Classic Cars Go Electric

Yes, that is a Jaguar XK120* from the early 1950s up there.  You may have been expecting an essay on modern electric cars that could turn out to be collector's items (the original Tesla Roadster from 2008-12 for example), but then our title would be "Electric Cars Go Classic." Here we're focusing on older cars that have been retrofitted with fully electric powertrains...

The Lunaz Group, headquarted in a research park near England's storied Silverstone race track, has engineered electric conversions for Jaguar's XK120, 140 and 150 series, an interesting choice because the swoopy curves of the body design never left much space for luggage, let alone battery packs, and the longish engine bay has a narrow bonnet for access.  On this XK120 fixed-head coupe, they fitted an 80 kWh battery pack, and twin electric motors offer the equivalent of 375 hp. The zero to 60 run comes up in 5 seconds, and Lunaz quotes a range of 250 miles.  Lunaz also quotes a price of $435,000...

Perhaps inspired by these privateer examples, Jaguar Land Rover Classic announced a Jaguar E-Type* Zero in autumn of 2017, and hinted that cars similar to these development prototypes might eventually be supplied to customers.  The blue car above is based on a Series 1.5 model from 1968, with electric power unit including battery filling the space and using the mounting points of the original gasoline engine. The idea was that the electric conversion could be easily reversed, as the car's chassis, suspension and brakes remain as in the original.  External clues of the conversion are limited to absence of exhausts, and fitting of LED headlights under the glass covers (which anyway weren't a feature of the Series 1.5 in US form). The car's instrument panel, however, was completely reconfigured to suit the digital age, and the original four-speed gearbox is traded for a simple choice of Forward or Reverse. Range on the blue car was about 170 miles at full load, with 0 to 100 kmh (62 mph) coming up in 5.5 seconds. Intriguingly, weight was about 100 lb. less than before conversion. Despite enthusiastic reviews from the press and from test consumers the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Jaguar suspended this project in late 2019. It's not clear whether there was an insufficient supply of Series 1 and 1.5 chassis, or whether updating the original design to meet applicable crash and safety standards so the Zero could be offered as a new car, rather than as a retrofitted old one, presented the biggest hurdle...

Meanwhile, Lunaz also has performed all-electric conversions on the original 70s Range Rover as well as the vast Rolls-Royce Phantom and more svelte Bentley Continental Flying Spur, both from the early Sixties. The Bentley with its close-coupled four-door Mulliner coachwork is particularly fetching.  Price?  If you have to ask...

Also in the UK, Richard Morgan's Electric Classic Cars offers electric conversions on a smaller scale, beginning with the Fiat 500 (a '65 model) shown below.  The 11 kWh battery pack combines with an electric motor 47 hp and 70 ft.-lb. of torque, and the little car has a range of 50 to 75 miles "depending on driving style and conditions", not all that much less than that of the larger, new-style 500e offered until last year by Fiat Chrysler in the United States.  ECC upgrades the brakes to discs, and their electric heater may improve on the one in the original air-cooled two-cylinder...

Electric Classic Cars has also applied its talents to a 1979 Porsche 911 SC Targa that arrived at its workshop in needy condition. The car uses a 54kWh battery mounted at the front, with two electric motors at the rear.  Zero to 60 takes under 6 seconds, and range is around 200 miles. Because there's more weight on the front wheels than in the original car, ECC has installed speed-sensitive power steering.  Unusual for an electric, the ECC 911 keeps its 5-speed gearbox, though as with all electrics, there's so much instantly-available torque that use of the gears is optional.  Modern touches include the LED headlights, while retro ones include bright metal trim around those lights, and 1960s style bright metal door mirrors.  Also, in place of the 911SC badge, there's a 911E badge on the engine lid...

         

Meanwhile, in Southern California, Zelectric has converted a couple of 1968 Porsche 912 coupes to electric power.  This green one uses a Tesla Model S P85 motor.  Weight is only 2,505 pounds. Zelectric quotes range at 120 to 145 miles, "depending upon speed."  And apparently speed is available, because Jay Leno pronounced the Zelectric 912 the most enjoyable electric car he'd driven.  The vented plexiglass rear quarter windows may save a bit of weight and add some style, like the wheels, which are Walker Outlaws.  Zelectric has also converted Type 1 VW Beetles, as well as a Microbus.  Starting with your donor car, Zelectric conversions on 912, 911 and 914 Porsches start at around $88,000.

Because its original mid-engined configuration with large storage below front and rear decks makes for generous battery storage areas, and because its somewhat un-Porsche-like rectangular styling resulted in modest resale value until recently, Porsche's 914* has turned out to be a popular chassis for electric conversions.  Massachusetts Institute of Technology was possibly the pioneer in electric 914 rest-mods, engineering this fully-electric conversion on  a 1974 chassis donated by a professor in 2006, two years before Tesla introduced its Roadster model.  Many 914 conversions have been completed by others since then, and I encountered one of these in Colorado a couple years ago.

Another approach to electric retrofits would be to seek out a car with a well-established, terrible reputation for engine reliability. There would, after all, be fewer twinges of guilt or nostalgia in taking a really bad engine to the metal recycler. Chevrolet's Vega, introduced for the 1971 model year, never recovered from troubles with its OHC four which pioneered (prematurely as it turned out) etched silicon-hardened cylinder bores in its aluminum block, and combined that block with a cast iron head. Troubles included valve guide failures, high oil consumption, overheating, and engine fires. There was a twin-cam Cosworth version, and it has been mostly forgotten along with the base car, as all suffered from early rust problems too. Still, the guaranteed low resale value would mean low initial cost for your starter chassis, and there was a Kammback wagon model which would leave plenty of storage space once you installed the battery pack and motor or motors.  At least one electric Vega has been completed.

Perhaps GM should've realized that cars named "Vega" might suffer from mechanical ennui. Just over a decade earlier, Jean Daninos, chief of the Facel Vega marque, had forsaken the Chrysler V8s in its large GTs for a 1.6 liter DOHC inline four in his new Facellia, a sort of French anti-Alfa. The new power plant, engineered and built by Pont-a-Mousson, which also built Facel's manual transmissions, soon established a record for mechanical suicide, with holes in pistons, inadequate cam bearings, and overheating problems, eventually leading to the company's bankruptcy in 1964. By 1963, Facel Vega had given up on the Post-a-Mousson four and replaced it with the Volvo B18 on its new Facellias.  You could replace it with an electric power unit, though, if you found a rusty Facellia project car in need of rejuvenation. This approach would, like those Chevy Vegas reconfigured with battery packs and electric motors, be an optimistic response to those who believe that whatever trouble starts in Vegas stays in Vegas...

*Footnote:  We posted a brief history of Jaguar's groundbreaking XK120 in "Game Changer: Jaguar X120" on July 16, 2017, and reviewed the E-Type's early evolution in "Racing Improves the Breed", posted Aug. 13, 2017.  Divergent designs for the Porsche 914 received attention in "Porsche 914:  Alternative Visions", posted March 13, 2016.

Photo Credits:
Top & 2 from top:  Lunaz Group 

3rd:  pinterest.com

4th:  Jaguar Land Rover

5th:  Lunaz Group

6th & 7th:  Electric Classic Cars (electricclassiccars.co.uk)

8th:  zelectricmotors.com

9th & 10th:  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

11th:  Chevrolet Division of General Motors

12th:  Wikimedia