Napoleon Motorsports Camaro EL1 Shreds Tires at 2021 Holley High Voltage Experience

By Brett Foote - November 22, 2021

With loads of electric power on tap and little weight to move around, the Camaro EL1 makes for the perfect drift machine.

As automakers begin the monumental shift from ICE powered vehicles to EVs, the aftermarket is jumping in head first as well. And while we obviously love our gas-powered rides, we can also appreciate supremely quick, tire-smoking electrified vehicles as well. So when we ran across this incredible build from Napoleon Motorsports – dubbed the Camaro EL1 – at the 2021 Holley High Voltage Experience, we were obviously interested to learn more.

Holley – the iconic maker and seller of performance parts – is well known for putting on great shows including LS Fest. But the High Voltage Experience represents the next generation of car shows, focused solely on – you guessed it – electric vehicles. This year’s inaugural event took place over two days at Sonoma Raceway in California, treating attendees to a full-blown car show, autocross, 3S Challenge, road racing, and a drift exhibition, where we got to see the Camaro EL1 shred its tires with ease.

With Formula Drift driver Travis Reeder behind the wheel, the EL1 put on a couple of exhibition runs for attendees that involved plenty of smoke and sideways action. Napoleon Motorsports is no stranger to to electrification, however, having decided to take the path less traveled way back in 2018. But that doesn’t put this Camaro at any sort of disadvantage – rather, it made the modern Bow Tie muscle car an incredibly capable piece of machinery.

Thanks to a strategically placed battery pack under the hood and an upside-down EV West electric motor in the rear, the EL1 achieves a near-perfect 51/49 percent weight distribution. There’s also more than enough power to push the Camaro sideways – 384 kW, or approximately 515 horsepower and 800 pound-feet of torque. Thanks to the electric motor’s instant torque, this EV Camaro makes for the perfect drift machine, able to light up the tires easily and on command, as if clear from the video below.

Thanks to carbon fiber bodywork, the Camaro EL1 also weighs in at just 3,000 pounds, so it’s undoubtedly light, despite the heft added by the battery pack. And while it may not have the glorious sound of some small or big block Bow Tie motor, it’s a highly capable and undoubtedly cool machine, too.