News updates in the automotive industry have revealed that electric car sales are slowly – slowly – rising. These eco-friendly vehicles are taking less time to charge and are now proving to be less expensive than fossil fuel vehicles to care for.
The cut in expense can, for some, be traced to the taxes and restrictions now being placed on petrol-users living in urban environments. However, the electric engine also cuts garage visits down – and costs along with them.
But what are you supposed to do if you’re a fan of classic cars? After all, the vehicles that made it big in the 50s and 60s are still popular today. Finding tyres for vintage cars is difficult enough – finding a battery that’ll run the car as it's meant to be should be unimaginable. And if you don’t want to get rid of your collectible, but you don’t want to fall victim to the aforementioned taxes or restrictions, what are you supposed to do?
There’s good news for you. Many small garages and larger manufacturers are investing in classic car conversion kits. These kits are designed to help manufacturers and hobbyists alike replace their petrol engines with electric ones, all without compromising the structural integrity of the classic car they’re working on.
Don’t believe it? Let’s take a look at some of the manufacturers operating in the UK today to see just what types of cars they’ve been able to convert from their classic petrol to the modern electric engine.
Lunaz and the 1961 Rolls-Royce Phantom
David Lorenz is the founder of Lunaz, a small garage that aims to create petrol-to-electric conversion kits alongside larger manufacturers. This garage is one of the most prolific in the UK and has worked to modify a number of classic cars to better fit the modern moment.
Lorenz’s most successful conversions include a 1961 Rolls-Royce Phantom, a 1956 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud and a 1953 Jaguar XK120. The bodies of these vehicles remain intact as Lorenz works, and they’re returned to their owners or new buyers looking exactly as they did when they were initially released.
The only difference is that they’ll no longer violate emission restrictions, and their owners will be able to charge them at a home station instead of driving down to the garage. The EV battery installed in the Jaguar, for example, is of roughly the same size and weight as the original engine, ensuring that the vehicle runs just as it did when it was first released on the market.
Thus far, Lorenz and the staff at Lunaz have taken their cues from larger manufacturers looking to do this same work. Their small business drive and repeat success with vehicles from multiple manufacturers, however, is in the process of netting them an international reputation for success.
Aston Martin and the Rapide E
On the larger end of things come UK-famous manufacturer, Aston Martin. Courtesy of the Aston Martin Works’ Heritage EV Conversion, the automotive manufacturer is in the process of converting previous Rapide E releases from petrol to electric engines.
These luxury vehicles, ranging from the 1970 DB6 MKLL Volante to a new line of Lagondas, represent Aston Martin’s desire to continue supplying interested buyers with the classic vehicles they love, but without violating the new environmental legislation implemented throughout the UK.
Aston Martin has not yet announced how or if the company will convert the engines of vehicles it’s previously sold to UK and international consumers. Right now, development of converter kits seems to be relegated to new releases of older, classic vehicles. How these kits will grow remains to be seen.
Jaguar and the Jaguar Land Rover Classic
Aston Martin isn’t the only manufacturer looking to convert its older classic cars to the electric engine. As of August 2019, the company announced a driver to create converter kit for some of the classic cars in its backlog.
The Jaguar Land Rover Classic, for example, was the first vehicle that the manufacturer released after it had been converted. Nowadays, the vehicle – referred to as part of the E-Type Zero series, features a 40 KWH battery that looks similar enough to the original 6 gasoline engine that the car debuted with.
This similarity in size and structure adds little to no extra weight to the body of the vehicle, ensuring that its operations are unimpacted by the conversion process.
Jaguar’s director, Tim Hannig, announced that the manufacturer looks forward to converting its backlog into 2020 and 2021. However, as of a press release in 2019, development in that direction seems to have been delayed.
It’s becoming increasingly obvious that the automotive industry has gone all in on electric vehicles. And for good reason! The benefits of driving electric cars range from the financial to the environmental. Now that manufacturers and small shops alike are looking to preserve classic cars in the era of the electric battery, it may be easier for some of the automotive hold outs to jump on the bandwagon.