Mavrick Knoles of Legacy EV

We sit down with Mavrick Knoles, the President and Co-Founder of Legacy EV.

Summary
Mavrick shares his background and the journey of Legacy EV, an aftermarket automotive company focused on EV parts distribution and workforce development. They provide training and support for individuals and businesses in the EV industry, including EV conversions. Maverick discusses the importance of hands-on learning experiences and the development of industry standards for EV technicians. He also highlights Legacy EV's presence at SEMA and the growth of the EV industry in recent years. This conversation explores the productization and feasibility of EV conversions, highlighting the role of systems like Fellten's Universal Pack in quick conversions. Along with the efficiency and speed these types of kits bring to the conversion process. We discuss the vetting of vendors and the selection of partners along with the validation of conversion kits. Along with the growing transition from used EV parts like those found in salvaged Teslas to buyers looking more at completely new products in their EV builds. Mavrick also shares the challenges of the supply chain, future conversion projects, industry growth, EV Tech education, and the availability of fast charging capabilities in EV conversions.

Takeaways

• Legacy EV is an aftermarket automotive company that provides EV parts distribution and workforce development.
• Hands-on learning experiences are crucial for understanding EV technology and building skills.
• Industry standards for EV technicians are important for ensuring safety and quality in the industry.
• The EV industry has grown significantly in recent years, with a greater focus on EV conversions and education. The productization of EV conversions and the availability of interchangeable and off-the-shelf parts make conversions more feasible and approachable for a wider audience.
• Ready to bolt in kits play a crucial role in quick conversions, cutting down build time, product sourcing and simplifying the process.
• The validation and installation of conversion kits ensure their functionality and compatibility with different vehicles.
• The industry is experiencing rapid growth, driven by advancements in technology, education, and customization options for EVs.

Watch the full episode on Youtube

Also check out our previous episode with Chris Hazell from Fellten Systems

Also if you are looking to either buy a Tesla or even test drive one, feel free to use our referral code.

Want to be a guest on Grid Connections?

Website   |   YouTube   |   Twitter   |   Instagram   |   Facebook

Creators & Guests

Host

Chase Drum

Host of Grid Connections and Founder of Bespoke EVs

Guest

Mavrick Knoles

President & Co-Founder of Legacy EV

What is Grid Connections?

Discover the future of energy in the Grid Connections Podcast. Join our expert host as we explore the latest innovations and developments in the world of renewable energy, electric vehicles, and sustainable transportation.
In each episode, we dive deep into topics such as the future of electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, and the impact of renewable energy on our society. We'll discuss cutting-edge technology, industry trends, and the challenges faced by those working to create a more sustainable future.
By listening to the Grid Connections Podcast, you'll gain valuable insights and knowledge from industry experts, policymakers, and thought leaders. You'll also have the opportunity to stay up-to-date on the latest developments in the world of sustainable energy and transportation.
Don't miss out on this exciting and informative podcast. Download the Grid Connections Podcast today and join us on our journey towards a cleaner, reliable future.

Good morning Grid Connections listeners,
I'm your host Chase and the Grid

Connections podcast is the podcast
designed to help empower your electric

vehicle knowledge.

Today we're exploring converting
traditional combustion engine vehicles to

electric and general EV maintenance.

Our guest today is none other than Mavrick
Knoles, the co -founder of Legacy EV.

His company is an aftermarket automotive
company helping educate the workforce on

electric vehicle conversions and provide
electric vehicle parts distribution.

Legacy EV is really trying to make EV
conversions and maintenance easier for

everyone.

I actually was able to take Legacy EV's in
-person electric vehicle conversion course

at their facility in Tempe last May and
I've included a link to it in the show

notes.

It was a great experience to meet others
in the space, most from traditional but

high -end mechanic shops to learn not just
in a detailed classroom environment but

also get extensive hands -on experience in
the shop.

to see what making a traditional
combustion car into an electric vehicle is

all about.

I'm actually working on my own electric
vehicle conversion currently of a 1987

Land Rover Defender 90.

And in a previous episode, we spoke with
Chris Hazel.

He's the founder of Felton and their
Defender kit, among others that they offer

for converting your own combustion vehicle
to electric.

Quintin, coincidentally,

Legacy EV is one of Felton's distributors
of their conversion kits in the U S and

I've also shared a link to that in the
show notes for today.

Anyone that is listening should also check
out that episode because it really is a

great intro and covers a lot of different
topics of what it takes to get the right

kit for your conversion and kind of some
of the interesting ways that Felton's

approaching that.

And just to clarify, Legacy EV also does
supply many other kits from other vendors.

But, uh, it's just been great to speak
with the team at Felton because of my

personal interest around their defender
kit, but legacy V, especially if you're

based in the U S really has a, just about
a kit for every use case and different car

out there.

So I really recommend checking out their
site, but today's conversation was really

fascinating with Mavrick.

It was pretty interesting to learn about
his own experiences with how he got

involved with electric vehicles and how he
kind of.

made a pretty big pivot from teaching to
co -founding Legacy EV and what it takes

to really be in that space with making it
as easy to find the right parts and deal

with supply chain headaches to also being
able to provide the education that's

definitely needed for those who are kind
of curious about converting their own

vehicles or even if you're a mechanic in a
shop and want to learn more about working

on electric vehicles or what it takes to
really know.

and how to do that safely.

So I really enjoy this conversation.

I'm hoping to have people like him and
more in the future.

But with that, enjoy.

thank you for joining us today, can you
just give us a little information about

yourself and Legacy EV?

Yeah, absolutely.

Well, Legacy EV was founded conceptually
back in 2019.

My co-founder Rob Ward has been lifelong
gear head and a little bit skeptical

towards the EV movement until he took a
ride in a Tesla P100D and really felt the

torque and performance that EV platforms
have to offer.

And at the time, I think I was one of the
only people he knew that drove an EV.

I'd been an early adopter.

in the EV movement was driving a 2014 Ford
Focus Electric with a 72 mile range.

And actually the first time that I went to
drive that car, the dealership was about

50, 55 miles from my house and I knew the
car at a 72 mile range.

So I bought it and got on the freeway in
Arizona and turned on the AC and the range

went from 72 down to 48.

I was like, I'm not going to make it home.

This is crazy.

What am I supposed to do?

And just real quick, like learning
experience with EVs that, okay, there's

other factors that have parasitic loss
impact on the battery range and what can

happen.

And so Rob spent many days picking me up
with a stranded battery and no range.

So that was my introduction into EV.

Professionally, I started out...

a truly a crash course that is.

I love that.

That that's wild.

No, I I'm sorry.

Keep going.

No, no, you're good.

Yeah, it was wild.

And I love to have that story to share
back when people are like a 72 mile range.

That's crazy.

I didn't even know they made EVs with that
little battery.

And it's like, yeah, in the early days,
that's what they had.

Now it feels like 140 is a really low
mileage range, but yeah, anyway, I started

out professionally in education.

So I graduated from the University of
Washington and had plans to go to law

school.

So I applied for a program called Teach
for America.

And that program placed me in Phoenix
teaching at a new charter school.

I was teaching, uh, reading and writing
to, um, English language learners.

And really just fell in love with
education.

I was like, wow, this is, this is awesome.

Had a ton of fun and, uh, was getting
ready to apply to law school.

And my wife was getting ready to apply to
grad school at the same time.

And so she got into grad school up in
Washington and I was like, you know what?

I'm going to teach for a few more years,
stay in education.

