ELECTRIC CLASSICS
Electric vehicle conversions – future-proofed classics or assault with battery ? We check out what’s involved and meet enthusiasts who have taken the plunge to get plugged in
Love them or loathe them? Fear them or welcome them? Classic electric vehicle (EV) conversions arouse strong emotions in enthusiasts.
Battery-powered classics have been around for more than a decade, but Prince Harry’s choice of an electric Jaguar E-type ‘Zero’ for his first ride into married life six years ago brought international media attention to EV conversions and propelled a formerly niche industry into mainstream consciousness.
The 2019 TV series Vintage Voltage, which followed a team as they converted classics as diverse as a Fiat 500 and a Gordon Keeble into EVs, attracted a global audience and aroused passionate supporters and detractors in equal numbers. Rumours of a petrol ban that would consign classic cars to static displays have been discredited and modern EVs are now a familiar sight on our roads, making some motorists more comfortable with the concept of converting their classic to battery power. But can the whine of an electric motor ever replace the roar of aV8 or the howl of a flat-six on full song? As classic EV conversion pioneer Lunaz ‘stops operating ’ (CCW, 27 March), we talk to early adopters of electric classics to learn what life with a classic EV is like and discover the highs and lows of conversion and ownership.
MARK SANDERS
1969 LOTUS ‘ELON’
Engineer, inventor and designer, Mark Sanders, says that he has always admired Colin Chapman’s s work: ‘I’d owned and raced eight classic Elans right back from my days as an apprentice – along with Elises and Europas – and I knew that 23mpg wasn’t uncommon for a 30 per cent efficient Twin Cam. But I was still missing my last Elan five years after selling it., so I thought that the tatty S4 I’d spotted rusting away at the back of specialist Miles Wilkins’ garage would be a perfect “lockdown project” basis to apply Chapman’s “performance through lightness” concept to and build an updated 90 per cent efficient electric classic that could be my fun, guilt-free daily driver and still share the Lotus DNA.
‘I bought the car and sold the engine then invested around £12,000 in conversion parts – but of course I haven’t costed in all my professional design time or the 400 hours of blood, sweat and tears engineering that it took to bring my initial concept to reality.
‘Many people suggested that the EV conversion would be too heavy, but it’s true to Chapman’s maxim – in fact it’s slightly lighter than before I converted it so I lowered the springs, resulting in horizontal wishbones allowi
