Nearly everyone will have their favourite car or cars. Or vans and trucks for that matter. Even those who are not into cars will have a fond attachment to or memories of their first car. Now that we are in the age of electric cars you may think that this is the end of the road for our favourite models.
However, this is nothing further from the truth. It is because we are in an electric car revolution that we are open to far more options when it comes to electric cars than you may think. Petrol and diesel cars are being converted to run on an electric battery, and we are thrilled to see some of these in action.
Are Current Electric Cars Completely Different?
Electric cars come in all shapes and sizes. Some have been built on electric vehicle architecture and will clearly be different from the cars of yesteryear. Tesla, the Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5 are all electric cars from the ground up and are different from petrol and diesel cars that have gone before.
However, there are some electric vehicles that do not have this dedicated EV architecture base. Cars that have been released as petrol and diesel vehicles with an electric option also available. This includes the Vauxhall Corsa-e, the upcoming Vauxhall Astra-e and the Mokka-e.
There is also a third category. Those cars that have been built only as an electric vehicle but bear an uncanny resemblance to conventionally powered siblings. The Renault Zoe, for example, is very close to the Renault Clio. The familiarity is a great selling point for that particular car. There is also the Jaguar I-Pace which is almost a carbon copy of the Jaguar F-Pace.
What Has Been Converted Already?
In short, a lot! There is a fantastic company called Electric Classic Cars whose speciality is exactly that. They get a classic petrol or diesel car and then turn it into an EV. Some of their work includes the Volkswagen Beetle, the Land Rover Defender and the Porsche 911.
This fantastic group has been at several events, and by far my favourite convert by the team is the DeLorean of Back to the Future fame. It is just such a fun concept that brings me happy and warm feelings inside. The only thing that is missing is a real flux capacitor, so no time travel for us I’m afraid.
What Would I Like to See Converted?
Of the 4 cars that I owned before my first electric vehicle (a Kia EV6 GT Line S in case you wondered. It’s amazing!), there are 2 that I think would be great choices for an electric conversion. OK, so they are hardly classics, but that’s not the point.
The first of my previous cars would be the Peugeot 106. This was my first car and it was great to drive. Making the 106 into an electric car would give you an incredible, small, fun and environmentally friendly car.
The other car is the Mazda CX5. I know this will certainly split opinion, but the CX5 was a great car for me, except for the fact that it burned diesel. Everything from space, comfort, driving height was brilliant. Add an electric conversion pack to it and you have an SUV to beat many currently on the road.
As a fantasy car that I always wanted to drive (and still do if it’s electric) is the Aston Martin DB9. If that car was converted… Wow! I’m sure I would not be able to afford it, but I can still dream.
Final Words
Converting classic cars into electric cars is such a brilliant and fun concept. Just because we want to drive cleaner cars, whether for idealistic or practical reasons, doesn’t mean that we have to say goodbye to the cars that we loved in days gone by.
Get in touch with us on our social media channels and tell us what cars, vans or trucks you would like to see converted to an EV. We would love to hear from you.