And, uh, I actually found a new charter
school.

that had just been started up in
Washington that I was able to join on as

the math director for.

And they were a charter school that was
all project-based learning, very hands-on,

like engineering, STEM, and robotics.

And so I really got to learn the ropes of
building curriculum there, where we

developed all new curriculum programs that
were based around math that were very

hands-on, project-based learning, had
students working on Arduino technology,

like every day, building really, really
cool things, prosthetic arms, you name it.

And

just really opened my eyes to how much can
be done when you can implement like really

rigorous learning activities with hands-on
approach to learning.

And so that's kind of the basis for how we
approach learning at legacy.

Evie to a lot of our learning is built
around these hands-on experiences and how

can we make sure they're rigorous, but
also really let people learn the technical

by doing.

Um, and so yeah, when Rob approached me to
start legacy V back in 2019, I was, I was

actually getting ready to apply to law
school.

I had taken the LSAT.

I was writing my applications and I was
just feeling like, I don't know if law

school is for me.

So when he approached me with the idea, I
was like, absolutely.

I'd love to.

That sounds way better than reading
contracts all day, which I ironically

spend a large portion of my day doing when
we have big deals coming through the

pipeline.

But yeah, it's been really fun.

It's been a wild ride since we started.

And I guess that's my background.

I didn't talk much about legacy, but I can
dive into a little bit about who legacy is

now as well.

for anybody that's new if that sounds good
to you, Jason.

Yeah, that'd be great.

I definitely want to come back to learn
more about how you landed on the Ford

electric because that is such a rare car
and was such low volume.

So no, I think first let's, let's go into
legacy V and then I have so many questions

about that alone.

Uh, but this is great.

And coincidentally, my wife is a lawyer in
the energy law space.

And I think she would probably agree with
you.

You made the right choice.

Yeah, that's funny.

Yeah, don't connect with people very often
that are also lawyers in this space, but

that's cool.

And yeah, happy to talk more about the
Ford.

I'll keep the intro on Legacy EV a little
bit shorter than I did my own, but Legacy

EV is a aftermarket automotive company
focused on EV parts distribution and

workforce development.

So we distribute aftermarket parts for EVs
focused on mostly EV conversions, but we

also support...

EV repair shops and replacement equipment
for electric vehicles.

And then we provide all the training
that's needed to come along with that.

So that's really how our customer journey
starts, is people come to us to get

trained so they can understand this stuff
better.

And then they really trust us as this
brand agnostic parts hub to come and get

the equipment they need to go out and do
the work that they've now been trained

for.

We also support like junior colleges, tech
schools, high school CTE programs, STEM

programs with the curriculum and hardware
they need to teach programs around

e-mobility.

So to date we have about 50 authorized
installers around the country.

That's how our parts get out into the
world, to the end user really, is we have

authorized installers that convert
vehicles from gas to electric for

customers and we support them with the
parts and training that they need.

And then we're supporting about 18 schools
around the country right now and growing

probably will be at about 30 by the end of
this year.

Oh, wow.

That's awesome.

I knew just kind of from following you
guys that program was starting to take

off, but it's great to see that there's
been so much growth.

I guess if anyone is listening, what would
be the best way that if they have a school

or kind of educator that wants to reach
out to you to learn more about that

program.

Yeah, absolutely.

You can reach out to us at info at
legacy.com.

You can also check out our legacy.

Evie Academy, it's academy legacy.com.

That's our online learning ecosystem that
we just relaunched into.

It's like second iteration now that has a
lot of our online learning materials that

where you can start to explore and see
what's available for you to learn with

online.

Yeah, I think that's, uh, it's such a
great thing that your team is doing.

And it's kind of funny because the way I
came across legacy EV was the opposite of

what you're talking about.

I was actually kind of looking for parts
to do a conversion, saw a lot of the stuff

that you had and realized that even in my
own kind of knowledge base, I was pretty

rusty, um, and still just had a lot of
questions, especially with some of these

kids.

So I first did that online course.

That part I think was good, but was pretty
familiar.

Like I think.

pretty aligned with what I already knew.

And I took the plunge and then did the
actual course in May.

And I think what I enjoyed so much about
that was there was obviously kind of the

curriculum where you're in the class and
you're learning.

And it was very detailed and subject
specific that kind of maybe some of these

other programs, or especially if you're
kind of doing like an online course,

doesn't get into that fine level of
detail.

And then it was augmented with so much
hands-on experience.

And I think that was the huge thing for
me.

Um, and I realized I was kind of in an
interesting, I was kind of just like the

random average Joe in there who was
curious about this, uh, with, there was

one other guy that was, um, an educator,
uh, I believe at a high school in Boise.

And then it was mostly like Shelby America
and like very large, very well

established, um, grouped companies with
McCann, uh, techs and that were trying to

really learn about how to now do EVs.

And so it was just a really great.

uh, learning experience.

And I think what was really cool about it
too, was just such a wide variation in the

people who were there and why they were
there.

Um, so I've really been recommending your
guys program and it's just great to see

how much that's grown.

Well, thank you.

Yeah, we always appreciate that.

And you bring up a good point that really,
you know, our business model is supporting

individuals and businesses in whatever
they need to be able to adopt and adapt

their business to support electrification.

And so that can be these like legacy
companies like Shelby American that are

figuring out what does their business look
like in a world of EV to companies that

are providing paint for battery modules
that goes inside and keeps them

you know, the paint is a different type of
paint than you would see in any other

application.

And they want their sales reps to be able
to talk about the EV and how it works.

And so they send them to us.

And so it's really surprising how many
different types of businesses our training

can support.

But it's really, yeah, the fundamentals of
EV is a fun way for people to learn out

there in the shop, looking at conversions,
looking at the training benches and

getting their hands on the equipment.

So it makes a really fun learning
experience.

For sure, and I think my recommendation
even to the team was like, I would almost

pay the money again, just to like have the
two days of where you're wiring up the

system and doing kind of these, just the
hands-on parts of it, because it's so much

nicer and easier to make those mistakes on
your demo and kind of the educational

stuff you have there versus actually
trying to wire this stuff through and do

it in car.

Um, but yeah, I think it's such a great
program that you guys are doing and it's

not the only program out there, but I
think by far, at least in North America,

for sure, um, since a little bit wild
west, as far as the regulations as to what

qualifies to be an EV tech.

And I know you guys are doing actually a
lot to kind of help build those rules and

put those in place.

Um, but I think it's great to see that you
guys are kind of having not just the

educational component, but also.

You can get everything from a used Tesla
drive unit to a brand new kit.

And it really does give you a really full
spectrum of how much you're trying to do,

maybe a build on a budget to do some kind
of the higher end builds as well.

But, um, I guess that reminds me, I'd be
curious to just kind of learn a bit more

about, um, well, okay, before we get too
much of this, cause I think I can narrow

down this whole day, let's, let's go back
to this Ford, the Ford electric.

I have a couple of questions about that,
but what,

for sure.

But did you choose that?

Cause back then you said it was 2014.

It would have been, it would have been
like that, the Nissan Leaf, and then

obviously like maybe a Model S or
something or a Tesla Roadster, but there's

a pretty big price delta to go up to that.

But yeah, can you share what, um, how you
landed on that?

Yeah, for sure.

Well, so I bought it in, it was either
late 2015 or early 2016.

So it was a used model.

And I think at the time I was looking at
the Nissan Leaf, there was the, the BMW

that's electric that I think had also just
come out, but it was quite a bit more

expensive.

