Retro-electric ...

[Michael Grove]

 making petrol-guzzling cars eco-friendly

   An estimated 30,000 old petrol cars have been given a new lease of life

  by small businesses and amateurs around the world • this 1966 VW Beetle

  has been retrofitted and electrified by Zelectric Motors.

  Photograph: Zelectric Motors

  Big breakthroughs in battery technology have raised hopes the electric

  car can transform the auto industry and set us free from fossil fuel

  dependence. Some small businesses are determined to make sure the

  electric revolution is as environmentally friendly as possible. And their

  vision of the future relies on repackaging the past. Since manufacturing

  new cars is energy-intensive and polluting, these specialists believe

  transforming old, petrol-guzzling cars into clean, green electric vehicles

  can play an important part in reducing carbon emissions.

  Consumers eager to get behind the wheel of an electric car have

  experienced crushing disappointment for many years. But now, they

  may finally have their chance. Major auto companies—like Ford, Chevy 

  and Nissan—plan to roll out the next generation of practical, affordable

  plug-in cars in 2011 or 2012. Niche players like Tesla, Fisker, and Miles

  are also hitting the market. But what if you can’t wait two or three years

  for an EV? Or if you don’t have deep enough pockets for a Tesla?          

  What if you don’t believe car companies’ press releases? There is an

  answer for those skeptics & impatient souls: An electric car conversion.

  But be prepared for major compromises to test the limits of your

  skepticism and impatience.

 

   YOU can commission us to build you the car of your dreams

  or choose from the cars we currently have available.

.

[Michael Grove]

Embarrassed about your old car's bad breath and environmental unfriendliness? Worry no more,

because the electric classic has arrived. Welsh wizards, Dragon EV, have been converting vehicles

of all shapes and sizes to battery power for many years, the latest project being an unsuspecting

1963 Triumph Herald convertible. After half a century of propulsion by an internal combustion

engine, a squeaky clean 25kW electric motor now provides the motive force.

[Michael Grove]

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

In the world of ‘67 Beetle parts, we know many are rare and hard to find. Bill wrote earlier

about having 1967beetle.com help with some recent gems he’s acquired. From the impossible

to find rear bumper overriders to lobster claw seat belts; he’s got them.

ALL of which reminds me of the time when I had to take my first car ever, a VW Beetle

registration 826 EAF, to a VW garage in Birmingham for repairs, following an explosion

in one of the 4 air cooled cylinders. The garage offered to repair the car with either, used,

re-conditioned or new parts, so being as I was still training as an Air Traffic Controller,

I chose to request a repair with re-conditioned parts. Following the repair a member

of the garage staff talked through all the work that had been done, gave an explanation

of the itemised bill and then proceeded to bend down under the counter and return to me

all of the damaged parts in a plastic bag, to prove that the work had actually been done.