$500K Electric SUV Aims to Refine the Vintage Restomod: Icon 4×4 EV Bronco Review

Jonathan Ward of Icon 4×4 originally wanted to build an electric Bronco years ago. But the state of the EV conversion industry at that time simply failed to meet the next level quality standards that originally made Icon the leader of the entire restomod movement. An Icon 4×4 EV Bronco just wasn’t possible.

If you haven’t heard of Icon, think Singer before Singer — just with vintage Land Cruisers and Broncos, not Porsches. The company needed true OEM-level components for the first Icon 4×4 EV Bronco. It partnered with Moment Motor Company of Austin, Texas, to complete an initial prototype.

I recently took that prototype for a test drive with Ward and Moment founder Marc Davis along for the ride. As we cruised around sunny SoCal, Ward and Davis explained the monumental challenge of building such an impressive EV from scratch.

Acclimating to a ‘Vintage’ EV

It’s always a good sign when I can just climb into a vehicle like this and drive without receiving a whole speech beforehand to get me up to speed. But it was also weird to watch Ward backing out of the Icon workshop in absolute silence first.

No rasping V8 intake or burbling exhaust here, but also no fake engine noises, no clunks of rudimentary gearshifters. Not even reverse beeping to warn potential pedestrians behind, as a Prius Prime might.

Then I climbed into the driver’s seat, trying to quell the nerves of driving an irreplaceable prototype. This EV Bronco will spawn a limited run of just 10 first-edition trucks, though the potential future applications of the Moment powertrain will also proliferate throughout the Icon lineup.

In bare-bones terms, the Icon 4×4 EV Bronco sounds fairly basic. It packs 500 horsepower and 440 pound-feet of torque, solid axles, four-wheel drive, and locking diffs into the classic Bronco profile. But then Davis explained the surprising layout more simply so that my admittedly Neanderthal engineering mind could understand.

Icon 4×4 EV Bronco Uses Just One Motor

Unlike most four-wheel-drive EVs, which use two or more, this Bronco uses only a single electric motor. It’s mounted longitudinally, smack-dab in the center of the ladder frame. No transmission and no transfer case required.

Instead of those parts, CV axles feed Currie axles directly from the motor. Why CV joints? The more typical U-joints would cause unbelievable clunking during stop-start situations.

This solution also dictated a very smooth “throttle” response to help reduce driveline noise, as I quickly discovered while starting out in the Eco drive mode. Davis pointed out the controls on a small touchscreen in the center console, which, in classic Icon fashion, can be hidden fully by a metal cover.

Ward always eliminates any plastics from all touchpoints in every build. I can appreciate that level of OCD, given my own texture phobias. And I spied plenty of other quintessential Icon details on the interior, from the familiar metal knobs and switchgear to the column-mounted shifter. Only a closer look at the classic-style gauges revealed specific readouts for state of charge and kilowatt output.

Cutting-Edge Tech Makes Life Easier

Davis explained that Moment has been in the EV conversion game for 8 years now. And only now have the OEM-quality parts and management systems emerged. The kind that can meet the type of goals that Ward first proposed a few years ago after admittedly stalking Moment via Instagram.

An onboard aggregated BMS (battery management system) controls the Bronco’s pumps, fans, cooling, and heating all in one place. It also allows for standard OBD codes in the case of faults, as well as over-the-air (OTA) updates and even remote analysis.

More importantly, driving the Bronco requires just as little thought as a modern EV. Davis started me off in Eco mode to help me acclimate to the steering, mostly. I pulled away from stops as smoothly as possible, sussing out the light steering weight typical of older trucks — but with far more precision.

The suspension, meanwhile, prevented this Bronco from bucking or squatting. Even if the unavoidable tendencies toward understeer and the tightly sprung jounce of a solid-front-axle truck still exists.

Without an Engine, Other Noises Poke Through

Once we started escaping from civilization a bit, the road got rougher, with some healthy right and lefthand curves. Here, the Bronco EV’s superior center of gravity, when compared to an ICE truck, helped prevent too much egregious body roll. On the other hand, I heard more creaks and rattles than expected.

Ward approaches annoying noises scientifically, mounting microphones throughout the body and chassis of Icon builds to figure out friction points. For this prototype, he specifically skipped out on additional sound deadening and carpeting to help isolate anywhere that might produce clunks, rattles, and squeaks without an internal combustion engine to cover up the sounds.

OEMs call this a focus on NVH, or noise, vibration, and harshness. And EVs always present new struggles, regardless of mainstream or aftermarket construction.

Challenges Developing the First Icon 4×4 EV Bronco

The main intrusions I noticed seemed to come from the barndoor tailgate latch and some more road hum than expected from range-friendly Toyo Open Country A/T III EV tires. Then again, I also appreciate true EV whine — from fully natural driveline components, not piped in by speakers — especially once I stepped up to the Normal drive mode and built up the familiarity to punch a bit more of the go pedal.

This Icon 4×4 EV Bronco weighs in at 5,420 pounds and, as is usual with many EVs, has perfect 50/50 weight distribution. In fact, Ward even boasted a perfect 25/25/25/25 corner balance. But unlike most EVs, he skipped out on a skateboard chassis, which would have limited suspension travel and ground clearance too significantly.

