Classic cars modified to run on electric motors are not uncommon these days. We have yet to see a fuel cell conversion, so all these cars run on battery packs. Minis, Jaguar E-Types, Porsche 911s and many more are getting these electric kits and the assurance that the modifications are fully reversible to appease classic car purists. The latest is a DMC DeLorean converted by Electrogenic, which supposedly does a lot better with its electric motor than it did with the original PRV V6 engine (which isn’t that hard to do). Interestingly, this car made me realise that it’s only possible because these vehicles had internal combustion engines (ICE) in the first place, which isn’t as obvious as it might seem.
Why would a vehicle that runs on electricity be converted to electricity, right? All it would need would be upgrades, like more modern engines or new batteries. However, some of the very first automobiles were powered by electric motors. They were much easier and safer to run than the early ICEs. The crank levers very often injured or killed anyone who operated them. Just ask yourself how many of these classic electric cars have survived compared to those powered by combustion engines, and you will begin to understand what I am talking about in this text.
Much like modern battery electric vehicles (BEVs), the pioneers had massive battery packs. They were based on lead-acid chemistry and would have been even heavier if they offered ranges similar to today's BEVs. For example, the Detroit Electric had a range of 80 miles when it was new. Thanks to the Henry Ford Museum, we can get an idea of how much that lead-acid battery weighed. Clara Ford, Henry's wife, owned a 1914 Detroit Electric Model 47 Brougham. The museum says the car tipped the scales at 3,636 pounds (1,649 kg). The lead-acid battery weighed 1,170 pounds (530.7 kg), or 32 percent of the total. Today's battery packs weigh about the same, but BEVs are much heavier, even though they can reach about 300 miles (483 km). Thanks to the higher energy density of lithium-ion cells for that.
Photo: Worldwide Auctioneers
When Charles Kettering created the electric starter, ICE vehicles have gone mainstream, which ironically has sent electric cars into the history books. This means that all Electric vehicle manufacturers eventually died or survived by producing something other than cars. All units produced were left without any kind of official support, just like the Fisker Ocean today. Several ICE car manufacturers faced the same fate. Yet, we have more classic petrol-powered cars than classic BEVs, which used to sell in much higher numbers. The explanation is obvious: their batteries deteriorated and had to be replaced, but there was no one to do it. Even if they were still available, how much would they cost? Probably more than the entire used vehicle, even though lead-acid batteries were (and still are) relatively cheap. Classic BEVs that can still be driven received several common lead-acid batteries and a balancing charger, like the 1917 Rauch & Lang JX7 Electric Ancuta Iosub you told us about, but this barely kept them running: regular 6V or 12V car batteries were not designed for continuous output. Additionally, electric motors lose efficiency as they age.
Compare this to the classic ICE vehicles we see. If the bodies didn’t rust out beyond repair when they were sitting in barns for decades, they could run again after replacing a few hoses, wires, and… the battery. That’s why they survived in greater numbers: because their most expensive component (the powertrain) was still in good condition. With BEVs, the most expensive part is the battery pack. And you won’t hear of a classic BEV that still has a working battery pack. As I’ve written before, batteries are replacement components in everything. Unless a new technology changes that, you can’t expect them to behave differently.
We don’t even have to go back to 1900 or 1910 to confirm this. In May 2023, Pete Gruber shared that three unregistered Tesla Roadsters were found in shipping containers in Shanghai. They had been there for 13 years, and Gruber suspected that their battery packs had degraded beyond repair after not being charged for so long. As far as I know, the CEO of Gruber Motors never confirmed this on his YouTube channel. The vehicles were sold to Dan O’Dowd, one of Tesla’s biggest critics when it comes to FSD and the company's policy of allowing regular customers to test the software on public roads. YouTube channel What's Inside? Family revealed that, also confirming that the battery packs turned into paperweights just a year after the cars arrived in China. Considering they'll become museum material, that's no big deal, but anyone who wanted to drive them would have to shell out about $40,000 to get them back to work.
Photo: WHAT'S INSIDE? FAMILY | YouTube
Considering how rare these Roadsters are, with used prices around $100,000, that might not be a problem. But that’s still about 40% of what someone would make selling one of those vehicles. Most BEVs are mass-produced products. What if one of these cars cost $40,000 or $50,000? They would either become parts donors or go straight to a teardown. That seems to be what happened to most early BEVs, which is probably why there are so few left. Older ICE vehicles are much more common. If they haven’t had a major mechanical problem, anything you need to replace is cheap. That brings us to restomods.
Electrogenic can turn a DMC DeLorean into an electric car just because it has survived four decades. The Jaguar E-Type is now 60 years old and several units still run great with their original equipment. Jason Momoa recently made headlines not for a new movie, but because his 1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom II is now an electric car powered by a 95-kWh battery pack. In five years, it will be a century old. Again, these cars could only ditch their engines for electric motors because their engines kept them alive. Current battery packs won’t do that for modern BEVs, and customers are well aware of the situation. That’s why the depreciation is so high: because you can only own these vehicles without financial worries as long as their warranties are valid.
Their manufacturers have only two options to solve the problem. Either develop battery packs that will last 20, 40, or 60 years, or make them easily replaceable. They are working hard on the first option. As for the second, it can happen with replaceable batteries (preferably in a format that any BEV can use) or with components so cheap that used-car buyers can afford to replace them. The current recipe leads to disposable vehicles, whether BEV manufacturers admit it or not. Ironically, people will only see one of the current BEV models last three or four decades if they get a combustion engine, as Rich Benoit did with a Tesla Model S. It should be a long-lasting restomod.
