Dr. Frankenstein was just working with the wrong materials. After all, wouldn’t a lightning bolt be more useful bringing an electric vehicle, like the GM EV1, back to life?

While the majority of the GM EV1, 96% or more, some say, were sent to the scrap yards, perhaps 40 of them can still be found. You won’t find them on the road though, as GM stipulated their donation to universities and museums required them to stay off the road. GM removed or disabled important components, like power control units and braking controls to prevent it from happening.

Aside from universities and museums, there are still a few GM EV1 out there, and what self-respecting tinker would pass up at the chance to bring the GM EV1 back to life? John Wayland, who helped Brigham Young University build a drag car powered by ultracapacitors, just happens to be such a tinker.

Starting with the body of a Honda Insight and the powertrain of a GM EV1, Wayland dubs his creation the EV2. Others may know it as the Silver Streak. The EV2 / Silver Streak is modeled somewhat after the original EV1, and even features a set of original EV1 wheels, which Wayland says took him over two years to source.

John Wayland’s car is equipped with a 71.5kWh battery pack and should be good for 400mi range on a single charge. Squeezing about 1,000lb of battery into the already-cramped Honda Insight couldn’t have been an easy task, but now that it’s done, Wayland can focus on getting power systems to work properly and getting it on the road, possibly next month!

Image © John Wayland