Instead of under the driver, the 105 kWh of NMC (lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide) batteries are mounted in the front engine bay and beneath the rear cargo area. They’re rated to the IP67 standard of waterproofing, which means the batteries can safely submerge in water up to 1m deep for 30 minutes.

Icon 4×4 Bronco EV Gets Protection for New Coolant Lines & Wires

When we stopped for photos, I ducked my head beneath the truck to check out the packaging. High-voltage and coolant lines run front to rear, bolted onto the frame rails and protected by skid plates. Custom Griffin radiators use a larger loop for the inverter, motor, and charger, with a smaller loop for the batteries.

A heat pump can keep the cells in the optimal temperature range (around 30-40 degrees C) on cold days. At the moment, the charge port for 6.6kW Level 2 charging and Level 3 CCS just sits in the rear cargo area, but Ward plans to move it to an external location using the steel fuel door from a 1976 or 1977 Bronco. The 400V architecture allows for charging 20-80% in under an hour.

I also spotted new Reiger Suspension dampers, which are replacing the Fox components on previous Icon builds. Those purple knobs will look familiar to any fans of international rally racing, and Ward emphasized the quality and the fact that Reigers are rebuildable. And, critically, can include Icon 4×4 badging.

Stepping Up to Sport Mode & Stomping the Pedal to the Metal

The progressive dampers became even more important once I selected Sport mode on the drive back to the shop. This unleashed legitimate power, hard enough to cause serious squat off the line and some vague torque steer from the front tires.

Launching with the gut-punching rollercoaster sensation of a low-slung sports car, the EV Bronco got up to speed in an instant, even causing a bit of tire chirp along the way as the rear LSD hooked up.

That torque steer presented Ward and Davis with a bit of a treasure hunt. Of course, the Icon 4×4 EV Bronco needs to use electrically assisted steering since there is no ICE V8 to spin a drive belt to a hydraulic power steering pump. But many aftermarket electronic power assist steering systems mount to the steering column, requiring a manual steering box, and the Bronco’s manual steering box ratio simply lacked the fidelity to work with even light power assist.

Instead, Ward and Davis decided on using an electric pump to feed a Volvo steering box, with an input angle sensor on the steering column that tells the pump how to control pressure. The solution provides plenty of feedback, if light steering weight, and once I acclimated to the upright solid-front-axle dynamics, I simply stopped needing to think about it. Ward even told me the chase for perfect EV steering will help on his ICE builds, too.

LSDs, Lockers, and a Load of Regen Braking

Pushing the driveline hard reveals the benefits of the electric motor’s built-in LSD, plus the rear LSD currently equipped. Icon will also happily spec front and rear ARB lockers, and Ward is debating just making the rear locker standard.

After I needed to stomp on the brake to haul down speed because of some more exuberant fun in Sport mode, Davis explained that full-time regen pairs with Brembo components to bring the Bronco to a stop. Ward also wanted optional idle creep, to mimic an ICE vehicle, and adjustable levels of regen may appear in the production trucks.

The idea of regen-based hill descent control also entered our conversation, though I doubt it will work well enough since the single motor will then slow down all four wheels. This seems ripe for slippage off-road. I’ve learned that brake-based hill descent programming works best, because ABS sensors can detect and alter wheel speed individually (something the Ineos Grenadier, surprisingly, does best).

Of course, just as the full 200 miles (or so) of range probably don’t matter much to the lucky 10 Founder’s Edition clients, rugged off-roading (much less river fording) is likely not the point here. But Ward can’t wait to get the production line up and running, because then he and Davis will be able to see more data revealing how more people drive the Icon 4×4 EV Bronco.

To that end, the whole point of Moment’s contributions to the project come down to how best to serialize the EV powertrain. Hence, the center motor, as well as the modular battery mounting locations, electrical wiring, and cooling lines. Computer renderings in CAD will help to bring EV options to multiple models in the Icon portfolio, which Ward believes will bring new customers to the restomod industry.

Icon 4×4 EV Bronco Conclusions

For now, one of the first 10 Icon 4×4 EV Broncos starts at $499,000. Configuration options include the choice between Icon’s Old School and New School styles, plus a full range of options, with deliveries slated to begin in Q1 of 2026.

I’d go with an Old School hardtop, just to help with the NVH considerations — and because I don’t particularly enjoy the sun in my face. Then again, maybe silent beach trips in a convertible EV Bronco sounds just about perfect.

At least the neighbors won’t get mad about my Coyote V8 burbling early in the morning. Whether or not the idea of an electric Bronco sounds heretical, I left Icon remembering the cohesive build quality apparent on the Everrati 911 that I drove earlier this year — but this truck rode possibly even better.

Even the space under the hood, where a Coyote V8 should live, looks neat and organized. Think of Steve Jobs insisting the inside of iPhones and Macbooks needed to look attractive, even though no customer would ever see them. From my perspective behind the wheel, Icon’s first electric Bronco definitely establishes a new standard for vintage EV conversions.