Conversion of classic car to EV

[Gareth J]

I know that there are companies that will convert old classic cars to EV's by taking out the engine and fitting a EV motor and gubbins for you.
I have a plan to buy an old Ford Mustang, and get it converted. In terms of environmentalness, would it be better to get a working old car, and run it until it dies and then convert it, or buy an old car that isn't currently running, and convert it straight away? (all other road worthiness things being equal - so everything else works, but you run a working car till the engine dies, or you buy a working car with a dead engine).

what are your thoughts on this?

Any cost/benefit analysis is going to be hugely dependent on expected milage. If you only drive 100mi/year, it's going to take a long time to pay back any £ or carbon investment. Intergalactic milage, the opposite. If the former, invest the money in decarbonising something that has a bigger carbon footprint. If the latter, do it yesterday (or buy an appropriate vehicle for those milages!)

If you plan to get a working old car and run it until it dies, you may never end up getting it converted, it'll most likely fail slowly and before you know it, it may be uneconomical to keep it on the road in any guise. The engine, if maintained, is unlikely to catastrophically fail, just get progressively more tired.

I wouldn't focus too heavily on the engine anyway. If it's just been rebuilt, great, it'll have a good resale value. If it's just put a rod through the block, great, the car will be cheaper and you'll have no hassle selling the engine.

The cost-benefit here is having a hobby that produces something interesting of which you can be proud.

If you want £/mile buy a LEAF/Zoe…

Very true. As the owner of a few classic vehicles, rarely is anything done on a logical, return on investment, basis!

[Fueltheburn]

Regarding use/mileage (in general), I was struck by two things when reading about a Ferrari conversion many years ago. I think it was a 308, so not particularly 'special'.

Firstly the fun facts, that it was the same weight (slightly lighter), more power, and slightly more range.

Secondly the big one - useability, the owner mentioned that it was now more of a daily driver, even for just popping to the shops, whereas before it would be tucked away for the winter, then need an engine service in the spring, and some TLC/thought before each use.

The second one struck me as really significant.

Interesting case there...some Ferraris have very onerous servicing i.e the cambelt intervals are very short and you get destroyed for cost. Same with clutches.
From the Lotus side... I always thought a Mk1 to MK3 Lotus Esprit would convert very well for the above reasons. Always needing fuel tanks looked at, Cambelt requires engine and gearbox removing (circa 16+hrs), clutch etc... Find one with a duff engine and chuck in a Tesla rear unit More power, more torque and more service friendly.

[Stig]

As I understand it it's an expensive business to get a car converted but if you do plan to DIY then be careful about how you do it as apparently you're not allowed to make any structural modifications and the car must be inspected before it can be reclassified as an EV*. If the car is over 40 years old and hence "historic vehicle" class then I don't know where you'd stand with this, you have to inform the DVLA about a change of engine anyway so I guess the same rules apply.

I have wondered about converting my Frogeye Sprite but, a) I do barely 1000 miles a year in it as it's never going to be a daily driver, and b) it's got quite enough power & torque with a tweaked 1300 engine and 1950's suspension and 145 tyres! I also take a childish pleasure in pressing the load pedal when going under bridges.


*I think I got this from a "Bangers & Cash, Restoring Classics" episode where they spent £30k+ on converting a Morris Minor??