Tesla-Powered Honda Accord

This is the Tesla-Powered Honda. It has been called the raw, funky future of Hot-Rodding.

In an interview between ‘Road&Track Magazine’ and the creator of the ‘Teslonda’ Jim Belosic whose dream was to connect with his kids; later finding out he may have created the future of hot-rods we discovered the following.

“The thing that’s going to help people love electric cars is performance,” says Jim Belosic, who cooked up the car. “Not range or autonomy.”

We can see a glimpse of the future in this moment: a beige Honda vaporising its drag radials. With smoke spilling from the rear wheels and burning hot rubber pellets flying from the rear tyres it was quiet a scene. The traditional ‘burn-out’ was not so traditional as all this drama was nearly silent, no sound of a roaring V8 being let loose.

This could be a remarkable combination, with a retro Honda with the modern Tesla, and a name to not be confused; with a simple mash-up of Tesla and Honda – ‘Teslonda’.

Could we be seeing future combinations of old and new?

'Zach Martin'
'Zach Martin'

​The project was pieced together at Belosic’s shop in Reno, Nevada. It began as a means to connect with his kids, ages 9 and 12, who Belosic imagined would be wrenching on and driving electric cars in the coming decades. He wanted to jump ahead of the curve, to figure out electric hot-rodding for himself.

Belosic acquired a 1981 Accord - stock and beige, just like the one he had at age 15; giving him a revisited glow of his youth. One thing led to another. A Model S rear end (subframe, drive unit, suspension, brakes, hubs, wheels) was sourced from a scrapyard, then grafted into the Accord’s trunk.

“Building the Teslonda was a different process, but that’s what’s so cool about it,” he says. “This electric process was like doing my first oil change at age 15. It was renewing and reinvigorating” said Belosic, later stating “We had to figure out a lot through trial and error,” Belosic says. “A big part of my discovery with electric cars was that this is not a LS engine and a blower. This is a laptop and all this data, and fine-tuning that data.”

The Teslonda’s best 0–60-mph time is held by “JIM” who produced the top score of 2.43 seconds.

Kyle Kinard from ‘Road&Track - ‘I wish every doubter could spend 10 seconds behind the wheel—about enough time for the Teslonda to cover a quarter mile. The experience mimics that levitating-gut panic in the split second before you crash on a ski hill. It’s brilliant. The car’s joy is infectious, even in traffic. The chunky tires and friendly mug are all mastiff-puppy charm—gawky and cute. Truckers flash grins. Harley riders’ thumbs-up. “That’s totally badass, dude,” chimes down from the cab of a heavy-duty Ram pickup.

Belosic and his team have a new vision, to create ‘TeslaKart’ which they claim should do 0-60 in 1.8 seconds, which is faster than Tesla claim for it’s yet to be released Roadster.

The Teslonda is proof that enthusiast should be embracing the electric future. When you look at what started as an innocent home project has now turned into possible the first breakthrough into electric hot-rods. Looking at the project it is a breath of fresh air – using retro, electric and performance as the ingredients for the next generations of electric vehicles.

“Electric is definitely the better mousetrap,” Belosic says. “I always get a giggle when Ferrari or Lambor­ghini go, ‘There’s no soul in electric.’ I say, ‘Have you guys not driven a fast-electric car?’ It’s wild. The performance is vastly superior. And we’re just at the very beginning.” – ‘Road&Track Magazine’.

'Zach Martin'
'Jimmy Built' youtube