And then yeah, Tesla Model S.

And that was, that was really it.

And so for me, actually what started

my whole journey down the path of
electrification is I was, I was interested

in it for the environmental aspect, but
really it was, I could use the carpool

lane in the state of Arizona.

And I was like, I don't care what I have
to do to be able to charge.

I'll figure this out if I can use a
carpool lane.

Cause I was commuting like an hour and 15
minutes to work and probably 30 minutes of

that was in traffic.

It could have been like a 45 minute
commute if I could use the carpool lane.

And so I just started looking and I was
like, how can I figure this out and what's

the cheapest car?

driving a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta 1.8T,
which was super fun to drive, but it was a

cheap car, right, in 2015.

I think I spent like $4,000 on that car.

And so I was like, I didn't have a bunch
of money.

I was a teacher just starting out of
college.

And so I needed something that was
inexpensive.

So I wasn't gonna do the BMW or the Tesla.

And so I was between the Nissan and the
Ford Focus.

And they had pretty similar range, but I
liked how the Focus looked way better.

I was like, I don't really want to drive a
Nissan light.

It just wasn't doing it for me without
luck.

And the Ford Focus looks just like the gas
Ford Focus.

You can't even tell the difference except
for the blue cloud plate.

And then there's no exhaust.

So that was really the only way that you
could tell the difference.

But I just liked the look.

And I thought at the time, 72 mile range
would do it.

It was like a 40 mile commute to work.

So I was like, okay, I'll get to work.

I'll charge a little bit and then I'll
drive home.

And there was no EV charger.

in my work so I brought the little wall
outlet, like the 110, and I'd plug it in

to like a lamp post outside my work and
then I'd charge it and I'd get like eight

miles on the day and that was it.

But it worked, it got me home.

I just barely had enough to recharge
overnight where I had a level two.

to go both ways.

Gotcha.

Yeah, just barely though.

I mean, I had to plug in at work.

Although here's another really funny
follow up to that story.

After about six months of ownership, the
high voltage battery went out.

And I was like, oh my gosh, this is not
good.

And so I took it to the Ford dealer and
they told me it was gonna cost $36,000 to

replace the battery.

I paid $8,000 for the car.

Maybe even, it was like,

did it cost to actually buy it?

Yeah.

Yeah, I think I paid under $8,000.

I think it was like $7,500 or something
like that.

It was pretty inexpensive.

And especially at the time, it had 16,000
miles on it and it was a 2014.

I was like, this is the newest car I've
ever driven and a backup camera.

I was like, this is great.

I'll do this all day.

But the battery went out and I was like,
that's way more than what I paid for the

car.

Like, how am I gonna do this?

Turns out it was under warranty, eight
year, 100,000 mile warranty.

So Ford footed the bill.

And so they didn't have any more 2014
packs.

They put a 2017 pack in the car.

And so I got 140 mile range.

So I got like the new vehicles, yeah, the
new vehicle range.

And so then when I went to sell that car,
I sold it for like $12,000, which was more

than I paid.

And I saved the money on gas every month
driving it.

So I was like, EVs are the future, this is
the way to go.

I just made so much money out of this car,
it's amazing.

No, that's not everybody's experience.

I think that was pretty unique, but I was
pretty stoked.

legacy EV and teaching, now you're doing
car flipping is kind of what the takeaway

from that experience was.

Yeah.

Yep, absolutely.

No, that's all.

I'm kind of curious when you took it in,
what did the dealership say?

Do you remember as far as like they didn't
want to touch it or they had really no

idea what to do with the battery
replacement and that experience?

I mean, I can imagine that nowadays.

I was talking to someone who had an issue
with a Ford Mach-E recently and then kind

of the high voltage problem we're seeing a
year ago.

I can't even imagine why that would have
been in 2016.

Yeah, it was definitely even more the Wild
West back then than it is today.

I showed up and they were like, we've
never seen one of these, so we don't know

what to do.

It's gonna take a while.

I think it took them like three weeks just
to get me the quote on what it was gonna

cost to repair it.

And then I think it was with them for
three months, replacing the high voltage

battery pack.

So yeah, it was pretty wild.

And the bill, I wish I still had the bill.

I should see if I can find it, but yeah.

everything that went into fixing that
car's battery, it was more expensive than

buying a new 2017.

Like the car was like technically totaled
if it wasn't under warranty, which is just

wild.

So yeah, I think for me that was a really
eye-opening experience that like there,

this is cool that I'm like being taken
care of and I get a new battery pack and

this is all great.

But like what's going to happen once these
things are out of warranty?

how are technicians gonna know how to
replace it?

Cause I only had the Ford dealer.

That was the only place I could go.

That was the only place that sold the
battery pack.

So like even the local mechanic that I was
used to going to, he was like, don't bring

it here.

I can't do anything for you.

And so it just started to like get the
wheels spinning on.

What is this gonna look like in 20 years?

Like when these, a ton of these vehicles
are out of warranty and still technically

like they're on the road, they're getting
bought in the used vehicle market, you

know?

And so I like to think that that's

a large part of what we're addressing
today is we're helping shops get access to

trainings so they can figure out what it
looks like to do work in this space.

And we're supporting shops that are
replacing Nissan Leaf battery packs.

So we have a partner that we work with
where we source the Nissan Leaf components

to sell them into the aftermarket where
people can also come to us and buy those

packs and then install them on Leafs that
have serious battery degradation.

You can get new batteries and replace
those.

So it just starts to open up the world.

possibilities for what you can do in this
space.

I think there's a kind of opportunity here
for sure.

Yeah, that's great.

And I think you're totally right that
there's such a large opportunity, whether

it be from people doing the classic car
kind of resto mod, EV conversion to just

existing electric vehicle maintenance,
which is only going to grow with more and

more of these on the roads.

I guess the only other question I had is
that that's wild that you essentially

didn't have a car for four months.

Did they give you a loaner or what, what
exactly, how did that work out?

Yeah, they did.

I had a Ford, oh, what did I have?

Yeah, I got a loaner, a gas powered car.

And so it was a bummer.

I was like, Oh man, I have to pay for gas
now, which I didn't.

I had free charging at the apartment that
I was living at while I was a teacher.

And then I got to charge for free at work.

So I was saving all that money on gas for
a long commute, you know, but then for

that brief period of time, I had to pay
for gas, which was a bummer and can use

the carpool lane.

So life was rough for a couple of months.

Yeah.

But I was thankful that it was under
warranty and yeah, it was very, very

helpful that the batteries do come with
such, such long warranties.

And it's interesting.

I mean, I love the Phoenix area.

I've got family down there.

And I think especially with those early
EVs, I know the leaf had the issue with it

being, uh, I believe just air-cooled and
not liquid cooled.

I'm not sure about the Ford going from the
70 mile range to the 140 mile range.

When you turned on the AC, was there still
a pretty noticeable difference in range?

Or had there been kind of changes to kind
of the thermal management at all with that

change, the new battery.

You know, that's a good question.

I haven't even looked up the specs of that
car since I have become more knowledgeable

around EV technology.

I believe it was just an air-cooled pack.

Yeah, I don't even think they were really
doing liquid cooling at the time, but

definitely saw range decrease.

I think instead of 142, it was like 117 or
something like that.

So still a big dip.

And heat was the other.

thing that really killed it, but that's
also when I learned like, oh, this car has

seat heat.

