Conversion of classic car to EV

[Stinsy]

If I convert mine it will be once it hits 40 years old.
You get historical classification.
This way NO ULEZ and NO TAX.
This will be even more important if they decide to introduce pay per mile tax in the future. It then becomes a massive loop hole for tax avoidance.

I swapped my £20 a year PHEV for a £195 a year BEV!

[Joeboy]

Fancied doing this on a 911. Two engines bays Plenty space.

[Stinsy]

Fancied doing this on a 911. Two engines bays Plenty space.

I've seen a few EV-converted 911s for sale. The price has always been well north of £100k.

I wonder how much a DIY conversion would cost?

[Mart]

I follow these guys on Youtube

Electric Classic Cars

and have been researching some US muscle cars on Autotrader, but I suspect it's just a fun mental project for me. I loved owning a Yanktank when I was young, but also remember what an absolute pain a LHD car is on UK roads, and anywhere where you need to take or give a ticket, if you don't have a co-pilot.

Stinsy - Those guys do have a 911 kit if you feel brave enough to enquire?

Porsche 911/912 Conversion Kit

PS - They are taking their insane Beetle conversion to Pikes Peak.

[Fueltheburn]

I am literally in the process shitting down my classic car restomod business.
Need a few things to be sorted. One being a decent steel portal (for solar reasons of course) and then a set of ramps before I start again.
Fed up of working in damp conditions in Aberdeenshire.

It may eventually get re-booted under an EV only banner.
300bhp and instant torque is a lot in a light car.



I do like a neat engine bay. From one of my builds.

[Fueltheburn]

Fancied doing this on a 911. Two engines bays Plenty space.

I've seen a few EV-converted 911s for sale. The price has always been well north of £100k.

I wonder how much a DIY conversion would cost?

The curious part here is that the 911 has been done from the factory and they drop in value the moment you sign the paperwork. Arguably one of the cheapest Porsches available today is the Taycan if purchased second hand.
Porsche are treating these cars like mobile phones....throwaway device.

[Stinsy]

Fancied doing this on a 911. Two engines bays Plenty space.

I've seen a few EV-converted 911s for sale. The price has always been well north of £100k.

I wonder how much a DIY conversion would cost?

The curious part here is that the 911 has been done from the factory and they drop in value the moment you sign the paperwork. Arguably one of the cheapest Porsches available today is the Taycan if purchased second hand.
Porsche are treating these cars like mobile phones....throwaway device.

Porsche put huge pressure on dealers to shift Taycans. I heard that customers who wanted to buy a 4.0L Cayman were required to buy 4x Taycans first. It is not surprising that depreciation is so steep when you consider that!

This fella has been trying to sell his for 6-months and has dropped the price £20k!

[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.

[Stinsy]

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…

[Mart]

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.