An electric Mustang coupe could be on the cards one day, with Ford preparing the next generation of its pony car as we speak. If you want that instant-on torque in the meantime, however, you'll have to build your own. AEM Electronics are doing just that, giving a 2007 Ford Mustang GT the humming heart of a Tesla.

The project came about as AEM needed a project car to show off its own inverter control board developed for Tesla drivetrains. The Mustang was sourced off Craigslist from an EV enthusiast who had already done a successful Tesla swap. The car was fitted with the Sport version of the Tesla Large Drive Unit, which AEM swapped out for the base unit as seen in the 2013-2015 Model S, which was the primary unit its hardware was developed for.

Running AEM's inverter board, the drivetrain is tuned to put out over 400 horsepower and a healthy 330 lb-ft of torque. Motor Trend reports that the car is capable of a 11.78 quarter-mile time with a trap speed of 117 mph on street tires, while achieving representative times of 12.2 seconds in its own runs. It's a quicker time than the Ford Mustang Mach-E, either way.

The build goes a long way to demonstrating what an electric Mustang could really be like, in sharp contrast to the Ford Mustang Mach-E. AEM's build is a performance-focused tire-shredding coupe, which is very much what the Mustang brand has historically traded on, rather than being a four-door SUV. The build made an appearance recently at the Holley High Voltage show at Sonoma Raceway, laying down a smoky burnout on the strip, as is good and proper.

The Mustang has been gutted, with the fuel tank, live rear axle, transmission, and engine all ripped out. Instead, fabrication work at the rear enabled the installation of an entire Tesla Model S subframe complete with motors in place. QA-1 coilovers in the rear are used in place of the original Model S air suspension. Finding wheels to fit the odd setup was tough, with a set of rims from a 2008 Corvette pressed into service as they had just the right offset for the job.

The drive unit is liquid-cooled, with hard lines running all the way to the front of the car into the stock Mustang GT radiator fitted with the stock cooling fan. A Model S cooling pump is used to circulate fluid through the system.

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This Tesla-Swapped Mustang Is Another Take on an Electric Mustang - The Drive