Remember Gattaca? It was a pretty weird film, but we’ll never forget the cars. There was a Volvo P6, a Citroen DS Cabriolet, Rover P6, and other great classics. And they were all powered by batteries, in the movies at least.
Well now there’s a real cottage industry in making this particular Hollywood fantasy into a reality and we’re starting to see some truly spectacular electric cars based on some of the most iconic petrol-powered machines of years gone by.
Also read: 10 of the fastest electric cars ever made: Ultimate power
In a way, it’s pure conservation. When the internal combustion engine goes the way of the dodo — and make no mistake, it will — these electric cars conversions will be the only way we can enjoy some of the greatest icons in motoring history. Chopping up some of these great cars will send the purists into apoplectic rage, but it’s better than parking them up for the rest of time.
For now, these electric car conversion are a chaotic blend of bespoke creations with exorbitant and price tags and homebrew kits that have been thrown together on a budget. But we think that reimagined classics are set to become “a thing” and this is just the first wave of retro electric cars that are set to rock your world in the years to come. With all that out of the way, here are our favorite EV conversions we’ve seen so far.
At a glance: the coolest electric conversion classic cars
- Electric GT 1978 Ferrari 308 GTS
- Renovo Coupe
- Zelectric Motors Volkswagen Beetle
- Bloodshed Motors Electric ’68 Mustang
- EV4U Porsche 911
- 1985 Maserati BiTurbo EV conversion
- GT6 E-DRIVE1
- Mitsubishi 3000GT 1000bhp
- White Zombie 1972 Datsun
- Chevy S-10 Smoke Screen
- 1980 Fiat 124 Spider
- 1998 Mini
- 1957 Ford Fairlane
- Shelby Cobra
1. Electric GT 1978 Ferrari 308 GTS
Price: Undisclosed
A fuel leak and subsequent fire pretty much consigned this Ferrari 308 GTS, the Magnum PI car, to an early grave. Then, San Diego-based Electric GT got hold of it and it rose again like a Phoenix from the ashes.
The molten V8 made way for a triple electric HPEVS AC51 motor that provided 330 lb/ft of torque. Just for reference, that’s twice as much as the original 308 and it also packs 345 kW of power, too, which roughly equates to 465 bhp. That’s modern Ferrari territory.
That was mated to a 30 kWh battery that provides 100 miles of range. The company could have given it more, but it wanted to retain the integrity of the driving experience and keep the electric conversion as lightweight as possible.
It also comes with a manual gearbox, a Porsche G50 5-speed that was chosen for its slick shift and ability to handle the extra torque.
The 308 GTS is a car from a bygone era, when a man could wear a moustache and Hawaiian shirt and still be considered super cool. An electric power plant has turned this car into a modern day legend and we’d love to see more of them on the road. Unfortunately for now this EV conversion seems to be a pretty rare thing.
2. Renovo Coupe
Price: $529,000
This might look like the Shelby Daytona that conquered Le Mans in 1964, but there are only half a dozen of those left in the world and they change hands for millions of dollars.
This car is a recreation that has actually been around for more than a decade with a petrol engine. Superformance, in South Africa, makes the chassis and it comes with a genuine Shelby VIN number.
Peter Brock, the genius who penned the original slippery shape that overthrew the dominant Ferrari team at Le Mans, designed the Superformance chassis and helped rework the car for the electric powerplant.
This EV conversion comes with three battery packs that are spaced out across what is, essentially, a sportscar. That means that the impact of the additional weight is mitigated by optimal placement. It’s still a 3250lb car, and it comes with a 400kW courtesy of two motors, which gives it a 0-60mph time of 3.4s.
The Renovo comes with 1000 ft/lb of torque, which is frankly absurd and far more important than the basic power. It’s kind of disappointing that it does just 120 mph, so this car will get blown away by a midrange Tesla Model S in a straight line.
But it does look hella cool.
3. Zelectric Motors Volkswagen Beetle
Price: $68,000
The VW Beetle is one of the greatest cars of all time. It has been with us since 1938 and there are a surprising number of 1950s and 60s cars on the road today.
San Diego-based Zelectric Motors takes these cars, rips out the paltry air-cooled engine that is often well past its use-by date, and replaces it with a trick electric powerplant. CEO David Bernado wasn’t even worried about the environment when he built the first car, he just wanted a Beetle that wouldn’t break down.
They installed a 50 kW motor and a 20 kWh battery pack that gives the Beetle 100 mph top speed and an 80-mile range. That’s nothing in the modern age, but then this is a classic car with classic car brakes and crash protection. Zelectric can go further, if you’re prepared to pay, but they’ll have to start upgrading other parts of the car and the price will skyrocket.
The acceleration, at least, is much improved, thanks to 120 lb/ft of torque. Zelectric don’t publish the 0-60 mph time, but rest assured it’s a big improvement on the original thanks to all that torque coming from 0rpm.
