Is Fast & Furious Star Ludacris Selling His Car Collection to Go Electric?
In contrast to some other celebrity car owners, Fast & Furious star and rapper Ludacris keeps his collection relatively humble. One of his most well-known vehicles is a 1993 Acura Legend that he’s described as a “dream car.” He still dailies it, and it even shows up on an album cover. But that Legend may soon be the only internal-combustion vehicle Ludacris hangs onto. In a recent interview at CES, Ludacris revealed that he may be going electric.
Why Ludacris wants to swap to EVs
In the interview with USA Today, Ludacris spoke about the need to consider the emissions and pollution being released nowadays. He said, “Anything that’s helping the environment right now is 100% a good thing in my opinion.”
In a later article, USA Today reported that the rapper and movie star has already started selling off his car collection. However, Ludacris has not yet been able to purchase a Tesla, despite the automaker offering a ‘Ludicrous Mode.’
Ludacris’ current car collection
Ludacris’ collection has included some very interesting rides. According to Complex, he’s been spotted behind the wheel of an early-00s Ford GT, a Rolls-Royce, and a BMW i8 hybrid supercar. HotCars reports the rapper also owns two Ferraris, an F430 and a 458.
His Acura Legend may be the humblest of his cars, but it’s also arguably the one Luda loves most. Jalopnik reported that it had 280,000 miles on the clock when it was damaged in a crash. But Acura saw the star’s passion, and actually restored the Legend back to better-than-new condition, Car and Driver reported. And Ludacris continued the Acura love by buying an NSX hybrid supercar, The News Wheel reported.
The Legend, NSX, and i8 aside, these cars aren’t exactly easy on gasoline. Neither is the Chrysler ME Four-Twelve concept car he owns. With a mid-mounted, quad-turbo, 850-hp V12 pushing the carbon-fiber car to a claimed 0-60 time of 2.9 seconds, according to Motor1, suffice to say fuel efficiency wasn’t a design priority.
But are there EVs that could take these cars’ place?
What EVs could he buy to refill his collection
In the USA Today interview, Ludacris mentions that he’s perhaps most interested in an electric motorcycle. The rapper currently owns several motorcycles, including a Harley-Davidson Fat Boy and a custom Kawasaki ZX-14, according to Forbes and Celebrity Cars Blog. And the current batch of high-performance electric bikes could take the ICE bikes’ places.
If Ludacris wanted to stick to H-D, the new LiveWire is fairly quick, hitting 60 mph in about 3 seconds. Road & Track and Cycle World both found the electric Harley very capable, both in the corners and around town.
Zero Motorcycle’s new SR/F is also an excellent contender, Cycle World reported. And if Luda is looking for outright speed, California-based Lightning Motorcycles have the fastest production electric bike, the 218-mph LS-218.
As for electric cars, Ludacris could go the Tesla route. But there’s now a serious performance contender in the form of the Porsche Taycan. Or, if supercars are the name of the game, there’s the 2020 Drako GTE, which Automobile Magazine reports has four motors and a 206-mph top speed. And with a claimed 1200 hp, according to Motor1, the Drako has handily beaten Teslas at the dragstrip.
Ludacris could also make his Legend even more up-to-date and luxurious by converting it to electric drive. There are several companies that can give classics electric powertrains. One of them, Stealth EV, worked with well-known restomodder Icon to install a Tesla Model S powertrain into the body of a 1949 Mercury. Roadshow found it very pleasant and quick to drive—and Stealth EV can design a similar system for basically any car.
Ludacris shouldn’t be worried, then, about how he’ll fill his garage if he goes electric.
What this could mean for ‘Fast & Furious 9’
Ludacris couldn’t go into too much detail about the next Fast & Furious installment, but he did promise the movie would have “a lot of surprises.” Could Luda’s move to electric mirror the movie’s? Potentially, yes.
According to CarBuzz, the 9th Fast & Furious film will focus on electric cars, though which will serve as the ‘hero car’ remains to be seen. If so, it would be the first time EVs would make an appearance in the movie series.
Ludacris punching the accelerator in a Tesla while shouting “Ludicrous Mode!” would certainly be entertaining.
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