And that's like a huge reason why is
because cabin heat takes way more energy

than seat heat.

And so yeah, on you don't get very many
cold winter mornings in Arizona, but

occasionally it's down in like the
thirties or forties.

And so you're right.

Yeah.

So I'd get out there and I turn on the
seat heat and I let it warm up or the car.

Also, you could program it to have a
schedule.

So I like had my commute scheduled.

So

while it was plugged in, it would turn on
cabin heat and get the car up to

temperature while it was plugged in so it
wouldn't take battery life, which was

super cool to be able to have those
features and mess with a lot of that,

which helped with range.

And so I just started to learn the tips.

I learned how to drive it better and all
those things back in 2015, 2016.

I think that's so funny because that's
such a common experience where it's like,

they're very clear reason for, I mean, I
think obviously a lot of people have

bought EVs for environmental reasons, but
I think so, or if they do, it's almost

secondary.

Where there is a lot of it, it's just kind
of curiosity.

Uh, there's obviously the HOV, the, uh,
savings other, I think actually kind of

reasons that people will buy it.

And then there's kind of the secondary
benefits of it.

And to see your kind of your experience of
like kind of going in without really

knowing, and especially back then, there
just wasn't a whole lot of knowledge about

these different systems.

And I think it's really cool to see some
of this in the training I did where, I

mean, obviously I think everyone thinks
about the battery and the motor, but the

biggest thing for sure is really the
thermals to maintain the vehicle over

time.

And trying to minimize those big deltas
you can see in energy usage or even

degradation, but okay.

You.

You sell the electric, you make a profit
with that.

And from there, is that kind of around the
time you were pretty much leaning into

legacy EV and was it at that time really
the focus on education and then kind of

became selling parts as well, or was it
kind of a both at the same time?

Yeah, so I think, you know, when Rob
approached me with the idea, the

authorized installer network was always a
part of what the business would look like.

We knew that, you know, we wanted to be
able to create a trusted network of

technicians who could build these cars for
people.

And really, that helps also establish
trust with the manufacturers that like,

they trust us to distribute their parts
and get them in the hands of knowledgeable

technicians.

And so in order to do that, there needed
to be some aspect of training.

And then I think where I brought some like
vision into the picture was just around

the robustness of that training and what
it needed to look like.

And then the opportunity to also work with
schools to build out talent pipelines, to

help build out a network of technicians
starting out of their education journey

through their Botech school or, or CTE
program, whatever it is.

And so training has always been a part of
the vision of legacy from the beginning.

But as we've.

like moved more and more into supporting
more shops.

We realized how important it is in the
journey of like, pretty much everybody

needs some level of training to be able to
access the opportunity that

electrification is gonna provide in the
automotive market.

And so that's really where the journey
starts for a lot of people for sure.

Well, and I think you're, uh, you're
totally right that you just, there's,

there's a part where you also just have to
get your hands dirty and learn this.

And I think that's what makes your program
so good as it has that element with the

training benches too.

But, um, we actually had Chris Felton or
Chris Hazel on the CEO of Felton, uh, back

in December and one I'm obviously, uh, I
have a 1987 Land Rover Defender 90 that

I'm looking to convert to electric.

So most of that episode was me just
drooling over what their new kid is.

And I've.

heard you guys are going to be the ones
importing it.

So very excited for that.

But it was really interesting talking to
him about how in the EU and the UK, the

definition for when EV tech has to do or
what even a converted EV has to meet is

actually pretty well fleshed out at this
point.

And I know your team was kind of pushing
for some of that here domestically and

also kind of having some of those
discussions at the most recent SEMA event

in Las Vegas.

Is there

Any kind of updates or anything you can
also share about what you're trying to

accomplish and what you're trying to find
to be like those ideal recommendations for

what a qualified EV tech would be.

Yeah, absolutely.

And as you were asking that, it also
sparked a thought that I had earlier that

I wanted to share when we were talking
about the online program versus the

in-person too.

And a big strategy behind the reason the
online programs built the way that it is,

is so that we can cover the base level,
like the fundamentals of what people need

to know before they come in person and
start getting to tinker in a hands-on

environment.

We don't want to preload too much of like
what people need to know.

if we can accomplish it through the
hands-on learning experiences when they

come in.

But we also want to make sure everybody
starts at the same level playing field

when they come in for the hands-on.

That way we can be as efficient as
possible with everybody's time.

So online you get to learn about Ohm's Law
and Watt's Law and efficiency of EVs and

even how the type of tire you use affects
range and what that looks like and how you

estimate it.

And so we go over a lot of that stuff in
the online course and it's pretty

fundamental, pretty basic.

But...

It's important to have that covered before
people come in.

Uh, and then yeah, on standards, we're,
we're definitely heavily involved in

standards, a big reason that we started
out in standards was because we're, we're

building training.

We need to have a benchmark or a watermark
for what it means to be a knowledgeable

technician and all my time in education,
it's, it's built around building training

programs that meet standards.

And so how do you build, uh, training
programs if you don't have outcomes and if

you don't have standards to find.

And so.

Before we even started developing our
programs, we defined the outcomes.

These are the standards that we want
technicians who go through our course to

be able to hit.

And we spent a long time developing those
standards.

We came up with like 148 and we realized,
wow, there's a ton of value in these

standards and this really needs to be
communicated openly to the rest of the

world.

So everybody else can say, yeah, these
standards are good.

Let's take these and let's say that that's
what it means to be a knowledgeable

technician and let's provide support for
that endorsement.

That also means that other companies can
go build programs to those same standards.

And we welcome that.

We want the best programs available for
all technicians, but really what it does

for the tech is it provides an opportunity
to get like manufacturer endorsement and

employer endorsement on the standards.

So we've got more than two dozen industry
stakeholders endorsing those standards now

that we developed for what it means to be
a knowledgeable technician.

We took them out of legacy EV and we put
them in a nonprofit called the Electric

Vehicle Technician Education Council.

We're actually gonna be switching names
here.

shortly likely to the electric vehicle
standards council because that council has

a 12 member board and that board oversees
all the standards that we amend and

ratify.

And that board has an interest in also
setting standards for aftermarket battery

technology for repowers.

And the goal with this organization is not
to create some like big government agency

that

tells people what they should and
shouldn't do with their EVs.

It's more to provide a guiding light for
self-regulation of, okay, we want to make

sure that we're all doing this the best
and safest way possible.

And as a shop owner, like that's what I
would want.

I would want to know what is the standard,
what's the right way to do it.

And so we want to give that roadmap to
people.

We're not enforcing it.

We're not like putting teeth in it and
saying, yeah, to get XYZ, you have to meet

these standards.

It's just, here's the standards of what
the best minds in the industry think we

should all be doing.

and let's provide this info out there for
self-regulation purposes.

And that's where we're at today with it.

It's been a really fun group to be a part
of.

We've got everybody from Chris Hazel from
Felton to Kirk Miller from Hypercraft, to

APPEV, to AmpereV, to Revolt, to Torque
Trends, you name it, Kindred Motorworks.

We've got a really wide and broad group
that represents a lot of different

stakeholders.

Insurance industry is on it.

So...

Yeah, it's cool to be able to have
everybody come together and have this mind

melt where we can come up with these
standards and make sure that we're trying

to guide the industry in the right
direction from like a cohesive and unified

front.

Which is great.

And I think something I need, uh,
something the industry for sure needs just

between so many people learning all of
these new things and how many variables

there are when doing a conversion.

