Drivers on the streets of Melbourne witnessed a rare event last week: a classic, bright red Mini Cooper weaving through traffic and overtaking a city tram.
Behind the wheel was Dave Budge, electric vehicle enthusiast and the chief executive of Jaunt Motors, which takes iconic petrol cars and converts them into thoroughly modern, battery-powered automobiles.
“When you combine that Mini handling with acceleration and quietness, it’s a lot of fun to drive,” he told AAP.
“The downside is that it flattens my hairdo – I fit in the car comfortably but my hair does not.”
The newly powerful Mini, replete with white racing stripes, is the latest electric vehicle conversion to come from Jaunt’s new research and development facility in Scoresby, in the city’s west.
After moving to the larger space this year, the company plans to double its working area in the facility next month to accommodate new projects and vehicle component kits.
And the start-up is not alone in its expansion: the electric vehicle conversion market is booming in Australia and overseas as demand to turn classic roadsters into modern conveniences soars, and more firms seek to make the process simpler for mechanical workshops.
Upgrading the vehicles with electric motors, powerful batteries and features like regenerative braking systems, can give collectible cars a second life and put them back on the roads.
But there are downsides too, including cost and electrical certification, which means upgrades aren’t a practical solution for all vehicles or drivers.
Cameron Gardiner, managing director of Unique EV, has been upgrading classic cars with new technology in Western Australia since 2021.
The firm made a name for itself by launching the first Tesla-powered Volkswagen car in Australia, a 1959 squareback painted in Porsche Munga Green and boasting a driving range of 220 kilometres per charge.
In the past two years, the company has electrified VW Beetles, a Kombi bus, a classic Mercedes Benz, a replica Porsche convertible, a LandCruiser and a Range Rover.
“There’s definitely a lot of demand for it,” Mr Gardiner said.
“The people who have converted their cars are using them as daily drivers, taking one of their cars off the road and using their classic car instead.
“It’s for people who love the old classic cars but they’re not 100 per cent purists.”
Turning a 60-year-old car into a state-of-the-art, roadworthy electric vehicle is far from simple, and many conversions require a mix of restoration, replacement and upgrades.
Each vehicle conversion requires about 200 hours of labour, must comply with safety guidelines and be signed off by an engineer, Mr Gardiner said.
Some of the old vehicles can be upgraded with advanced features such as modern seatbelts and regenerative brakes that work off the motor, but the process is complicated and requires a mix of skills.
“Mechanics know a lot about cars but for this, you need electrical engineering and computer programming and a bit of fabrication work and developing software and battery management systems,” Mr Gardiner said.
“It is a massive shift in the way cars go.”
Unique EVs is developing a proprietary “electric skateboard” platform to upgrade classic Porsche vehicles, which Mr Gardiner says will standardise electric upgrades.
It’s a similar approach to UK firm Electrogenic, which recently announced new partners in the US and UK that will use its “plug-and-play” electric car conversion kits for Land Rover Defender, Jaguar E-Type, Porsche 911, Mini Cooper and Triumph Stag vehicles.
“We’ve seen great interest in our EV conversion kits from all over the globe since we revealed them,” co-founder Steve Drummond said.
Mr Budge said the UK was “a few years ahead” in vehicle conversions, showing there’s huge potential for existing automotive workshops in Australia to take on similar projects.
Jaunt Motors is working to create a production line for small-scale batch production of battery systems to help workshops electrify classic cars more easily, and right the wrongs of past automotive releases.
“Suddenly, you open up the world of automotive history and you can fix the failure of a lot of cars, whether that was their reliability or their performance, and then it’s like any car you love,” he said.
“We can match or exceed battery capacity, we can match or exceed performance, we can match or exceed charging times – the one challenge we have is range, and that’s purely a factor of aerodynamics.”
And while some workshops still prefer to work on pre-1990s vehicles, which don’t have computers, Mr Budge says more vehicles can now comfortably make the switch.
According to Unique EVs, upgrading a VW Beetle costs roughly $65,000 and ready-made electric alternatives for some vehicles are increasing in supply.
Australian Electric Vehicle Association national president Dr Chris Jones says drivers considering making a classic car electric should carefully consider the cost, their use of the car, how to certify its safety, and whether they would prefer to tackle the task themselves.
“We love conversions – for the longest time that was the only way to get an EV if you wanted one – but we also encourage people to do it themselves on their own vehicle and outsource help where they can,” he said.
“They’re heaps of fun, they’re very cool and they’re awesome challenges, which is why we think people should do their own conversions and get the joy themselves.”
By Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson in Brisbane
