Would you electrify your RR, and at what cost?

look up evbmw on YouTube, he's aiming to convert an e36 for less than 1k euros

100% would have an electric Retro.

I would also 100% have an electric hillclimb car. I really want to build one out of a space frame and fibreglass MG Midget.

Waiting for some more crashed electric cars to tear parts off.

I'm keen to keep right on burning dinosaurs. EVs may be all very well in the city but not practical for me.
The real question we need to ask regards the power source for these things. If everyone who drives fossil fuel cars now were to get an EV where does the power come from to charge the batteries? I doubt that most countries' electricity supply networks could handle the increased demand.

More renewable energy. Everyone could have a big battery at home (or work...or wherever they go) to provide power where they need it. The battery storage would mean renewable energy could be made when it's possible (when it's sunny/windy etc) and stored for when it's needed. Where is everyone going to get a big battery? Here's the twist....it's an electric car. It turns out they might be the solution, rather than the problem. :-)



To answer the original question...yes, I'd love an electric classic. I'd love to see a future where they stop making new cars and just convert old ones. Obviously, we'd keep a few originals, it would be terrible to not hear an E-Type, Ferrari, or even that little rasp Morris Minors make between gearchanges, but for day-to-day cars, electric is the future.


Mmmm....electric Lincolns.

Right now, if I won the lottery...I'd have an old Nissan Caravan with lots of range and plenty of power:



Anyway...it's not the future...it's the present :-):

So I had an idea a while ago and I'll share it here for you guys to tear apart.

The fun of a retro/classic isn't just the look, the nostalgia or the sound, but the way it drives. An electric motor isn't the same as an engine, there's no torque curve, all the power is there all the time.

My Midget has 75hp on a good day (a very good day downhill). I don't want an electric motor with 200hp in there, that would be terrifying. Not only that but the gearbox wouldn't be able to take the power, so I'd be changing that out too. Now we're getting into the points system and playing with needing to get it tested. That's more money and time and in 10 years I doubt that a Midget will make it through an IVA test.

So my idea is to fit the electric motor to the gearbox and to programme it with a torque curve. Make a 200hp electric motor behave like a 75hp A Series motor.

I just don't know enough about electric motors to do the job.

Other things to consider;
You could pump fake engine noises into the cabin while driving to give the driver the ability to change gear based on sound
You could convert the tachometer to provide revs for the driver to change gear at the right time
You could make an app whereby the driver could select a different torque curve. Want to try a 997 cooper engine? Just select it. a 1440 turbocharged engine? Go for it. The engine from a Fiat 500? Weird, but sure!

Done properly I think it would be a fairly cheap conversion, but it's the cost of the batteries that's the issue, they're still very expensive, and last I heard Tesla doesn't like their cars ending up in scrap yards, so secondhand Tesla batteries are hard to come by.

Brilliant idea for a thread.

I totally would do this once conversions seem a little more affordable and the tech is more widespread.
Thousands of volts is pretty dangerous so I'd definitely want to be sure the people doing the conversion knew their onions so my bum isn't earthing something

I think what I'd love most is a small light day to day car I can charge in a garage, perhaps even with solar combined with a Tesla battery, so once done it basically runs forever (brake pads and cv mounts excluded)

So for me that'd be a Mk1 Panda, SuperCinq or Mini.

Mk1 Golf Caddy / Skoda Favorit Pickup would be pretty great for trips down the DIY store.

Longer legged?
I love the idea of a Tesla-salvage swapped T25 or Hiace Camper - all that torque, all the practicality. I'd totally use a van as a daily if electric, and it'd be good for motorway runs too.

I also harbour the idea of a Series 3 Landy 110 - I love how they're like kits so would have all the bits to make it pickup / station wagon / open-top / crew-cab and just build it like lego for specific needs. I don't know why but the idea of that seems a lot more appealing with an electric drivetrain. Maybe something about dirtiness?

I have zero problems with electric cars and, should somebody want to electrify their Retro, why not!
However, why the hell would I want to electrify my Firebird when part and parcel of the driving pleasure I derive from it is to hear the burble of the V8 coming through the exhaust system!
That video of the ridiculously fast electric car does not a thing for me, going as fast as I can does not interest me at all, the notion that you can outgun a combustion engine car of several hundred horsepower with a battery powered car does not actually prove any argument or augment a point that electric is a natural, if not better alternative.
The driving characteristics of a car are much more that how fast it goes, how smoothly it runs and how efficient it can be. Most classic car fans are into their cars because of the character of the vehicle, not just how it looks.
The whine of a gearbox, the tappety sound of a Simca, the parp from the exhaust of a Morris Minor, so many little things that going electric will not compensate for
let alone replace.
A VW Beetle that no longer clatters and chatters like a Beetle is no longer a Beetle, yes, it looks like one but going electric will evolve it into something new and different.
That new and different would not be for me, I will go electric in a modern and lament the times when cars, old cars, were individual in so many more ways than just the physical design.
I would quite like a Tesla tbh, I like the shape and the style, I like the idea of near silent, efficient and quick when you need it but I just cannot see me feeling the same way about an electric retro.
Each to their own.

I've driven several plug-in hybrids and EVs and I'm sold. I'd like to convert a Beetle only the present cost puts me off. I'd be all over it for 5k though.

Although I'd have no need to if Honda ever make these 

Funny you should say that...



Have motor and controller (and Fugitive of course) but project on hold until batteries get a bit cheaper!