1957 Chevy Bel Air becomes electric Project X EV for SEMA

Chevy's back at the SEMA show for 2021, and it's bringing an iconic car along for the ride, with help from Cagnazzi Racing and Motor Trend. Meet Project X, a 1957 Chevy Bel Air with its internal-combustion engine heart swapped out in favor of a battery-electric powertrain. This isn't just some '57 Chevy the three groups found in a scrap heap, though. It's actually been a test bed for various technologies for decades. The electric powertrain is just the latest change to Project X, as it serves as Hot Rod Magazine's rolling laboratory of sorts.

This time around, the car ditched its LSX V8 crate engine for an electric motor and an experimental battery from Chevy. The brand said this battery is a bit secretive and under evaluation "for potential use as a next-generation Chevrolet Performance product." It's a modular unit, which would allow buyers to cram more cells in depending on what kind of cost, performance, range and weight variables they want to consider.

But in this iteration, it's a 400-volt unit with 30 kilowatt-hours of energy, which Chevy said is perfect for weekend cruises. Engineers also baked in a quick-change differential to adjust the final-drive ratio depending on how the driver is using Project X. A shorter ratio will help with acceleration, while a taller one will extend range.

Project X sounds like it could be the start of something much grander at the Bowtie Brand, but for now, we'll have to wait and see what becomes of it and that experimental battery.

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