Your Electric Car questions answered. 

It was great to hear Richard make the point about brake dust. Fully Charged put out a great video recently talking about brake and tire emissions. Even in a world where everyone’s driving EVs these things should be discussed.

FUD = Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. A bunch of emotions that do not represent reality. For example, in the old days when steam trains could reach a certain speed people were spreading the fear that the world would physically collapse if humans would travel so fast. Another great episode, so big thumbs up, and as always, I am looking forward to the next episode. 👍🙂

As someone over a year into a diy conversion and probably only 50% complete I fully accept what you say about the time involved. The price you are charging while it might seem high is 100% reasonable given how many hours are involved. The reason I am doing it myself is it is great fun.

For next Q&A can I ask where do you source batteries and motors from? Do you rub your hands with glee whenever a Tesla gets written off?

Could you go to a battery recycling center and do a video of the entire recycling process beginning to end including chemicals used and negative effects to the environment if any, thanks and i'm learning a boatload with your videos!!!

What I enjoy the most is seeing how much you love what you do.

Love what you guys are doing! Wish I’d see more of electrifying classics in the States. Already over 10 years ago, I’ve told my friend who restores classic American cars, that he should consider adding electric conversion to his portfolio, but in the US there’s a very strong resistance to modifying classics. It’s considered pretty much blasphemous. It’s unfortunate.

First time I've seen this channel. What decent chaps and so articulate!

Too bad the Delorean is reserved to lucky Vintage Voltage watchers. As you said, seeing the quality of your work, I am sure your conversion does justice to the car.

'[Cities] are starting to roll out lamp post chargers'? First, this city has to start to roll out lamp posts. They were removed around here at least 50 years ago, and replaced with wall-mounted lamps. That said, we've owned an EV for almost a year so far and have never really needed to charge at home. Only did it once via a granny cable out of a window. Since then, we've always recharged for free at supermarkets and destinations.

Thanks for answering my question. Great discussion! Lovely episode.

That was bloody brilliant!!!Well done, very interesting.

All the best to this channel! EV hotrodding and retrofitting is going to be such a game changer due to the relative simplicity and efficiency. I work as a systems integration engineer and the work I have to do for an EV system is significantly less than an ICE system.

Thanks! Looking forward to future vids...

Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt

With my planned EV conversion.. This is now my GO TO Channel..

When you were speaking about the ability to go underwater, it instantly made me think you should do a lotus submarine, or make some kind of submarine to drive under a lake. Great video content, cheers 👍

Definitely do a tech talk on regenerative braking please, I would love to hear about that and whether you can do one pedal driving with your conversions. Great video thank you.

Thank you for answering my questions of % split on costs. Hoping battery prices come down and makes the work a bit more affordable. Cheers again, top stuff.

So good to see Richard answer the first question in the same terms I do when I'm engaging with internet trolls. "I live in a flat. I can't charge at home! Waaah!". "You can't get petrol, diesel or hydrogen at home either. What's your point?", I say. People trying to undermine EVs are constantly using arguments that they never use for fossil cars. And that includes so called professional motoring journalists. I've yet to see one talk about how dirty the process is for making petrol cars or how much of the massive amount of cobalt used for petrol production is mined by children. Richard also pointed out how accessible charging points are. He mentioned ZapMap. If I open ZapMap on my phone with no filter there are so many chargepoints that my phone slows down trying to process them all. The UK is one giant patchwork quilt of chargepoints. If you zoom out the map to the full size of the UK you can't even see the UK because it's hidden under a sea of chargers. And as you zoom in more and more pop up. Well done Richard for putting the record straight on this. Even some EV presenters are still wishy-washy about it. If there was never a petrol station too full to use for the queues of cars waiting (and I mean during normal times, never mind during a fuel shortage) and no pumps ever out of order and no station closed because the pumps can't be in action while the bowser is topping up the on site fuel supply then people might have the beginnings of a point. But, that time has never been and it will never come.

Question to add for a future Q&A, is it possible already to make a classic car into a Vehicle to Grit (V2G) car. So when it is parked up during the nasty winter times, you could use it as a house battery?

Your channel brings to life several ideas for converting! Great channel you have!

FUD - Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt

Absolutely loved this definitely need to do another learned a lot!! I have a question for if you do another: how did you get into/get experience converting electric cars did you just decide to go for it yourself one day or did you work for a garage that put you through training courses ? Also curious about ECU management as you’ll obviously have to retrain the new parts to work together some information on that would be interesting 🤷‍♂️

Another seriously good video. Getting you on tv doing conversions would be a public service to put people at ease and understand what EVs are and mean.

I'd definitely watch the Ratty Rex & Monkey Sausage show.

Great video. Next time you do a Q & A, could I ask: would you do an electric kit for a Honda TRX quad bike? Or do you know someone who does? Many thanks.

Fab video guys, keep them coming 😎👍🏻

Great session Thanks

Thanks, very interesting.

Really interesting, thanks for sharing

Great episode chaps! OBVIOUSLY I prefer our ZOOM interview on my channel with you. 😉⚡🤣

13:14 Hee-hee, when I first started EV driving I thought about giving my left foot something to do - left foot braking. But I don't brake enough to bother with the technique. And when I do need to actually brake with the pedal, I can feel myself starting to resent it. It's too much effort. 😋

Loved this but 20 min's was way to short.

For folks considering their own EV conversion, what are the essential skills and how can you build your competency before starting a project? I'd also be interested to hear about Richard's background and training - thank you for all the amazing content so far!

Great video. Really enjoyed it. Please do a live session as well. I'm a hugh fan of your work.

Thank you so mch.

FUD = Fear Uncertainty and doubt.

