Deathly quiet: UK firm launches a Tesla Model S HEARSE with a 220-mile electric range, power coffin deck and pop-out compartment for the handling trolley
- Tesla hearse is offered by Bolton-based funeral vehicle provider Coleman Milne
- The conversion specialists have extended the length and wheelbase of a Model S
- It has a higher roof and the rear passenger seats have been moved to make room to accommodate a coffin
- The boot lid and coffin loading deck also operate electrically, while there’s also a special hidden compartment for the handling trolley
- With a range of 220 miles, the firm says it is the ideal hearse for ‘eco-funerals’
For those who, when they die, want to go quietly can do so quite literally now there’s an electric Tesla that’s been converted into a hearse for the UK.
Bolton-based funeral vehicle provider Coleman Milne has, with the help of German firm BINZ-E, launched a zero-emission and entirely silent hearse.
With an extended body, the removal of the rear seats and even a pop-out section for a handling trolley, the electric car is said to be the ideal choice for ‘eco-funerals’.
Deathly quiet: This is the converted Tesla Model S hearse, now available for funeral from Bolton-based firm Coleman Milne
The hearse starts life as a standard all-wheel-drive Tesla Model S, which in the UK are priced from £77,980.
However, the specialist vehicle provider has made massive changes so it can accommodate a coffin.
The body has been extended from 4.97 metres to 5.82 metres. The roof height at the back has been raised to 1.72 metres (up from 1.45 metres), meaning a new roof panel to stretch from the top of the windscreen to the boot lid.
The wheelbase has also been lengthened to 3.8 metres, adding another 1.2 metres between the front and rear wheels.
With the rear seats now eliminated, the standard car’s boot capacity of 748-litres has obviously increase somewhat.
Keeping with the electric theme of the Tesla hearse, it has a power-operated boot lid and an electrically extending coffin loading deck.
There’s even a pop-out storage compartment for the coffin-handling trolley, which ejects from the side of the vehicle when the pallbearers need it.
The body has been extended from 4.97 metres to 5.82 metres. The roof height at the back has been raised to 1.72 metres (up from 1.45 metres), meaning a new roof panel to stretch from the top of the windscreen to the boot lid
The Tesla hearse has a power-operated boot lid and an electrically extending coffin loading deck
This pop-out stowage compartment which neatly stores the coffin-handling trolley
Coleman Milne quotes a driving range of 220 miles, though this will depend on which version of the Tesla Model S is used as the donor car.
Current versions of the plug-in US saloon car offer a range in excess of 367 miles, though the revised hearse figure does have to take into account the modifications and the additional weight of the vehicle’s contents.
Further performance stats – such as references to any changes to the 2.3-second 0-to-62mph acceleration time of the Model S Performance – have not been clarified. Not that speed is a requirement for vehicles of this ilk.
The Bolton company states: ‘With state- of-the-art technology and equipment, the new all-electric hearse makes a very clear statement: the future drives electric.’
It adds: ‘Silent, stylish and ideal for customers operating in Ultra Low Emission and Clean Air Zones across the country. The all-electric hearse also fulfils the rising customer demand for Eco-Funerals.’
Coleman Milne quotes a driving range of 220 miles, though this will depend on which version of the Tesla Model S is used as the donor car
The cabin has been modestly finished with dark materials. It will also benefit from the brand’s interactive touchscreen system, consisting of games and a seat-specific whoopee cushion, which we don’t imagine will be used very often in this example
As with all new Teslas, it will have access to the firm’s Supercharger network, which by the end of last year consisted of 55 sites with a total of 432 individual rapid charging devices in the UK.
It will also benefit from the brand’s interactive touchscreen system, consisting of games and a seat-specific whoopee cushion, which we don’t imagine will be used very often in this example.
No price has been confirmed, though funeral directors can arrange test drives of the demonstrator vehicle on request.
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