Toyota and Lexus debuted their AE86 BEV Concept (battery electric vehicle) at the 2023 Tokyo Motor Show. The project started with a 1986 Corolla Levin Apex (AE86) powered by a 4A-GEC inline-four and five-speed manual transmission. The company swapped the factory powertrain for an 36 kW L4A0 AC electric motor from a third-generation Toyota Tundra hybrid. The motor is capable of 20,000 rpm but is limited in this application to 6,000 rpm. Behind the electric motor is a six-speed manual transmission from a 2023 Toyota GR86. A small 18.1 kWh battery pack out of the Lexus RX450h+ PHEV gives the car approximately 60 miles of range. The swapped powertrain resulted in the AE86 being 2,356 lb (1068 kg).
Source: Toyota media, Toyota Gazoo Racing, and Larry Chen
36 kW (about 50hp), but in the Larry Chen video they say that it has more power than with the factory engine?
Larry Chen asked if it made more power than the 4A and they said “the concept was made to retain the original A86. So it is calibrated to the original A86’s power.” I don’t see where they said it made more power than with factory engine. They do mention that it is on “limited power” for the video demonstration, so I can see where you got confused. So, yes it does make more power BUT they didn’t specifically say it made more power than factory engine. Only that it makes “a little bit more” power than the current configuration for the video
That’s my point. The way I understand what they say around 6:30 is that it currently has the same power as the original engine, that it could be more but it’s limited. But every AE86 had triple digit horsepower, while this one is less than 50 (at least when installed in the Tundra). What’s happening? Do they drive it at twice the tension or something?
They never said it has the same or more power than the original Levin engine. What they actually said is that it can make more power than it did in the Tundra, but it’s limited to stock power for the video demo. The motor itself can definitely produce more power than it’s showing right now; electric motors are often capable of more than what they’re initially calibrated for (similar to how gas engines or even RC cars can output more with tuning). They’re probably running it with a stock setup for the demo, but it could handle more with a different calibration or a bigger battery. I hope that clears things up. Basically, it’s capable of more, but for the video, they were keeping it on “limited power” (stock).