, a key, and a parking brake, which sounds like the real thing. However, unlike the Boxster you buy at the dealership, this one can only cruise at about 5 miles per hour.
One of the first modifications called for a hybrid battery from a full-size car to the little Power Wheels Porsche. It made the EV measurably quicker but also caused a burning smell. The crew then installed the more potent electric motor, which really upped its output.
The video is long, with the majority dedicated to documenting the build process. It’s not until the 30-minute mark (which is when the embedded video above starts) that the modified Power Wheels car hits the road for preliminary testing. It’s quick, easily hitting 40 and 50 miles per hour in short bursts of acceleration, with plenty of power in reserve to breach the 60-mph mark. It went fast enough to have the hood fly up, which a little duct tape easily fixed.
In the last 15 minutes, the tiny car tows the massive, old-school 7,000-pound military Humvee. The little car didn’t hit 60 miles per hour while towing, but it did create a lot of tire smoke. The Power Wheels towed the Humvee several feet before running out of usable asphalt. The car would eventually blow through its tires near the end of the video.
The Grind Hard Plumbing Co YouTube channel has plans to modify the little thing further. The team wants to improve the car’s ability to handle all the power as the electric motors easily overpowered and destroyed the tiny tires. We’ll likely see it receive an updated drivetrain, a new chassis, and even more upgrades.
