Converting a regular car into an electric car

20 February, 2024 By: Toby Hagon 

A couple of years ago Laurie Webber was driving a late model Land Rover Discovery when he decided it was time for a change.

He loved the car, but didn’t warm to its thirst for fossil fuel, instead preferring to switch to something that could be plugged in and recharged.

But with nothing electric yet available in showrooms – yes, even Land Rover is working on EVs - Laurie turned to Unique EVs for a solution.

“I didn’t like burning diesel,” says Webber, something that prompted a search for a 1990s Range Rover that would form the basis of an EV conversion.

The thirsty V8 engine was removed and in its place was fitted a second-hand Tesla motor and battery pack.

“It’s like the ultimate recycling project and the ultimate in upcycling,” he says.

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Webber’s story is one of increasing familiarity in the world of classic cars, which is mimicking the new-car scene in embracing electricity.

The Range Rover is now Webber’s daily driver and a car he plans to keep for many years.

“It’s not for the garage, it’s for life,” he says, adding that his rooftop solar panels provide a steady stream of free electricity.

“I’ve done 5000km in it and it’s only ever been charged at home.”

How long have people been converting EVs?

EV conversions have been a niche industry for decades, well before electric cars were available to purchase new in Australia.

In the same way people have adapted big, power engines to all manner of cars – a V8-powered Mazda MX-5 is one unlikely combination - innovative home mechanics have tinkered with ways to replace unleaded petrol with electrons.

The end results often looked suitably homemade and there have been varying levels of success, typically with relatively short driving ranges between charges.

But the growth of new EVs over the past decade has increased interest in electric vehicle conversions, in part because damaged near-new EVs are often sold for parts, providing a steady stream of motors and battery packs for conversions.

A growing industry

The increasing interest has spawned a growing industry that’s sharing notes and leveraging the best components and know-how from here and overseas.

Many of the conversion houses are part of the EV Alliance, which runs webinars and training courses “designed to share the knowledge of our expert members with automotive workshops, towing companies, first responders and DIYers”.

Cameron Gardiner is the managing director of Unique EVs and says the electric vehicle conversion business is “a really exciting space”.

Gardiner has watched the industry continue to gather pace, a sentiment shared by Edwin Higginson, the founder of Australian Electric Vehicle Specialists.

“We’ve had really strong enquiries in Australia,” says Higginson. “We’re starting to see … a vehicle that needs an engine rebuild and for a little more money you can have an EV conversion.”

Turning a car into an EV is not cheap

Anyone who’s tried to install a battery on their house to capture excess solar energy will know they’re not cheap.

Retail prices typically hover around $1000 per kilowatt-hour of storage capacity. Considering most EVs have a battery pack between 40kWh and 100kWh you don’t need to be a mathematician to realise the dollars can add up.

Throw in a control unit, onboard charger, electric motor, drive shafts and other hardware – much of it often fabricated for the project - and prices quickly add up.

“Base conversion kits start in the low $40,000,” says Higginson, adding that this includes batteries, controllers, cooling system and a battery management system.

That’s before you’ve paid someone to do the work, which can easily soak up 60 to 100 hours and cost $10,000 or more.

Many conversions cost plenty more than that.

Webber splashed out $30,000 on the base car and spent about $90,000 on the electric drivetrain and its installation, something that also included fitment of a Tesla air-conditioner and a modern infotainment system.

It’s all about the classics and collectibles

All of which makes fixing your dying Toyota Corolla or Holden Commodore a lot less appealing, in part because of the challenges. Modern vehicle electronics are so closely protected from hackers and outside influence it means getting the new systems to ‘talk’ to the car’s existing electrical architecture can require serious software engineering.

For anyone wanting to go purely electric, there are all manner of showroom-fresh EVs that will likely be cheaper - and bring with them that new car smell and a factory warranty, among other benefits.

It’s for that reason that the conversion market has centred on classics and collectible cars.

Iconic sports cars have proved popular, as have Volkswagens of various guises. Four-wheel drives such as Land Rovers and Toyota LandCruisers are popular targets, in part because they’re well suited to the change.

“They were already a fairly heavy vehicle with a fairly heavy payload,” explains Chris Jones, president of the Australian Electric Vehicle Association.

“So you can put a lot of batteries in and not risk overloading it. Plus, they were already heavy on fuel, so switching to EV makes sense.”

And, of course, Australian classics from Holden and Ford are also getting the EV treatment.