And for those listening, I swear I'm not,
uh, sponsored by legacy V, at least not

yet.

Uh, but, um, it's, it's funny you
mentioned kind of one of the things that

really surprised me that I found really
interesting was, uh, your team had a

Uh, it's, it's really cool.

It was an orange Chevy pickup.

I think that was done by TFL as a
conversion.

And obviously they can, I did like a, I
think they did like in 48 hours.

It was like the down and dirty, like quick
conversion.

Uh, and so it's, it's a good kind of like
test meal to show like what this could

look like, what you can do.

But what I found the most fascinating
about it is when we go around, it's like,

now, if you were to do this, what would
you not do?

And you can kind of find some of these
like, well, I probably wouldn't have put

some of the, uh,

the disconnects and other stuff behind the
battery because if you get an accident,

it's just going to go right through then
destroy all that and then it might catch

on fire.

And so there's also just like this whole
other level of planning and kind of

thinking through design that it like
immediately makes sense.

But once again, it helps that you have
that right there to see.

And it just shows that there's other there
with just about anything there's right

ways and wrong ways.

And I think that program does a really
good job of showing

Uh, how some people have done in ways to
just like, when you're doing your own

build, how to proactively like, try to
think of these things in advance to really

avoid these, uh, sorts of mistakes or
potential, um, not, not that that, like

some of the stuff they did was wrong, but
once again, just kind of thinking if

you're doing your building more than 48
hours, how to kind of build it in a safer

way, which I thought was really cool and
really fascinating.

Yeah, absolutely.

And just so we don't get eaten alive by
the gear heads out there, it was an F 100.

It was a, I think it was a 66 F 100, Ford
F 100.

Yeah.

But no, you're right.

And that's something we talk about a lot.

And we, you know, even as, as a teacher,
but back in the day, I'd have multiple

projects that like, if I'm trying to show
students, you know, grading on a rubric is

much different than grading on a test.

And so like, let's look at these three
projects and just tell me like, what do

you think this would score?

And

having them think about it and look at
non-examples and examples and things that

fall in the middle is a really important
process of synthesizing the learning and

seeing, okay, yeah, I wouldn't do XYZ, but
I would do this.

And it's, you know, even the standards
around what is safe and what is not around

the electric vehicle conversion industry
has shifted a lot in the last 20 years.

I mean, we went from lead sleds to lithium
ion batteries over the last decade and a

half and like.

it just looks way, way different.

And so, yeah, it's like at the time it was
that vehicle that has high voltage battery

disconnects.

I think that was one of the first builds I
saw with a high voltage battery

disconnect, which is wild.

And then all of a sudden it's like, okay,
well, it's actually not in a great spot.

Because yeah, if you get a rear impact,
then it's not in the safest place.

And yeah, it's good to be able to look at
those examples and have learnings and

takeaways.

And even like MSD switches were nearly
impossible to source.

four years ago when we started Legacy.

It was like really difficult to find,
where can you get these from?

And now it's like, okay, we've got a good
supplier.

We make this a requirement on all our kit
bombs and it's included, but like that

wasn't available when we started.

And so, yeah, it's a constant progression.

And I think we're at a really good spot
with safety standards now as the industry

goes, but it's gonna continue to evolve as
well.

For sure.

And it's funny how you just said over the
past 20 years, how EV conversions have

changed.

And I don't even think for most people,
EVs were in the back of their minds for

new cars for like the last five years, but
you're totally right.

Like you can go onto YouTube, you can see
all these videos and there, there have

been a lot of groups that have been doing
this for a couple of decades, but it's so

funny how it was so much of a home brew
experiment kind of like, it was up there

with like, Oh yeah, I've got an old
Mercedes that runs biodiesel or I'm

brewing a small batch of beer in my
garage.

Like it's a very, it was a very
experimental kind of just like a small

group of people kind of tinkering with
this to now a much more advanced, much

more thought out kind of way of doing
these builds and even not even doing the

builds, but doing the builds as kits.

Whereas before it was kind of like, I
might have to kind of figure this out,

drill that hole and figure it out.

Whereas now you can actually buy kits for
these conversions that go right onto like

the old engine mounts, making the
conversions so much simpler and honestly

safer.

Yeah, totally.

I think even when, when we started legacy,
we kind of were at this like inflection

point of like, if you're doing conversions
now, you're definitely still like

pioneering here, you could make the first
electric vehicle that's been in that make

and model that's, that's ever existed.

We still have customers that are like,
that's never been electrified before.

That's super cool.

It's going to be awesome.

Um, but the industry is growing so fast
that it's like.

becoming less and less about pioneering
and more and more about using products

with established reputation.

It's really interesting to see that shift
go from like, we're supporting

manufacturers that were making things in
their garage.

Now it's like they have manufacturing
plants and they have distribution through

us.

The industry is really, really taking off.

It's been really cool to be able to see
that from the moment we entered to where

we're at today.

It's only been four years.

but it's like so much has happened in that
four years.

It's wild.

So I hope that someday somebody like makes
a documentary about the EV conversion

industry and we can talk about these
stories of the craziness of how it started

and where we're at today.

But yeah, it's definitely, things are
getting a lot simpler.

Plug and play kits, bolt on systems for
specific vehicles.

Felton does a great job of that.

APP does a great job of that.

It's really cool to see how this all comes
together.

Yeah.

And I actually, uh, I am kind of curious
to learn more about maybe some of the

requirements you have for finding vendors
or like which are kind of some things that

maybe you don't go with, but, uh, real,
real quickly, can I think tag a lot of

these themes together was I know legacy V
had a large presence at SEMA this past

year and I'm not, were you at SEMA as well
or

I was.

I had to fly out for a day because I had a
meeting back in Phoenix that I had to be

at.

But other than that, I was there.

Yeah, gotcha.

And admittedly, I really wanted to be
there, but it's coincidentally the weekend

I was getting married.

So that didn't work out this year.

Oh, thank you.

Thank you.

But it's funny as it is, my wife even says
like, well, we can go to Vegas next year

for our anniversary or something.

And I used to go to Vegas all the time for
work.

So that to me is like kind of
disappointing.

But I do actually want to go to SEMA.

So that was kind of the part I was excited
about.

And everyone I talked to, it really
sounded like this past year was the year

that

Instead of like electric vehicle and kind
of rest of mods being in the back, it

really was a pretty big portion of it and
pretty front and center.

Were there any things that really stood
out to you?

And is that pretty accurate of what your
experience was too?

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, the industry's come a long, long
way.

You know, when we first displayed at SEMA
in 2021, Mitchell from Torque Trends was

there.

And I remember that year, the Monday, like
opening ceremony, they had their like

feature vehicles drive over this stage.

It's just for industry and exhibitors and
of the seven that drove over this, this

stage to display and talk about the hype
of the show.

Four of them were EV and it was like,
whoa, this is crazy.

Like we're showing up on the scene in
perfect timing.

And then you walk into the show and Mitch
from Torchlands will tell you like, I was

here 10 years ago and this is the only EV
company.

Like there's nobody here.

There's maybe one or two other EV things,
you know, nothing.

Nothing like what there is today.

And that year, I think there were seven EV
companies at SEMA, maybe five, but still

it was like.

That's dramatic growth, right?

That's big.

And so felt like, okay, yeah, this is the
time.

But all of us were spread out.

None of us were next to each other.

We were just all over the show floor.

And then the next year, a few more EV
companies.

