Androids are fine with a great big battery under their synthetic arse, not a thing that Philip. K.Dick may have considered, but in the future we were supposed to have flying cars (Blade Runner was set in November 2019). No flying cars, but certainly loads of electric ones by then.
Yes I have got a thing about electric cars. Thirty years ago I was a member of the Battery Vehicle Society (BVS). I’ll have to find that story, buff it up and reproduce it again. I drove electricity Metros made by BVS members and even the properly engineered Toyota Rav 4s from the Japanese company that really were rather fun and could have been a sort of future. What I object too is being told what we can and can’t drive, rather than being given an option. But hey, I am not here to consider that knotty freedom of choice issue yet again. No, I’m here for the complete non-debate where people spend their own money on converting an old classic one into a battery one.
Anyone can of course convert away, if it is their money and vehicle. Morally though should they? Are they destroying a piece of automotive history. Would it be fine if there are loads of them around? Converting an MGB, Land Rover Defender, or original mini really wouldn’t matter a jot. There are loads around in museums. Lock ups and beyond. You can get all of the bits for those, so you are destroying nothing and most probably getting rid of loads of rampant rot and oil leaks in process. Surely that would count as a service to humanity and the environment?
There is also a train of thought that some old engines are pretty terrible. Certainly Land Rover ones are industrial, which is pretty much the point. Not everyone loves the A and B series, despite them being infinitely tunable. The go to argument for a terrible engine that is ripe for replacement seems to be the Citroen DS/ID universe. Possibly because these futuristic creations probably should have battery pr even atomic powered from the off. Except that when you go down the DS engine swap rabbit hole, you start coming up with brave souls who have stuck a flat 6 Porsche unit in there or a Subaru one, oh and there’s a Corvette V8 one. I’m not referring to nerds doing it on Gran Turismo either. If you are a car bloke and most of you will be, at this point the man maths is starting to really happen in real time. All thoughts of having a classic car you have to plug into a socket are long gone and we are in retromod heaven.
This is the point at which you realise that classic car battery fans don’t like cars much. Listen to the recent interview I link to and read the conversation I did five years ago. Essentially buyers and propagators of electric classic cars don’t want to live with the day to day hassle of the things. That reality as we all know is rust, oil leaks and the potentiality for not starting first thing on a Monday morning. Yet it is perfectly possible to run an old car as an everyday hack. Many of us have managed to do it. The reality is that the fault finding on a classic is something of a mind expanding pleasure, rather than the utter misery of plugging a modern into a computer to be given a litany of potential issues. Then wait months for the electrical part to arrive from Taiwan.
Indeed, one of the replies I received on the recent interview was that an electric Mercedes Pagoda SL was ‘a different experience. Better even’. No, I would argue, just different. Not the same as the original. At all. Because an SL is not a hardcore, noisy sports car then it is presumably alright to make it all quiet and even more refined now, but I’m not so sure. if you can afford to make that happen, then fine, it is your cash money, but maybe you should stick to one of Elon’s Teslas.
Why though are these conversions being done? Well in most cases it isn’t to sneak into an ULEZ area, it’s simply to feel better about yourself, like when people bought Toyota Prises 20 years ago. Except that keeping a classic going is the most environmentally friendly thing you could ever do. I think that gets missed by the buyer who as suggested, really wanted a Tesla, but decided that it looked far too boring and is sold by that absolute fascist Musk. Maybe he isn’t anymore, I really can’t keep up as to where he might be politically at the moment and whether or not I can like him and his reversing rockets.
A classic electric car would be an Enfield. It was at least small, light and fairly wedgey. Otherwise when I was a nipper electric vehicles were everywhere. Watch the Italian Job and you will see Micheal Caine taking it easy amongst the pints in the back of a London Milk Float checking out some Italian cine film. Well that was my reality, a Unigate one bringing pintas to my family’s door. It all worked brilliantly well, charged on cheap on off peak power from beautiful British power stations. Then early in the morning quietly did it’s clinking job. A classic electric vehicle that isn’t a milk delivery vehicle has no real purpose at all. It will be whisper quick, but that was never what a classic car was all about. I have been driven in a dangerously quick MGB roadster and would not care to repeat that experience.
It seems that you drive an electricity classic purely because it makes you feel good about yourself. It looks cool, box tick and it’s environmentally unimpeachable, another box ticked and just possibly it helps you to park closer on the school run. If you don’t believe that then please listen to the interview.
Just the other day I responded to an invitation to interview the boss of Everrati. I imagined they might have done some due diligence and concluded that I wasn’t the sort of person they wanted to chat to on account of the fact that I think making a battery classic is just a bit daft.
I was expecting this chat to be rather difficult. Instead I quickly realised that what Everrati do, is not for me, or anyone I know who loves cars. Instead, Justin Lunny who founded the company and me chatted amiably and you can see the results in the video by following the link that will be arriving shortly.
A classic with a battery on board is not what I would ever want, clearly some do and that’s where Everrati comes in. At the moment it seems that you can have a Pagoda era Mercedes SL, a Series 2A Land Rover or a 964 Porsche. On the face of it that does seem like a waste of a classy Merc, a stupid thing to do with a Landie and a 911 that can’t be Singered.
At least Everrati rebuild from the ground up and aren’t just shoving all the wiring into a concours winner for the hell of it. Real engineers are involved from across the industry as you will hear.
This is worth 20 minutes of your time I think, whether you are in the market for a six figure battery classic or not.
https://www.freecarmag.com/electric-classic-cars-interview-with-everrati
I have previously spoken to the company that claims to be the largest converter of classics and you can read it right here https://www.freecarmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Free-Car-Mag-Issue-85.pdf
It was all to do with a TV show called vintage Voltage and the story is called ‘Battery Classics’ on page 10. Richard Morgan was a bit spikey and not that happy with my line of questioning as you will read. That was five years ago and the interesting thing is I haven’t changed my mind since.
Anyway, I have a new replicant girlfriend called Rachel and she claims that her implanted memories are BMW E28 specific. We don’t know how long we have until Mrs Bangernomics finds out, but then again who does?
I tried to find a Enfield for sale and they mostly seem to get auctioned off for a couple of grand with no batteries. The good news is that I found a 1988 Leaf powered Defender 90 on Car and Classic. Converted by London Electric Cars iIt is fitted with a Nissan Leaf 30kWh electric motor and inverter and has three NCM battery packs mounted; one in the front engine bay, one where the fuel tank used to be, and one in the rear under the floor, giving a range of between 60-80 miles. It still retains the traditional Defender features and feel, with the original fuel gauge now showing the amount of charge rather than diesel. The fuel cap is now the charging point for a Type 1 charger. Yours for £29,999. Slog see’s it as a two Slogger tops.
Interesting to stumble across a Jolly style Fiat 500 which are made in Italy that you can buy as brand new as it is possible to be, so choose your colour. Anyway 50 miles range and yours for £40,900 from Classic Autocars of Rome. Slog reckons he can get one with a proper engine and roof for rather less, so it’s a one Slog.
At Retro Electrics they have a Porsche 912 that’s been converted and is £200,000, but rather more affordable are a bunch of Beetles they have. The cheapest is a 1302 for £42,000 with a 120 mile range a USB port and a heater.with an 88KW motor and an onboard 7kW charger. Slog likes the fresh air element so gives it two.
See you next time.
Please note that all images are copyright of the selling garage, no recommendation is made for any vehicle featured and ideally it is best to go and check for yourself.
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