Discussion
I was clearing through some old content on my sky planner at the weekend and have my obligatory Wheeler Dealers binge. On one fairly recent episode, they stumbled across a Maserati Bi-Turbo that had been subject to an EV conversion back in the 90s which they subsequently modified.
During the episode (filmed in California, the home of the eco-motorist) there were a few comments suggesting that EV converting a classic car was a popular thing to be doing at the moment, but I've never heard of it!
Has this been discussed on PH already, and if so are there any threads of interest? It seems to me that running a classic car is often a painful experience due to poor reliability and difficulty to get parts. I'm not sure though that dropping £15-20k on an electric motor and batteries into a classic is an appropriate move...
The performance they got out of the Bi-turbo was modest, 150ish BHP IIRC, 120mile range and a fair whack of torque. If a legacy engine absolutely needs to be removed from a classic, I think I much prefer the idea of retrofitting readily available modern engines such as the duratecs, K20s, etc.
During the episode (filmed in California, the home of the eco-motorist) there were a few comments suggesting that EV converting a classic car was a popular thing to be doing at the moment, but I've never heard of it!
Has this been discussed on PH already, and if so are there any threads of interest? It seems to me that running a classic car is often a painful experience due to poor reliability and difficulty to get parts. I'm not sure though that dropping £15-20k on an electric motor and batteries into a classic is an appropriate move...
The performance they got out of the Bi-turbo was modest, 150ish BHP IIRC, 120mile range and a fair whack of torque. If a legacy engine absolutely needs to be removed from a classic, I think I much prefer the idea of retrofitting readily available modern engines such as the duratecs, K20s, etc.
I saw that episode and thought it was quite good. I thought they got about 200bhp and 250 miles range. Don't forget the paper figures don't tell the whole story - the instant torque of the motors meant the car actually had a lot more oomph.
If you had a classic with a broken or missing engine then I think it's a brilliant alternative if you had the money for the conversion.
The problem with doing it in a car is, as shown, you lose the entire boot to battery storage.
However, I'm quite into classic trucks ad buses. Take a big old Bedford, AEC or Leyland. Either a huge petrol engine doing 3mpg, or a first generation diesel clattering away in the cab with you. Either way, about 30mph top speed.
I imagine finding an engineless or broken Green Goddess/Routemaster/Matador/Martian and silently cruising at 50mph thanks to a ballast box full of cutting edge cells.
If you had a classic with a broken or missing engine then I think it's a brilliant alternative if you had the money for the conversion.
The problem with doing it in a car is, as shown, you lose the entire boot to battery storage.
However, I'm quite into classic trucks ad buses. Take a big old Bedford, AEC or Leyland. Either a huge petrol engine doing 3mpg, or a first generation diesel clattering away in the cab with you. Either way, about 30mph top speed.
I imagine finding an engineless or broken Green Goddess/Routemaster/Matador/Martian and silently cruising at 50mph thanks to a ballast box full of cutting edge cells.
I may have got the figures wrong, I've still got it so may double check tonight as your figures sound a lot more attractive.
During the episode, Mike went for a ride in an EV converted VW camper. I thought that was brilliant, and suited the vehicle nicely.
On the Maserati though, a car quite literally defined by the engine configuration - it seems less appropriate.
During the episode, Mike went for a ride in an EV converted VW camper. I thought that was brilliant, and suited the vehicle nicely.
On the Maserati though, a car quite literally defined by the engine configuration - it seems less appropriate.
There's a few in the US doing classic VWs, and https://www.electricclassiccars.co.uk/ in this country.
sjg said:
...and https://www.electricclassiccars.co.uk/ in this country.
Robert Llewellyn had a drive in one of their Beetles on his Fully Charged channelGassing Station | EV and Alternative Fuels | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff