It’s probably better not to wait for your first Tesla ride to be in a hearse. If that’s your plan, however, two European companies have created a Tesla Model S funeral vehicle that carries and displays a full-sized casket, according to Electrek.
Vander der Lans & Busscher BV, a Dutch funeral transport company, has been creating custom hearses since 1896. Their current portfolio of possibilities includes a hearse built to be pulled behind a bicycle, a small camper trailer hearse conversion, a Fiat 500 conversion, a London taxi conversion, and hearses converted from a wide range of new and classic luxury cars and SUVs.
Vander der Lans & Busscher commissioned Dutch stretch limousine conversion company RemetzCar to stretch a Tesla Model S that the funeral vehicle company could then outfit as a hearse. RemetzCar, founded in 1996, is 100 years younger than Vander der Lans & Busscher. The first limo RemetzCar created was a six-door Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan.
The initial step in the Tesla hearse conversion was to remove the Tesla’s battery pack. The luxury car was then cut in half and stretched 31.5 inches to accommodate a rolling platform for a full-size casket. A new, higher roof for the hearse adds height for a coffin as well as huge picture windows for the sides and back as well as a two-section sunroof.
Electrek first covered the RemetzCar Model S hearse when the two companies announced it, but at the time the only images available appeared to be Photoshopped. Now, however, a complete set of images, a list of all specifications and options, and a video of the conversion process are available on the RemetzCar site.
The RemetzCar Tesla S Hearse was built to be displayed at the Funeral Exhibition 2016 in Gorinchem in the Netherlands in late September. You can watch the conversion video of the world’s first electric, zero-emission hearse here.