From suburban garages to professional workshops, Australians are stripping petrol and diesel motors, fuel tanks and gearboxes, mufflers and exhausts out of classic cars and converting them to electric vehicles, in a practice known as “electro modding”.
Though not cheap, EV conversion, or “electro modding”, is booming in popularity, according to an ABC Science report.
Ken Macken recently purchased and converted a 40-year-old Datsun ute.
With its new lithium-ion battery, the two-door electric runabout dubbed the “Dasla” has been able to surge to 100kph in under six seconds—something the petrol version would have never achieved.
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“There’s a lot of people out there who love their classic cars, but don’t want the issues of internal combustion engines,” Macken told ABC Science.
“Old cars look beautiful and new cars all look the same.”
Often, it’s a way of breathing new life into beloved older models—a way of owning a classic car without the fumes and breakdowns.
Some hope this change is just the start: they look forward to a time when “electro modding” can be done cheaply and at mass scale. They believe that at least some of the petrol cars being sold today may see out their time on the road as converted electric ones.
Interest in electric vehicle conversions started to surge around 18 months ago, says Emma Sutcliffe, director of Melbourne garage the Electric Car Cafe.
“We kept getting asked and asked and asked,” she says.
“These are customers who want an alternative to Tesla, but with the mod cons.”
Unfortunately an EV conversion does not come cheap, warns Chris Jones, national secretary of the Australian Electric Vehicle Association (AEVA).
“If you want something that goes more than 150km to a charge and maintains a highway speed, you’re going to be spending north of $30,000,” he says.
“If you want to do a really good conversion of an old car, you’re going to spend as much money as buying a new electric car.”
Macken, for instance, spent about $40,000 on batteries, the electric motor and other parts to both restore and convert his Datsun ute.
“That’s restoring a car back to brand new,” he says.
The Dasla has a range of about 180km—less than half that of a $44,000 new EV.
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The biggest cost, says Tim Harrison, who’s converted a 1965 Ford Cortina in Brisbane, is the batteries, which are in exceptionally high demand right now.
“I sourced my own batteries by salvaging them from a wrecked Tesla Model X that I bought, but not everyone can do that,” Harrison says.
“If I had to source them elsewhere, the conversion would have added up to about $30,000.”
Mr Harrison expects the cost of conversions will fall as batteries get cheaper and new EV sales swell the supply of second-hand parts.
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