is an accomplished engineer, so when he realised that there was no vehicle in the Australian market that could do what he wanted, he decided to build one. He is now racing the Tesla Cybertruck to market. In his Aladdin’s cave of engineering treasure in his Brisbane workshop, he has a multitude of vehicles in transition to electric. His main project is his 2002 4-wheel-drive Mitsubishi Pajero. Now it is a race to see if he can finish his project before the Cybertruck gets here.
He has two Pajeros — one is being driven under petrol power and is slowly being done up to be a thoroughly modern electric vehicle inside and out. He showed me the circuit boards that will drive the electric windows and also the aftermarket variable indicator and parking lights. His boards are in high demand from others who are converting cars from fossil fuels to EVs. Even some Pajero owners on the Facebook page are interested in a potential conversion kit.
An EV driving in the city would need very little service. Francisco estimates that after an initial 5,000 km service, the car would not need to be checked until it reached 60,000 km. It’s all about customer confidence. Can we trust these newfangled EVs? I would suggest the better question would be — can we trust the dealers.
Francisco is still driving the petrol Pajero. He tells me it feels dreadful compared to his EVs — an Atto 3 and an MG ZS EV. He can’t wait till he has his fully electric Pajero on the road. We discussed the concerns that some motor enthusiasts have — can they mod up an EV? He thinks EVs can be modified even more easily than fossil fuel cars. You just need a different skill set and aftermarket components — and some time on your hands.
LoL, they can relax.. the Cybertruck is a design disaster, too expensive to build, too ugly to buy, and already beaten by Ford and Rivian. A converted Pajero is a MUCH better option. 🤣🤣🤣🤣