High performance sway bars and custom shocks combine with the weight of the battery pack to pin the car to the road and enthusiasts will notice a serious improvement over the basic car.
4. Bloodshed Motors Electric ’68 Mustang
Price: Undisclosed
Bloodshed Motors is the Fast’n’Loud of the EV conversion world. Mitch Medford and his team in Austin, Texas, will take your classic Mustang, Lincoln, or other classic car and give you a one-of-a-kind “Lightning Rod” that you just won’t see anywhere else.
Their most famous creation to date is the Zombie 222 demonstrator that is one of the fastest electric cars in the world. It hits 60 mph in 1.79 seconds, does 177 mph and does the quarter-mile in 9.89 seconds. Now that car is aimed at the drag strip, but if you want to gut a pristine “Eleanor” and convert it to EV power for the street, then Bloodshed Motors will take the job.
You can even buy a shell, a husk of a car, and the team will restore it and modify it to your exacting specification. If you’ve got the cash, Bloodshed Motors will turn your 60’s pony car into a modern supercar slayer.
5. EV4U Porsche 911
Price: $23,495 + base car
A classic Porsche 911 is a thing of beauty and the 964 and 993 are revered as landmark cars that changed the course of sportscar history.
Pristine examples are shooting up in value and you’d have to be a borderline psychopath to hack up a perfect car to convert it to an EV. But there are plenty of other examples with broken engines, rusting bodies and more that could be built up into an awesome retro electric conversion.
That’s where EV4U comes in. Based in Shasta Lake, California, this company can give you a basic package, including labor, for less than $24,000. Or you can run rampant, upgrade everything and they’ll give you a total weapon.
The basic pack gives you a 14.6 kWh battery pack that’s good for 60 miles of range, a HPEVS-51 that pumps out 50 kW and 120 lb/ft of torque and will give you roughly the same power as the Zelectrics Motors VW – because it’s the same motor. So, expect a top speed of 100 mph and a 0-60 mph time that would rival the original car.
6. 1985 Maserati BiTurbo EV conversion
Price: $35,000
All the way back in 1993, EV enthusiast Martti Nieminen decided to make lemonade out of the total lemon that was his 1985 Maserati BiTurbo, by fitting a battery pack and electric motor where the woefully unreliable internal combustion engine once sat.
He didn’t have the luxury of modern battery packs, so fitted 22 car batteries into a tray. It was basic, it hit 70mph and offered a 40-mile range.
The car sat in mothballs for more than a decade until Martti’s son Henric gave the car to the UK TV show Wheeler Dealers. They took it to EV West and fitted a 36kWh battery pack and a Curtis Dual-AC-34 Brushless 96V motor.
Now the car is quicker, it has a 120-mile range and the TV pair restored the rest of the car to its former glory, too.
It’s a 1980s Maserati that shouldn’t break down. That means it might just be the best 1980s Maserati in the world.
7. GT6 E-DRIVE1
Price: TBC
This elegant Triumph TR6 conversion from Estonian company e-Drive Retro was built to prove a point. The company wants to show that it can convert any classic car and provide emissions free motoring.
The company uses advanced scanners to map the car and design the bespoke system to fit into any basic shape. As older cars tend to be lighter, the company sticks with smaller battery packs and the GT6 E-Drive1 comes with a 17.6 kWh pack. That gives 70-120 miles of range, depending on your driving.
The 0-60 mph time of 8.2 seconds is a vast improvement on the petrol-engined Triumph’s 10 seconds and the whole car weighs in at just over 2000 lb. It would be intriguing to see what e-Drive Retro can do with the Mercedes 190 and Alfa Romeo Spider that are next on the agenda.
8. Mitsubishi 3000GT 1000bhp
Price: Undisclosed
The name Jason Hughes will ring a bell with keen readers. He’s the hacker that discovered that the Tesla P100D was on the way and that’s just the start of his shenanigans.
In his spare time, Jason is building a 1000 bhp Mitsubishi 3000GT with two Tesla motors and two Chevy Bolt battery packs. He’s working on a P90D with Ludicrous Mode to cover the back axle and a smaller powerplant up front.
So this will be a 1000 bhp, four-wheel-drive 3000GT. This is not normal and it’s not ready yet. When it comes, it’s going to be brutal and we’re not even going to start with the cost/benefit equation. It’s great and we love it.
Why? Why not is the simplest answer.
9. White Zombie 1972 Datsun
Price: Undisclosed
It’s hard to believe that the fastest electric car in the world used to be a 1972 Datsun 1200, but it all added to the subversive flavor when this car became a star.
Named White Zombie, the Datsun smoked some serious machinery on US dragstrips. It could hit 60 mph in 1.8 seconds and although the 129 mph top speed wasn’t all that impressive, this car was built for the quarter-mile and pure acceleration.
The car was street legal, though, which makes it even crazier.