And then this year, they brought all of us
together in the electrified zone or the

future tech, propulsion tech zone.

And it was massive.

It was really cool to see all the
technology, all the cars.

It was definitely something that like...

people were coming from all corners of the
expo.

You'd get people coming from Apex, which
is way down the strip at Venetian.

Be like, I had to see what was going on.

I heard you guys are converting a vehicle
live.

I just needed to see it.

And so we would have like literally people
standing outside our booth.

We had big TV screens up, like facing down
so people could see the action.

And then we had four alumni from our
program working together to convert the

Model A Project E from gas to electric and
drove in gas.

And it left electric.

four days later, which was super cool.

Something that's never been done before at
SEMA.

And so it was really fun to be able to
show that to people and then show the

quality of our training for techs who had
not met each other coming together and

working to convert a vehicle from gas to
electric was pretty awesome.

Yeah, that was, uh, I forgot about that.

That's a great, I'm glad you brought that
up.

That was such a cool thing that your team
did there where you actually had a ice,

uh, model a drive in and then, and from
what I had heard, it was even like you had

to even stretch out like the fourth day it
had converted so quickly to electric that

you're like, Oh, okay, let's kind of slow
these things down.

So we make it by that fourth day, but
that, that just kind of shows how

impressive and how much that like I'm
talking about with the kit.

Kind of the product tie, a productization
of this, instead of it being a one-off

kind of like homebrew build, having these
just interchangeable and easy off the

shelf parts really makes this much more
feasible for a lot of people.

Uh, and I think a lot more approachable
for traditional mechanics as well.

Yeah, totally.

And I'll give you the inside scoop here
on, I guess, maybe like how that's

possible to even get done.

And the first piece is a huge shout out to
Felton there.

Universal Pack is a huge piece of what is
going to allow conversions to be done way

quicker.

And so you talked about this a little bit
earlier, but I'll also note that Legacy V

is now the distributor for that product in
North America.

So you can come and get it from us and we
can help support you with implementing

that product into your project, which is
going to cut build time down by a ton.

the biggest time suck of an EV conversion.

So having that done for you is huge.

And then realistically, we built that car,
and I wanna say about a month before we

came to SEMA.

So we had built it, we had then taken it
apart and then put it back together to

test, to prove that we can do this, we can
get it done in four days.

So the motor mounts, the brackets for the
battery box that are gonna fix it to the

chassis, all that stuff was done.

So it's not like we were fabricating and
welding there at the show, we had all that

stuff pre-done.

But I mean, we did it in, I want to say
like six and a half hours or something

like that, because we had to give people
longer lunch breaks.

We had to spread it out.

And so it just shows the opportunity for
these kits that are make model specific,

how fast you can get it done.

And then even then the amount of work that
went into it before the show was, was not

some, you know, outrageous lift.

It was a much simpler version of what,
what is normally done when you have that

pack ready to go.

So that was very cool to be able to use
that and show it at SENA.

Yeah, no, I think that was just a really
one great press for you guys, but to just

a really cool way to show that this has
gone to a point now and how quickly you

can do it.

And once again, once you kind of hone in
on certain types, certain models and

specific builds, I mean, like Fellten's
doing, they've got a Mini Cooper, they've

got a Porsche and obviously the Defender
kids that really dials in what you need to

do and makes it so much easier.

Which I guess does make me wonder.

I'd heard that the defender build was
coming sometime in Q2 of this year through

you guys.

Is that still or is that something you can
share any more details on?

I can't share any more details on it right
now, but that is correct.

That is the plan for that kit and there is
a ton of interest in it, so I'll just

throw this out there that if people are
interested, reach out.

We've got a queue of people that are
lining up to be able to get their hands on

that product and we're really excited to
be able to launch it and it's going to be

big for sure.

Yeah, I can't wait.

I know I emailed Tim and so I've been in
that queue myself for already a couple of

months, but just everything I've seen even
on Felton's website and talking to Chris,

it looks like it's such an awesome
product.

So I'm excited to see it.

Um, so, uh, kind of going about that,
talking about Felton, talking about some

of these other vendors, can you share some
of the, um, and obviously I realized maybe

you can't always say names, but can you
share what legacy EV does to like kind of

vet a vendor and

how they choose which ones to work with.

And if there are any entertaining stories
of like, okay, we're not going with those

guys.

Obviously you don't have to say the
company, but if you can share anything

about that, like kind of happens, because
I mean, in my own professional experience,

I've had to sometimes test vendors and you
can be quickly surprised by, even though

you put out a really clear RFP of what you
need, it hasn't made it past the first 10

minutes of unboxing it even.

Yeah, yeah, I don't know if I have any
like negative stories that I can share or

would share, but that's definitely the
value we try and bring to the industry as

a distributor.

We want to vet products that we trust.

And so I talked about this a little bit
earlier, but we have parts distribution as

kind of like one arm of the business and
then education as the other arm.

And the third arm that we don't talk about
very often is research and development

R&D.

So we have a whole...

R&D shop that is like the necessary third
leg to the stool that makes it all stand

up because we bring these products in from
new vendors and we want to validate them

and make sure that they work.

So we have like two kind of different
types of products that we offer when it

comes to EV hardware on our site.

There's kits and then there's parts.

And so when a product comes to us as a
kit, it gets validated and installed

before it gets launched as a kit.

So then it'll come with a wiring diagram.

It's got a bill of material that's been
spec'd out.

and then it's got the clone file for the
firmware that can get flashed onto that

vehicle once it gets installed.

These are universal kits, so they're not
the same as what you'd get with a Felton

Land Rover Defender kit.

It's not this bolt-on wire harness is
prefabbed.

There's wiring that you're gonna do,
you're gonna connect it all, but that

means it's a little bit more malleable
into the vehicle, so you can design it how

you'd like.

And so creates this universal platform
that's then more applicable to a wider set

of vehicles.

And so whenever we, we launch a kit, we do
some bedding with the manufacturer.

We get their product, uh, in-house, we
work with it.

I mean, that's, that's what we did with
the Felton pack before we launched it.

We installed it in project D, we put it
through the test spaces and, um, we're

comfortable with that product before we
launched it, because we also want to be

able to support the manufacturer's product
out there in the wild once we launch it.

And so, um, it's just a part of, part of
what we do with our R and D department

before we launch a product, um, at least
in the kit form, sometimes.

You know, if we can see substantial
application, verification from a

manufacturer on like a motor, then we
might offer it if we know that it's a

motor that has a reputation that we can
get behind in support without doing the

R&D.

But when it comes to kits, that's stuff
that we've worked with.

Yeah, I'm kind of curious.

I know it does seem like you guys are
going much more towards the kits and a

fully new systems.

But I know you've also sold like, uh, and
I mean, this was a pretty common thing is

used, uh, Tesla power trains, used
batteries from other cars.

Is that something you're still kind of
continuing to do, or do you kind of see

the future probably moving maybe more away
from them?

You know, it's interesting.

Um, since the beginning, um, you know, one
thing that Rob has said is like, this

industry is going to be way bigger than
how many Teslas can, can get totaled.

Um, we need access to more parts than just
refurbished Tesla equipment.

Um, and so that's been a huge part of it.

Wanting to create all new products for
these kits that are like brand new off the

shelf, out of the box.

That that's what we want the customer
experience to be.

But.

The Tesla name carries a lot of weight,
right?

And so people are really excited to be
able to use a Tesla swap and, uh, as their

description and Tesla swap product.

