Just try and have a conversation with a typical millennial these days, and perhaps you’ll appreciate the problem. Here is a group of people who are born into a reality of global warming, efficient public transportation, and keener on life-changing experiences instead of making large capital purchases!
So, what’s going to happen to all those fantastic, one-of-a-kind pieces of automotive art from yesteryear, like the gorgeous Porsche 356 coupé and Citroën DS, or even something like the ‘pagoda’ roofed Mercedes-Benz 230Sl from the 1960s, if the current and next generations completely lose interest in commuting with a conventional car?
Well, if you’re a bit of a car geek, then you’ll probably know that petrol or gasoline to electric powerplant conversion for cars is not a new thing. Electrifying a classic car provides the best of both worlds. You get most of the character of the original design (minus the engine noise and gearchanges), but with the reliability and everyday usage possibility of an EV.
A growing number of specialists based in the U.K. and the U.S. are offering a plethora of conversion kits for the business of modding dad’s old Beemer into an EV, but right here in Malaysia, our own JPJ has yet to set rules on doing that just yet! But word around the campfire is, this will soon change as more and more EVs enter the Malaysian market.
Until then, maybe some inspiration is all that we can offer with a bit of a glimpse into some outstanding classic car EV conversions that have already taken place!
GT6 E-DRIVE1
This elegant Triumph TR6 conversion from Estonian company e-Drive Retro was built to prove a point: The company wants to show that it can convert any classic car and provide emissions-free motoring! This is because they use advanced scanners to map the car and design the bespoke system to fit into any basic shape. As older cars tend to be lighter, the company sticks with smaller battery packs and the GT6 E-Drive1 comes with a 17.6 kWh pack. That gives between 115 to 190 kilometres of range, depending on how heavy your foot is on the pedal. The 0-100 km/h time of 8.2 seconds is a vast improvement on the petrol-engined Triumph’s 10 seconds, and the whole car weighs in at just over 900 kg.