It was fitted with a dual armature 9-inch series and a 22.7 kWh battery pack that was actually a prototype for Navy helicopters. John Wayland built this monster in 1994 and back then the 366 kW and 772 lb/ft of torque was serious output.
10. Chevy S-10 Smoke Screen
Current EliminatorPrice: Undisclosed
This is another unassuming electric car conversion that stomped all over the EV speed records. Drag racing icon Dennis Berube, the man behind the record-breaking “Current Eliminator” dragster, decided to turn this lumbering truck into a street-legal monster that could do the quarter-mile in 11.083 seconds.
The boxy, unappealing truck came with a 13-inch wound DC motor that blessed this aerodynamic brick of a machine with 225 kW of power. That was enough to send it sailing through the 60 mph mark in less than three seconds and up to and beyond 120 mph.
The game has moved on now, but cars like Smoke Screen laid the foundations for electric sportscars. For that, we will always be eternally grateful and we just love to look back on homebrew conversions like this that challenged the preconceptions and helped EVs gain a foothold.
The fastest street legal electric car is a Chevy S-10 called “Smoke Screen” which was built and is owned by Dennis Berube, who also built the world’s fastest EV dragster “Current Eliminator.” The S-10 has a best time of 11.083 at 120 mph and can accelerate to 60 mph in less than 3 seconds. The S-10 runs a 13-in diameter General Electric electric motor, running on 400 volts and mounted where the gearbox once was.
11. 1980 Fiat 124 Spider
Electric GTPrice: Starts at $48,000
GT Electric’s conversion of this gorgeous Fiat 124 Spider gives the car more power as well as a posher interior. It’s equipped with an HPEVS AC-34 electric motor that pumps out 96 kW and 200 lb/ft of torque — compared to the original vehicle’s 64 kW and 99 lb/ft of torque. This brings the 0-60 mph time down from 12.2 to just 6.5 seconds.
The retro Fiat 124 Spider produces 176 bhp and packs a 36 kWh Tesla battery that offers a range of up to 120 miles. You’ll find mahogany wood inside that goes well with the black leather covering the seats, dash, console, and doors. The car also features Electric GT’s instrument cluster, LED lighting, and aluminum bezels and badges.
Electric GTOther things worth mentioning is that the car is heavier than the original one (2,511 vs 2,291 lbs) and has regenerative braking. GT Electric is offering a few different conversion options depending on what you’re after, with the basic one starting at $48,000.
12. 1998 Mini
JalopnikPrice: Undisclosed
The car was displayed at the New York Auto Show and brought over to the states by Mini. However, the conversion was done by builder Moritz Burmester from Germany over the course of six years.
The EV packs a 10 kWh battery, which is good for around 65 miles. It’s a Mini, so it can’t compare with larger cars when it comes to performance — it can get up to 70 mph. Thanks to its compact size, the Mini is great for city driving. It’s easy to maneuver it around tight corners and you can park it just about anywhere.
The car looks like a typical Mini, providing no hints that it’s actually powered by an electric motor. The exterior remains nearly unchanged, as does the interior, with the exception of the added electronic instrument panel on the dash for monitoring things like range and temperature.
13. 1957 Ford Fairlane
MercuryPrice: Undisclosed
A bunch of Kiwis converted a classic 1957 Ford Fairlane to an EV that turns heads when driving down the road. Mercury, an energy company based in New Zealand, kicked off the project by purchasing the car and then handing it off to a local shop that did all the hard work.
The car is powered by a Siemens electric motor that was originally designed for electric buses. It features a custom battery pack that sits on top of the motor and sports 218 rectangular battery cells. This gives it a capacity of around 50 kWh, which will last for about 75 miles before running out of juice. The battery pack is quite heavy, coming in at approximately 880 pounds. You can learn more about the car by checking out the short video below.
After getting an electric engine, the Ford Fairlane also received a fresh coat of paint that looks absolutely stunning. The car, now called Evie, was then taken on a tour around the country to promote EVs.
14. Shelby Cobra
Engine Swap DepotPrice: Undisclosed
Vancouver based EPower Racing built a Shelby Cobra EV that looks stunning thanks to its lime green paint job. The car features a body from a classic 427 Cobra, drivetrain from a Tesla P85, and a battery pack from Kia’s Soul EV.
The result? A car that packs a 30 kWh battery and features a motor rated at 310 kW that can produce 400 bhp. It’s built for racing and can take on the best of them — check out how the car flies by the competition in the video below.
The total weight of the car with the driver is 1,800 pounds. For comparison, The Tesla P85 comes in at 4,800 pounds, which means the Shelby Cobra EV has a very good power-to-weight ratio. Unfortunately, the total cost of building the vehicle was not revealed.
So, here’s our favorite EV conversions. Know of any other great EV classic car conversions on the road we haven’t heard about? Let us know in the comments.