ICON invited us up to its office in Chatsworth, CA, to have a chat with its founder, Jonathan Ward, and to take a quick spin in its bonkers new Bronco EV restomod.
Jonathan Ward is stuck in the past.
His office is littered with cars, newspaper clippings, toys, and furniture that are all half a century old, at a minimum.
He lives an analog existence, and has built a name for himself in an analog business. Ward runs ICON, a company focused on restoring old vehicles to absolute perfect condition, or making hand-built modernized versions of the classics. Ward has made quite a name for himself, and is considered by many to be the best in the business of restomods.
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Some of Wards “Derelict” series – the patina belies a modern powertrain underneath
But time does not stand still for any man.
The automotive industry is changing, more than it has in a century. And even the grognards need to adapt.
This is not to say that Ward is an entirely begrudging participant in the transition – his “GAS GUZZLER – NO ACCESS” mock carpool lane sticker notwithstanding. He merely says that he wants to ensure the transition happens in what he considers the right way – he wants to carry over the analog processes that he appreciates from the past and apply them alongside the technology we have right now.
But he never thought the technology was quite ready to make a scaled-up project – at least until now.
So, Ward has created the ICON EV Bronco, and it’s something else.
Broncos have been a popular platform for restomods both electric and otherwise, with multiple other companies doing their take on the same era of the Ford classic. ICON itself has a gas-powered Bronco restomod, which it calls the ICON BR.
The ICON EV Bronco builds on the ICON BR chassis. But it replaces the powerplant and software with an electric drivetrain with 500hp and 440lb-ft of torque – much more than the 100-200hp from the straight-six or V8 options in the first-generation Ford Bronco the ICON EV Bronco is based on, and also more than the 426hp of the gas-powered version of the restomod.
ICON says it spent about 5,000 hours of development on the EV Bronco over the course of 18 months, in partnership with Marc Davis and Moment Motors in Austin, Texas. Moment is another shop focusing on vintage restomods, but with more of a focus on electrification than ICON has had in the past.
Ward brought Davis on for his electrification expertise in particular – while Ward was happy to talk with us about CNCed billet aluminum, powder coated chassis and locking front differentials, he paused and called in the cavalry when we started asking questions about fast charging (it should manage around a 100kW peak charge rate, Davis told us, or about an hour to fill the 105kWh pack from 20-80% on DC – otherwise, it has a 6.6kW level 2 charger).
The 105kWh battery pack should be good for somewhere around 180-200 miles of range. It’s not the most efficient vehicle, but it’s not trying to be.
Drivetrain and Performance Specs
440+ lb-ft of torque
500+ hp
Full-time All Wheel Drive for on and off road performance
Currie axles with rear LSD and ARB locking front differentials
Advanced Ringer Adjustable Suspension
Brembo Brakes
Eco, Normal, and Sport driving modes to control performance and power usage
Battery Pack and Charging Specs
Industry standard 400V architecture
105kWh capacity for 175-200 miles of range
IP67* Waterproof Standard tested battery enclosures
Full thermal management to keep the pack in the optimal temperature range at
all times
On board 6.6kW Level 2 charger for easy at-home overnight charging
Level 3 CCS Fast charging via all the leading charging networks
VCU and System Control Specs
Completely integrated Battery Management, Power Management, and Vehicle
Management for complete control of the entire EV drivetrain
OTA remote diagnostics and updates
Traditional ICON gauges transformed to show essential EV stats at a glance
Head Unit with complete system monitoring and control available in the center
console along with CarPlay and Android Auto Compatibility
Ancillary System Specs
Fully electro-hydraulic power steering
Electric power brakes and parking brakes
Electric heat and Air Conditioning
Traditional ICON gauges now reflect basic EV stats at a glance, then the center
console mounted Audio head unit provides even more EV system stats and
controls along with a reverse Camera. Apple Carplay and Android compatible.
Dimensions (estimated)
LENGTH ……………….14’9” (177”)
WIDTH …………..…….6’3” (75”)
WHEELBASE………7.59 3/8” (91 3/8”)
HEIGHT ………………. 6’6” (79”)
TRACK WIDTH FRONT……5’9”” (69”)
TRACK WIDTH REAR……..5’7”” (67”)
Curb Weight………..5420 lbs.
We took the Bronco EV for a short drive around the streets of Chatsworth – not necessarily the best spot to get a feel for performance or to find many stretches of unoccupied pavement, but it’ll have to do.
The car is, obviously, full of ancient character (and I’m not just referring to Ward himself). The switches, the seats, the shifter, all have their retro flavor, though many have been updated behind the scenes (e.g. the window levers are electronic, but look manual).
The one thing that betrays the car’s modern underpinnings is the screen between the seats, which allows control of vehicle functions and even includes CarPlay and Android Auto
There are a few other modern touches as well, like my favorite, an electric step that automatically pops out when you open the door. Given how high the stepover is to get into this truck, the step will be appreciated by many.
I do think the drive software on this pre-production vehicle could use some more refinement. While the ICON EV Bronco does offer different drive modes thanks to drive software provided by Ampere EV, the instant 440 lb-ft of torque available to us is honestly too much for such a tall vehicle (79″) with such a short wheelbase (91 3/8″).
As a result, torque just has to be limited on the low end, even despite its all-time all-wheel drive. It would be too squirrelly without. It can get from 0-60 in 4.5 seconds, but there will likely be a good amount of drama on the way there.
The various drive modes do provide vastly different drive feel. Ward himself likes to drive in Eco mode, which he says is uncharacteristic for him, but that the car just too much without something to moderate all that power. I preferred the responsiveness of Sport mode, since I’m a stickler for rapid throttle response, but it was still very easy to spin the tires on this topheavy vehicle even during the simplest of maneuvers. So, maybe Ward is right on this one.
But, amazingly enough, this exercise in analog thinking also includes something that even many modern cars (and certainly most restomods) don’t: over-the-air software updates. So, even though we drove a development version, there’s even the possibility that post-release vehicles could be tweaked over time.
It even has off-throttle regenerative braking, something rare in the EV restomod scene.
Compounding the squirreliness of the accelerator, the steering system in the EV Bronco carries over much of the character of the original (though it has been upgraded with electro-hydraulic power steering) – which is to say, a big steering wheel with a lot of “play.”
We didn’t get a chance to try the Bronco EV off-road, but it felt like its driving dynamics would be most at home in the dirt, where it can use all that torque for rock climbing instead of racing.
For those purposes, the Bronco is packed with all the equipment you’d need, with off-road components carried over from the ICON BR chassis – Reiger Suspension, Brembo brakes, Currie axles, ARB locking front/ limited slip rear differentials, and multi-link suspension. And the ample ground clearance and approach angles you’d expect out of a box on stilts.
All that said, this is not a vehicle for a casual buyer – which you might have guessed from the $449k pricetag. It is obviously lacking much of what you might want in a regular vehicle on the road these days, and a lot of the things that you would expect out of an EV.
But if you’re looking for classic charm mixed with new technology underneath, and you happen to have recently found a bitcoin drive you lost in 2011, you know who to call.
Ward plans to make ten examples of the EV Bronco, each customized to their respective buyers’ tastes such that no two are alike. The buyers will be able to choose from the same design packages ICON offers for the gas-powered BR (New School, Old School, and Derelict) and body styles (soft top, hard top, roadster), with additional customizations for color, seating position, and so on.
And he wants to scale up from here. Heading into the future, Ward hopes to offer an electric powertrain as an option on all of his builds sometime in the next 3-5 years.
With what we’ve seen out of this one (and his past derelict builds in particular), we’re certainly excited to see what crazy projects he comes up with next.
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The e-bike industry in the West has long been a tale of two territories. North Americans enjoy higher speeds and power limits for their electric bicycles while Europeans are held to much stricter (i.e. slower and lower) speed and power limits. However, things might change based on current discussions on rewriting European e-bike regulations.
New power levels are not totally without precedent, either. The UK briefly considered doubling its own e-bike power limit from 250 watts (approximately 1/3 horsepower) to 500 watts, though the move was ultimately abandoned.
But this time, the call for more power is coming from within the house – i.e., Germany. The Germans are the undisputed leaders and trend setters in the European e-bike market, accounting for around two million sales of e-bikes per year. Home to leading e-bike drive makers like Bosch, the country has yet another advantage when it comes to making – or regulating – waves in the industry.
And while there aren’t any pending law changes, the largest German trade organization ZIV (Zweirad-Industrie-Verband), which is highly influential in achieving such changes, is now discussing what it believes could be pertinent updates to current EU electric bike regulations.
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Some of the new regulations involve creating rules maxing out power at levels such as 400% or 600% of the human pedaling input. But a key component of the proposed plan includes changing the present day power limit of e-bikes from 250W of continuous power at the motor to 750W of peak power at the drive wheel.
