The Hot Rodder
Grumpy and Chuckles are cool and fun, but green ambassadors they’re not. To get around this conundrum, and to have some, kick-ass tire-burning fun, Steam Whistle’s main man in B.C., Mike Kiraly, envisioned a retro ride with some serious electric mojo.
That he was able to convince HQ to embark on the expensive Retro Electro project should not be a surprise. He’s been successful at whatever he takes on. He worked part-time at the brewery during his student years. Now he has two jobs: his gig at Steam Whistle, and university professor teaching anatomy and physiology. He has several degrees, including a PhD in endocrinology.
Before he taught, he did research full-time. “I got fed up with being in a freezer with a microscope all the time,” says Kiraly. “I really wanted to teach, and I really missed working at the brewery. So when research money dried up in 2008, I quit… and combined those two things”.
But he is also a gear head, and worked on older cars with his father. With an extensive background in electronics, the elder Kiraly thought the duo’s next project should be an electric car. The younger Kiraly didn’t want anything to do with electric cars — which tended to exude the persona of a glorified golf cart — until he hit upon the idea of the electrical hot rod.
As soon as he got the green light from Steam Whistle, he enlisted the services of an A-list of Vancouver-based experts: restorer Vern Bethel; mechanic specialist Joe Mizsak; bodywork specialist Lloyd Wagner; Greg Murray of Electric Autosports; and Trevor Stoker.
As luck would have it, Stoker is a long-time friend of Kiraly, and just happens to be the lead engineer at Azure Dynamics, a world-class supplier of electric and hybrid vehicle technology, and the source of Electro Retro’s motor and controller. Kiraly noted that Stoker was a bit reluctant to dive deep into another electric car project — something he does all the time in his day job — until Kiraly told him that this electric car would be different. It would be a hot rod first, and electric car second.
Grumpy and Chuckles are cool and fun, but green ambassadors they’re not. To get around this conundrum, and to have some, kick-ass tire-burning fun, Steam Whistle’s main man in B.C., Mike Kiraly, envisioned a retro ride with some serious electric mojo.
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| Mike Kiraly (Photo: Mike Goetz/Auto123.com) |
That he was able to convince HQ to embark on the expensive Retro Electro project should not be a surprise. He’s been successful at whatever he takes on. He worked part-time at the brewery during his student years. Now he has two jobs: his gig at Steam Whistle, and university professor teaching anatomy and physiology. He has several degrees, including a PhD in endocrinology.
Before he taught, he did research full-time. “I got fed up with being in a freezer with a microscope all the time,” says Kiraly. “I really wanted to teach, and I really missed working at the brewery. So when research money dried up in 2008, I quit… and combined those two things”.
But he is also a gear head, and worked on older cars with his father. With an extensive background in electronics, the elder Kiraly thought the duo’s next project should be an electric car. The younger Kiraly didn’t want anything to do with electric cars — which tended to exude the persona of a glorified golf cart — until he hit upon the idea of the electrical hot rod.
As soon as he got the green light from Steam Whistle, he enlisted the services of an A-list of Vancouver-based experts: restorer Vern Bethel; mechanic specialist Joe Mizsak; bodywork specialist Lloyd Wagner; Greg Murray of Electric Autosports; and Trevor Stoker.
As luck would have it, Stoker is a long-time friend of Kiraly, and just happens to be the lead engineer at Azure Dynamics, a world-class supplier of electric and hybrid vehicle technology, and the source of Electro Retro’s motor and controller. Kiraly noted that Stoker was a bit reluctant to dive deep into another electric car project — something he does all the time in his day job — until Kiraly told him that this electric car would be different. It would be a hot rod first, and electric car second.
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| Mike Kiraly with Trevor Stoker (Photo: Mike Goetz/Auto123.com) |