Up-market EV conversions

Despite the steep costs, the classic car EV conversion market could also be heading upmarket, potentially running top quality jobs into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Gardiner’s Unique EVs is currently finalising the design of a skateboard-style EV kit that packages the batteries, motor and various electronic control units into a rolling chassis that can have myriad bodies bolted on top. Classic Mercedes-Benz sports cars and replica Porsche 356s are high on the hit list.

The idea of a kit is all about simplifying what is a bespoke process but also stepping up the craftsmanship.

“Its retail price is currently being finalised; as the industry is rapidly evolving, we are sourcing the best components to ensure that it’s going to be a high-quality product, ready for the global market,” says Gardiner, who has plans to sell the kits throughout Australia and the world.

Manufacturer interest

He’s not alone.

Ford and General Motors are known for their “crate” motors – usually V8s – that are popular with car enthusiasts performing an engine transplant.

Each has recently done crate EV packages utilising motors and battery packs used for their production EVs.

It’s fair to say they’re not a top priority for either of the US manufacturing giants, each of which has struggled to make money out of electric vehicles – and each of which has a frantic product development pipeline trying to keep pace with a rapidly changing market.

But the interest is there. And why not, says Higginson.

“People have been upgrading the performance of their cars since day one. In the past, dropping a V8 motor into a small car was the way to go. Now if you want a sleeper car with incredible performance, then an EV conversion is probably the way to go.”

Higginson believes prices of components will continue to come down. While it’s unlikely to ever make it financially attractive to convert a mainstream model to EV - component prices are also reducing for manufacturers - it will increasingly make an EV conversion more appealing than replacing it with another form of petrol propulsion.

Why convert to EV?

Of course, taking a classic car and making it an EV creates controversy with enthusiasts. There are two schools of thought on converting a classic car to electric.

The first is that it’s sacrilege to remove the heart of a classic car and replace it with something as soulless as an electric motor. After all, it’s often originality that plays a big role in the values of classic machinery.

The flipside is that there are a lot of classic cars that don’t get driven much. Perhaps they’re unreliable, cantankerous, expensive to maintain or difficult to source parts for. By converting to EV, you’re potentially breathing new life into a vehicle that may have otherwise spent a lot of time gathering dust in the garage.

While it’s unlikely to be taken on long adventures, suddenly that classic machine can be more easily wheeled out for a Sunday run – albeit in near silence.

And while EV conversions can have longer driving ranges with big battery packs, the industry is noticing many people are content with a few hundred kilometres.

“If you’re doing a slightly special car, you’d not be using it to drive to Sydney,” says Jones.

Ease of certification

Converting a major rebuild to electric can also help with certification.

Major structural work or drivetrain alterations on a vehicle often requires certification to enable it to be driven on public roads.

It’s all about safety and ensuring the vehicle has been engineered according to the appropriate standards.

“If it’s not built to standards, the engineer will not allow the car on the road,” says the AEVA’s Jones.

Gardiner adds that replica vehicles and other engine conversions can effectively mean certifying the cars as a new vehicle.

Getting down to work

There’s another reason for EV conversions: work.

Big businesses are increasingly eager to lower their vehicle fleet CO2 emissions and specialist converters are answering the call.

One of them is Queensland-based start-up Roev, which plans to start converting near-new Toyota Hilux utes to electric in 2025.

A 4x4 with 360km of range from a 92kWh costs $56,990 to convert, which doesn’t include the price of the base car. The advantage for businesses, though, is they can use an older vehicle that’s already travelled hundreds of thousands of kilometres, effectively giving it a second life.

“There's been lots of customer demand with about 650 orders spread across 20-30 customers ... predominantly in mining, construction and government fleets,” says Matt Rattray-Wood, Roev sales and marketing director.

“Many customers have ordered a small number of vehicles but made it clear that if they’re successfully deployed there will be a significant number [of orders] to follow.”

Others already supplying or planning to supply mining companies include Voltra, MEVCO and SEA Electric.

And in 2021 Toyota and BHP announced a trial program involving the rugged LandCruiser 70-Series, which is currently being trialled in one of BHP’s WA mines.

The appeal is obvious. Mining giants are trying to reduce their CO2 emissions, and switching the vehicle fleet to electric is a relatively easy early win that also happens to bring some good PR to the table.

Plus, in an underground mine, an electric motor is a more appealing prospect than the carcinogenic emissions of a diesel engine.