The difference includes some nuance, since continuous power is often considered more of a nominal figure, meaning nearly every e-bike motor in Europe wears a “250W” or less sticker despite often outputting a higher level of peak power. Even Bosch, which has to walk the tight and narrow as a leader in the European e-bike drive market, shared that its newest models of motors are capable of peak power ratings in the 600W level. That’s still far from the commonly 1,000W to 1,300W peak power seen in US e-bike motors, but offers a nice boost over an actual 250W motor.
Other new regulations up for discussion include proposals to limit fully-loaded cargo e-bike weights to either 250 kg (550 lb) for two-wheelers or 300 kg (660 lb) for e-bikes with more than two wheels. As road.cc explained, ZIV also noted that, “separate framework conditions and parameters must be defined for cargo bikes weighing more than 300 kg (see EN 17860-4:2025) as they differ significantly from EPACs and bicycles in their dynamics, design and operation.” Such heavy-duty cargo e-bikes, which often more closely resemble small delivery vans than large cargo bikes, are becoming more common in the industry and have raised concerns about cargo e-bike bloat, especially in dedicated cycling paths.
It’s too early to say whether European e-bike regulations will actually change, but the fact that key industry voices with the power to influence policy are openly advocating for it suggests that new rules for the European market are a real possibility.
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China just laid out a plan to roll out over 100,000 ultra-fast EV charging stations by 2027 – and they’ll all be open to the public.
The National Development and Reform Commission’s (NDRC) joint notice, issued on Monday, asks local authorities to put together construction plans for highway service areas and prioritize the ones that see 40% or more usage during holiday travel rushes.
The NDRC notes that China’s ultra-fast EV charging infrastructure needs upgrading as more 800V EVs hit the road. Those high-voltage platforms can handle super-fast charging in as little as 10 to 30 minutes, but only if the charging hardware is up to speed.
China had 31.4 million EVs on the road at the end of 2024 – nearly 9% of the country’s total vehicle fleet. But charging access is still catching up. As of May 2025, there were 14.4 million charging points, or roughly 1 for every 2.2 EVs.
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To keep the grid running smoothly, China wants new chargers to be smart, with dynamic pricing to incentivize off-peak charging and solar and storage to power the charging stations.
To make the business side work, the government is pushing for 10-year leases for charging station operators, and it’s backing the buildout with local government bonds.
The NDRC emphasized that the DC fast chargers built will be open to the public. This is a big deal because a lot of fast chargers in China aren’t. For example, BYD’s new megawatt chargers aren’t open to third-party vehicles.
As of September 2024, China had expanded its charging infrastructure to 11.4 million EV chargers, but only 3.3 million were public.
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A U.S. Justice Department logo or seal showing Justice Department headquarters, known as “Main Justice,” is seen behind the podium in the Department’s headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Federal prosecutors have charged two men in connection with a sprawling cryptocurrency investment scheme that defrauded victims out of more than $650 million.
The indictment, unsealed in the District of Puerto Rico, accuses Michael Shannon Sims, 48, of Georgia and Florida, and Juan Carlos Reynoso, 57, of New Jersey and Florida, of operating and promoting OmegaPro, an international crypto multi-level marketing scheme that promised investors 300% returns over 16 months through foreign exchange trading.
“This case exposes the ruthless reality of modern financial crime,” said the Internal Revenue Service’s Chief of Criminal Investigations Guy Ficco. “OmegaPro promised financial freedom but delivered financial ruin.”
From 2019 to 2023, Sims, Reynoso and their co-conspirators allegedly lured thousands of victims worldwide to purchase “investment packages” using cryptocurrency, falsely claiming the funds would be safely managed by elite forex traders, the Department of Justice said.
Prosecutors said the pair flaunted their wealth through social media and extravagant events — including projecting the OmegaPro logo onto the Burj Khalifa, Dubai’s tallest building — to convince investors the operation was legitimate.
A video posted to the company’s LinkedIn page shows guests in evening attire posing for photos and watching the spectacle in Dubai.
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In reality, authorities allege, OmegaPro was a pyramid-style fraud.
When the company later claimed it had suffered a hack, the defendants told victims they had transferred their funds to a new platform called Broker Group, the DOJ said. Users were never able to withdraw their money from either platform.
The two men face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The Justice Department, FBI, IRS-Criminal Investigation, and Homeland Security Investigations led the multiagency investigation, with help from international partners.