UK Company Converts Classic Cars into Electric
As the automotive world moves towards an electric future, you might wonder what will happen to classic cars. One UK company wants them to be a part of that future by converting their petrol and diesel engines into electric motors.
London Electric Cars aims to keep most of a car's original features and replace the engine with recycled electric car parts. The company has done so with British classics such as Rover Minis, Land Rovers and Bentleys.
The company's founder, Matthew Quitter, began by converting his own car — a 1953 Morris Minor — before starting the company in 2017. He told energy company Bulb that he wants to reduce the amount of combustion engines in the world, without completely throwing away the cars that have them.
Quitter told The Associated Press that customers often want to reduce their carbon emissions without giving up the car they love. He added that car makers have yet to design electric cars that look as good as classic cars.
"We're able to take cars that people already have an emotional attachment to, cars that people have already identified as being appealing and convert those," said Quitter.
However, converting a car isn't cheap. Prices at London Electric Cars start at about $35,000, and it can take up to six months to do.
To help more people convert their cars, Quitter plans to start sending kits in the mail, so people can do it themselves at home.
The UK has announced it will end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030. But there are plenty of such cars already on the country's roads. According to a report by the UK's Department for Transport, there were almost 40 million licensed vehicles in Britain at the end of March 2021.
