• New Cars
    • First Impressions
    • Road Tests
  • Classics
    • Classic Profiles
    • Classic Driving Impressions
    • Classics Information
    • Events and Days Out
  • Motoring For Fun
  • News & Views
  • Bookshelf
  • Technical
    • Grumpy Old Mechanic
    • Kim’s Tips
  • Features
    • Visits
    • Track Days
  • Contributors
    • About our contributors
    • Kim Henson
    • Chris Adamson
    • Kieron Fennelly
    • Ant Henson
    • Rachel Henson
    • David Miles
    • Gerald Morgan
    • Dave Moss
    • Dave Randle
    • Robin Roberts
    • Tom Scanlan
    • Glen Smale
    • Keith Ward
    • John Price Williams
  • More…
    • About Wheels Alive
    • Tips for using this website
    • Useful Links
  • A-Z

Wheels Alive

Old cars, new cars, borrowed cars & blue cars. If it steers it's here!

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Electric Classic Cars – really!

Author/Source: Robin Roberts

18th April 2019

Electric classic cars… a reality now!

By Robin Roberts.

Classic cars are being given a new life for the 21st century with a “heart” transplant and an electric powertrain by a Welsh enthusiast and engineer.

Richard Morgan set up Electric Classic Cars in Newtown to give much-loved classics and popular cars a new lease of life with a modern twist.

“I use to compete in the British Historic Rally Championship while I worked as a software engineer in the energy efficiency industry and I wanted to combine the two interests,” he said.

He researched the potential options and decided to use battery modules supplied by Tesla and fitted into bespoke battery boxes made to fit particular donor cars together with a choice of motors and drivetrains.

“Put simply, the donor car comes into our workshop as a standard classic and what leaves is a clean and efficient classic car fit for the 21st century.”

The business was started three years ago in an outhouse at his home with a team of four engineers and mechanics but has steadily grown. They are about to move into a new industrial unit on the outskirts of Newtown and have grown the business off the back of its success without any public money.

They have completed over 20 conversions and will typically have a number of cars on the go at once – there are eight currently in various stages of conversion – and depending on the model and the customer’s request each can take between three and eighteen months.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

“Most of our work is on models from the 1960s or 1970s and the VW Beetle and its derivatives such as the bus is probably the most popular, but we have done a Ferrari, Fiat, BMW, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz sports cars.”

Costs can vary depending on what a customer wants and the particular car, and range from £20,000 to £85,000. In addition, Electric Classic Cars will supply a customer with the necessary kit of parts to complete their own electric car project.

The company will also build an electric vehicle as an individual one off and this is a very successful part of its business as it supplies unique vehicles to the film and special effects industries.

It has supplied an electric Land Rover to a safari company in Africa as a special project and has also done a number of projects for a Chinese all-electric stunt show, so opening up the Welsh business to converting quad bikes if an owner wishes.

China is very advanced in making electric motorbikes but Richard believes there is a market in the UK for giving historic motorcycles a new life with electric power.

The company is testing an electric Royal Enfield using a donor two-wheeler produced in India, some 118 years after the business started in Redditch, Worcs.. So the longest lived motor-cycle design in history looks like it will have a new life thanks to this enterprising Welshman and his business.

Save Post as PDF

Categories: Classics Information, News & Views, Robin Roberts

Tip: For improved search accuracy, enclose search terms for multiple words in quotation marks. For example:
"Land Rover".

Advertise with us
A-ZPlease visit the A-Z page for listings by make, model, year etc. and an advanced search form.

Recent Posts

Fiat 500X Sport SUV – Road Test

New Suzuki Swace – Road Test

Motor Ombudsman poll reveals car buying at showrooms remains firmly in the driving seat

Exhaust systems and their ailments

Citroën C5 Aircross plug-in hybrid – Road Test

Free Fun Days (at home) offered by the British Motor Museum

Calls for MoT Test changes to incorporate aspects of electric, hybrid and high-tech. modern vehicles

Ford Fiesta mHEV mild hybrid – Road Test

Contributors

contributors

Our well-respected contributors live and breathe motor cars; aren’t we lucky?

Contributors to the site include talented, highly-respected people (so they tell me) on the hallowed membership list of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and from the similarly well thought-of Western Group of Motoring Writers. In addition there are valued contributions from other knowledgeable and capable motoring writers who have something useful to say about all aspects of driving and running vehicles in the 21st Century. All of our team are passionate about motor cars!


Read about our contributors  ››

Popular Tags

4x4 4x4 SUV Audi Austin Beaulieu BMW Book review British Motor Museum City car Compact SUV Convertible Coupé crossover Electric Electric Cars electric vehicle estate Estate car five door estate five door hatchback Ford four door saloon hatchback Honda hot hatchback Hybrid Hybrid SUV Kia large SUV luxury SUV Mazda MG mid-size SUV Mini Mitsubishi MPV news News round-up Nissan People carrier PHEV Pick-up plug-in hybrid Porsche saloon seven seater MPV Seven seater SUV Skoda sports sports car Sports saloon sporty hatchback Supermini SUV Suzuki The Motor Ombudsman three door hatchback Tyres Volkswagen VW
All Tags ››

Wheels Alive Social

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Like us on Facebook

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

My Tweets

Contact us

We welcome your questions, comments and feedback. Please click here to contact us.

Advertising Opportunities

Please contact us if you would like to discuss advertising opportunities on Wheels Alive.

Please share our website

Copyright © 2021 Kim Henson, Wheels Alive