So we, we still sell a lot of Tesla
equipment.

And I think for us, we're, our goal is to
serve the industry and what the industry

wants to see.

And so we just have our finger on the
pulse to see, okay, Tesla stuff's moving.

Let's make sure we, we keep it stocked in
an inventory and we have documentation

from the manufacturers that can support
it.

And then, you know, let's also make sure
we have.

the best new product offerings that are
coming out.

And that's something that's evolving
really quickly as well.

If you're at SEMA, I know you weren't at
SEMA, but for anybody listening that was

like, there's so many new products at that
show this year, it was wild.

And so even the product offerings that we
had this year at the show, double what we

had the year before as a distributor,
right?

That's significant change in an industry.

And so that's another value add that we.

we bring to the customer, just paying
attention to what is new in this space.

What's the best products available on the
market, whether it's controls or motor,

hardware, battery, you name it.

Yeah, no, I think that's great.

I'm curious, are there any technology
specifically that you've kind of seen the

past year that you've like what you're
talking about at SEMA that really kind of

seems to be a kind of leap forward or kind
of big step for making this a lot more, a

lot easier and much more approachable.

Um, I'm really excited about controller
hardware in 2024.

Um, I think that there's some new
offerings coming to market that are going

to change user interface and how the
builder interacts with the components in a

kit.

Um, and I think that's going to be really
cool to see.

I can't talk too much about it now, but
for people that are interested, like

subscribe to our newsletter and you'll see
as stuff comes out.

Um, but I think that's a big one.

And then, uh, yeah, battery technology is,
I mean,

It's shifting battery packs coming to
market that just make things way easier to

do.

It's super cool.

So I think packs and controllers are the
two that I'm looking forward to.

But then, I mean, there's a 800 volt
Tremec motor that makes like a thousand

horse that's also at SEMA.

So excited to see that.

It's hard to pick, I don't know.

But controllers and batteries, I'll stick
with that.

That's my first and final answer.

Well, and I think those are things that
will impact everyone and make their lives

a lot easier.

The thousand horsepower motor will be
definitely very cool, but probably much

more limited use cases with, um, and I
realized like within like the last couple

of years, especially in the automotive
space, so much of this has been supply

chain.

It's like one month.

It's this is hard to get another month.

This is hard to get.

Um, has there been anything that you guys
have kind of consistently seen or just has

been a challenge, you know, for builders
that, um,

for certain parts to either get or certain
parts that you guys do a really good job

of making sure you have.

So for a builder that's trying to find X,
Y, C part, you are kind of the guys.

I'll definitely have it.

Yeah, well, yeah, there's a lot I could
talk about in that question.

There's, there's a lot to it.

I think anybody who's done a conversion
before sees a ton of value in what we

bring because there's like 60 different
components from multiple, like probably

close to two dozen manufacturers that you
got to source parts from to just get like

a working kit.

And then on top of that, now you've got
supply chain delays and

I mean, we've seen so many things
impacting supply chain.

I never thought I'd be subscribed to like
a supply chain newsletter, but like I'm

like watching ocean freight news and I'm
like, oh my gosh, MERSC is like routing

ships around the southern tip of Africa
because there's pirates in the canal.

Like they're doing things that are
different.

I'm like, why am I, why is this my life?

Why am I paying attention to this now?

But it's just the reality of where we're
at as an industry.

The supply chain is

still recovering post COVID.

And so it's really hard to get components
and equipment, especially internationally.

And so it's definitely one of the biggest
things that we spend time focusing on.

I have weekly supply chain meetings with
our supply chain team.

Like, okay, what are we, what do we low
stock on?

What's the lead time?

What do we need to do to get it here?

And so we have orders that are waiting on
components that have been waiting on

components for a couple of weeks and or
more in some cases.

And that's always hard to have a
conversation with a customer where it's

like, yeah.

This DC to DC converter is out of stock
and it's not going to be in stock for

another eight weeks.

I'm sorry.

Like we're going to work on it.

We'll get more.

We'll get it to see as fast as we can.

So anybody that's tried to navigate that
on their own is like thankful that we're

navigating it for them.

But anybody that's new to it is like,
doesn't understand there's like 60

components that we got at source from all
over the world to make this thing work.

And it's complicated.

That's a big part of it.

And then yeah, diving into like what
specifically is a bottleneck, I think

Transmission adapter plates is the one
that comes to mind of like, there's not a

lot of manufacturers for transmission
adapter plates and they're often made off

of molds and so you have to order them in
larger batches to be able to get them at

low cost.

And so it just creates complications for
the manufacturer because they're like,

okay, I have one for this obscure year
vehicle that we have designed, but I need

eight more to be able to do a run that I
can make these at an affordable price.

And so.

That's something that will change with
volume as the industry gets bigger.

Um, but that's something that has been, I
think, a big bottleneck for builders.

It's like, they're waiting for, for three
months, sometimes for a transmission

adapter plate and it's like, everything's
mounted and ready to go.

I just need to be able to mate the motor
to the transmission.

Like how long will that take?

And that's always tough when somebody's
ready to go and they have to wait for a

part.

yeah, that's super fascinating.

You actually say that I should talk with
the offline, but there is a couple of guys

locally that have a CNC shop.

They're actually looking, they were asking
me if there's a need for that.

I figured there was, um, their focus is
really traditional four by fours, uh, old

G wagons and defenders.

Um, but yeah, I mean, that's, that's
really interesting and that totally makes

sense, but I can definitely intro you to
them if that fits with you guys.

But, um,

Have there ever been anything?

I mean, it sounds like the and it totally
makes sense the way you guys are doing

stuff.

But it has your team ever looked at ever
manufacturing certain things that

themselves or is that kind of still out of
the realm of being practical for the team?

It's not that it's not practical for us.

The opportunity has arisen countless times
for us, but we are laser focused as a

company on being a parts distributor.

And the importance of staying away from
manufacturing as a parts distributor is we

don't want to manufacture a product that
competes with our vendor partners.

We want to just support the products that
manufacturers make the best that we can.

And that allows us to stay laser focused
on how can we sell your product better?

How can we support it better?

And then how can we help find
opportunities to create other products

that can support it better?

And so we have open dialogue with our
manufacturing partners of like, we need

XYZ products to better support what you've
designed out there in the wild.

And, um, that just helps us stay laser
focused.

There's definitely an opportunity and
we've definitely been like tempted by it

in the past, but have definitely like,
definitely stayed focused on.

We're a parts distributor, we are not a
manufacturer.

Let's let the manufacturers manufacture
and we will support the product.

That makes sense.

And yeah, I was just curious, but totally
understand that.

Um, given that we have been talking so
much about EV conversions.

And when I was there, I can mention as you
corrected me, the Ford F 100, that was

kind of a fun thing, but you guys also had
that beautiful old Cadillac.

Um, and I I'm kind of curious what
conversions you've been wanting to do.

If, or if there's any other kind of car
that your team hasn't done yet, that you

really are kind of excited to do a
conversion of.

Um, yeah, that's a good question.

I, so one series that I'm really excited
for that we're hoping to launch this year,

which we haven't really talked about yet.

So I'll tell you here first, just kind of
on the inside scoop is we plan to do.

Yeah.

Uh, a high low series where we convert
like probably, uh, an older, pretty,

pretty nice C 10 and then convert, uh,
like a little bit newer, but still, still

older S 10.

and do the C10 really high budget and do
the S10 really low budget and then take

them to car shows and like compete against
Each other about who can get like more

street cred for the budget that we've sent
So it'll be like two hundred fifty

thousand dollar budget verse twenty five
thousand dollar budget I don't know if

those are the numbers, but that's the plan
And so if anybody knows Rob and I he's

obviously the high budget guy and I'm
obviously the low budget guy I was trying

to finagle my way into the carpool lane

Yeah, almost 10 years ago now.

I mean, and he's, yeah, he likes nice cars
and I like saving money.

So we'll see, we'll see who's can be who's
in the competition, but that'll be fun.

So are you going to convert an old VW
Jetta?

Is that what you're thinking?

Or is there any car in particular that
stands out?

Or you've got something secret you want to
wait till.

Well, my team will do the S10.

That'll be my car and Rob's will be the
C10.

So that'll be the first one.

But I'd really like to do an old.

if those cards had been chosen yet for
sure.

I gotcha gotcha.

Great.

a personal vehicle, we did an FJ80 and I
love that car.

Like that, if I could just pick one to do,
that would be the one that I do.

Just because it's fun.

I was able to do a lot of the test mileage
on that car before it was shipped out to

the customer.

I just love driving it.

Another one that I'd love to do is a Fox
Body Mustang.

It's a tribute to vanilla ice and the 5.0.

No, I think that'd be a great one too,
just because you've seen so many and at

Dunwoody, they're great at the classic
Mustangs, but to see the Fox spotter, I

feel like those have kind of had a bit of
a resurgence, especially when you're

talking about street cred that right now
seems to be one of the hot ones.

Um, and then.

They weren't very popular for a long time
and they've come up a little bit in

popularity now, but they're still, they're
not the coolest Mustang, that's for sure.

But I think it would be really fun,
especially to try and do it on kind of

like a budget build and keep a manual
transmission and do some burnouts.

It'd be a good time.

Yeah, that'd be perfect for that.

And it's funny you say the FG 80 because
that was, I was looking at either that or

an FG 60 before we got the defender.

Um, and have now gone down the probably
less reliable, but more expensive.

And just, I'm so in love with defenders
now.

I mean, I, I still love the, the Toyota's,
uh, the land cruisers and all of that.

Just that whole generation from FG 40, 60
and 80 and beyond.

But I think really the 1680 are my
personal favorites.

But yeah, I would love to see more of
those conversions and see what people do,

especially more for like making a
specifically off road build and kind of

doing some really cool stuff with them.

Totally.

Now with everything you guys are doing,
like where do you see like the industry

kind of headed towards in like the next
five years?

Do you see it just really fully taking off
or do you see kind of certain trends or

any like kind of goals you guys have that
you want to see kind of take off more over

the next five years?

Yeah, I mean, I think we're going to
continue to see really rapid growth,

similar to what we have seen in the last
four years, but I think just at a larger

scale.

I think the introduction of some of this
technology for manufacturers that makes

the conversion a little bit simpler is
going to be a big part of what helps

catalyze that growth.

And then I think education is the other
big piece of it that helps people to adopt

the technology more.

And so I think just more of those things
for sure out there.

I think we're going to also see...

an era of people doing stuff to their OEM
EVs.

You have the one of the only Kia EV6s in
your neighborhood, but you're like, I want

it to be different once the second one
shows up.

You're like, oh, I want this to be cool
and unique.

And so what can I do to customize this
car?

And I think that'll be something we're
seeing.

We're seeing it a lot in the Tesla Model 3
world right now.

I'm just like, what kind of body kits can
you add?

air ride or different things, you know,
and so I think that's going to happen a

lot in EV and Stay tuned for what our
presence will look like in that space as

well We're supporting a couple projects
around that and excited to support the

consumer and modifying their existing EVs
Yeah, and then I think just the bigger

footprint with training I think college is
adopting programs that focus around the EV

conversion is going to be a big part of it
because we can leverage What their

programs currently teach around
gas-powered technology?

and then enhance that through the gas to
electric conversion.

Very cool.

And I'm kind of curious.

I know we talked with Chris also about
this around fast charging as kind of being

a more common option, maybe in EVs.

I think it's a little more defined also in
the European market for that.

But is that something you guys are also
kind of paying attention to and kind of

seeing an interest in that?

Or is it mostly these are just kind of
viewed as a second kind of cars for around

town.

Yeah, you know, it's interesting when we
started it wasn't available.

People would ask, can we fast charge yet?

And we'd be like, not yet.

We know manufacturers are working on it,
but it's not there yet.

And it's here now.

You can fast charge.

Amper EV has a system that you can fast
charge.

The Felton pack is capable of fast
charging.

Actually, we were just talking about it
the other day.

We took it to a couple of different fast
chargers to test how it did.

And it fast charged on multiple.

JJ was just telling me about that this
morning.

And so.

It's here.

It's available.

Super cool that it's available in the
aftermarket.

That's gonna make it much more accessible
for people, too Yeah, we're excited about

it

Well, I, and I, I just want to say thank
you so much for this matter.

Cause I realized we're kind of coming up
on our time here and I could easily keep

asking you questions probably for another
hour, if not two.

Um, but thank you so much.

And for sure, we'll probably have to have
you on soon, especially once this defender

kit goes live because.

I can't, I, my, I know my wife is even
tired of me talking about it.

Uh, since I can't even look at what it is
beyond kind of the spec page that's

already up there, but, um.

Thank you so much.

This is great.

And I know our listeners have really
enjoyed kind of learning more about this

space and having people like you on.

Of course, thank you for having me.

It was fun to get to chat and excited to
see your Defender project take off and be

a part of that.

It's going to be awesome.

Thank you.

Same here.

My pleasure.

With that, we'll let you get going.

I hope you've enjoyed this deep dive with
Mavrick, the co -founder of Legacy EV into

the realm of electric vehicles, electric
conversions, and the vital importance of

education for shaping the future of the
industry.

Legacy EV is not just an aftermarket
automotive company, but a catalyst for

change in the electric vehicle space,
providing parts distribution and

invaluable workforce development
opportunities.

They're also providing hands -on learning
experiences that are driving the force

behind mastering EV technology.

and helping push the industry to implement
safe standards for EV technicians to

follow.

This is ensuring a bright and sustainable
future for the EV industry, and I was

really honored to be able to share this
with you today.

As we heard, despite supply chain
challenges, Legacy EV remains committed to

overcoming obstacles and delivering top
quality conversion solutions.

As we look ahead, the electric vehicle
future is brighter than ever with exciting

projects on the horizon, industry growth,
and really limitless

Customization possibilities for electric
vehicle enthusiasts.

I know I am for one excited about what
this kind of unlocks, especially for a lot

of traditional cars that probably didn't
have the best power train, even when they

were combustion engine, but may have had a
great exterior and interior.

And this really kind of is able to give
these cars a second chance, along with

really making it much easier for people
who may have a family car that they've

always had strong kind of like.

emotional connection to but now with this
ability they can actually kind of not only

make electric but just also bring down the
maintenance to make sure it stays in the

family for much longer.

So we really hope you're charged up about
the future of electric vehicles as we are

after this convo with Mavrick and be sure
to stay connected with us here at Grid

Connections for more episodes and insights
into the world of

Until next week, remember, whether you're
a seasoned electric vehicle enthusiast or

new to the world of electric mobility, the
Grid Connections podcast is your go -to

source for all things EV and how they tie
to our ever -changing electrical grid.

Thank you.