Thanks for a lot of informative and easy ish to understand help! Would you be able to present a segment where you raise the pros and cons of available hub motors, or possible motor combinations for different applications? The commercial hub motors that I've seen sound a bit whiney at the moment, but I'm expecting the quality will improve fairly rapidly.

Great as usual! One point, while we do save on brake pads, most EV’s use tires up faster due to torque

First of all i really admire your work! Id like to ask you Richard if you would be able to do a project for any mercedes benz especially a W124. Id love to see a conversion for this. Or any other merc with a heavy body. Thanks

Video about your solar/storage/charging setup would be great

I'm grateful to spot this channel. Thanks you. A question though, can you register, insure and do MOT for this classic ev cars? Use in UK roads legal? If so, what things you need to prep or undertake legally. Cheers.

I have a 1984 Alfa Romero Spyder that I'd like to convert. It's been gathering dust in my garage for a decade.

I love the channel and your projects, mainly because they are not extreme and come from a place of love of classic cars. One question: I have seen several videos of electric classic beetles that go so fast they need aerodynamic modifications. If the goal was more reasonable, like a top speed of 90 mph (145 kph), about how many kilowatts would be necessary to achieve that, assuming some increase in total vehicle weight for batteries and the same tire diameter?

Hi Richard, would it be possible to add an auxiliary battery on top.or in addition the stock battery? The auxiliary battery is swappable or interchangeable and assists the fixed stock battery in case it is discharged for lack of charging stations, emergencies etc. Auxiliary batteries will put away fears of running out or charge midstream as well as expand the EV value chains. Thank you.

The point about on-street charging, for those without driveways - it is really only possible if your city/town/local council is go ahead and open to change. I live in Southampton UK, where the residential charging is extremely poor. The city council is really not that interested, despite there being a government grant they can tap into. This doesn't help EV adoption. I'm fine, I charge for free at work. But others need help to make the change.

So I know others have asked this too, but I really want to know the answer to this. You use a lot of Tesla parts in your conversions. Does that mean they can use the supercharger network? And if not, why not? To me, the charging network is the #1 reason to buy a Tesla. PS - great video, thank you!

A brilliant video thanks. And I agree with you moggy the Delorean was my favourite car it’s the car it always should of been. The original looked great but the engine and gearbox were crap

Love story time with moggy.

Most Electric Bicycles do not have regen as the connection between the motor and the wheels is unable to work in reverse. Those with hub motors can have regen however.

Hey Richard, thank you for your videos. Please can you do an in-depth video on the installation of all electrical components. Also, is there a way I can contact you? An email

Please bring a workshop to oz....we dont even have enough new evs let alone classic conversion options.

For the record, if you wait for the newer battery technology being deployed in the model Y, it's planned to have a 1 million mile warranty. 99% of people will not drive the same car that long.

I think a scuba-diving Landy challenge is necessary 😁

Would be nice to have a video on motor controllers and drivers

How do you deal with Anti lock brakes and traction control when converting newer cars?

hi, have you a list of vehicles that your electric kits will fit into? what's the cost of a electric conversion..

Hello there. I want to convert my 2008 3.0 TDI Audi Q7 4L into electric...but keep the quattro. I also want at least 500 km range. How much will it cost to do this in a proper way, and how long will it take? Ps: You guise are awesome !!!

Wolud you consider using second hand gear like electric motors or batteries? Important part of being environmentally friendly is recycling. I guess electric motors easily can live long lifes!

hey Richard, I've been meaning to ask for tips and tricks on converting combustion engine vehicles to electric. I have a 1972 Rolls Royce silver shadow that I would like to convert myself. thank you

Being a classic car fan & a member of the Capri club we have all been talking about a electric Capri , but one question is what about MOT as if a car is 40 years old you don’t need to tax or mot the car but does this change ?

How do you manage the gear box and clutch as you accelerate from full stop to cruise speed? Seems like the torque curve is now quite different, eh?

Hello, can you make a video discussing the registration process to a converted EV on the road? Or anyone in comments here, got an idea of how to go about it?

Comment about the regen brakes/one foot braking. Does the controller activate the brake lights when the regen brake mode is active? If you do spend your whole time driving one foot/trying to drive one foot doesn’t this add some risks of braking without giving warning to drivers behind?

Great video. Question for next time, if someone wanted to increase the range on their converted electric car are you able to add more batteries or is that not possible? e.g. the converted car has 3 tesla battery cells with a range of say 50 miles can more tesla cells be added to increase the range?

Fear Uncertainty Doubt

Bill and Ben the Flowerpot Men!

There seems a big gap in power between the 125HP Hyper9 and a 350HP Tesla small motor that you commonly use. Is that due to availability, packaging constraints, price etc? Or is it that customers either want "original" scale power or "as much as it will take"?

Ah! Questions indeed! Im looking into a lightweight plug in Hybrid project for myself. Smaller, lighter ICE engines with nice hub mounted motors and 80-90 kilo betteries with regen braking of course, have you guys got a view on future tech in that direction?

Hope you'll do another QnA,am curious can you do a conversion with Dc fast charging?zero ev channel from UK mentioned to be adding fast charging to a conversion,thanks

Is your dad's a classic electric motorbike would love to see that

hi, does the high voltage have to be converted into 3-phase to run the motor? We went from steam engines to electric and diesel. When DC to AC converters were introduced it made a hell of a difference, but l don't remember hearing complaints then. Old thinkers hate change. Petrol companies are sweating their wotsits off. Good job!!

When are you going to sell the public? More specific the classic mini

As you keep using Tesla batteries and motors for the most of the conversions, can they charge at a Tesla charge point? If not why.

Have you ever zoned out thinking about ‘the box that tesla built’ to power his car.

Would you convert my 2004 Mercedes Benz A-210 LWB (W168). The interesting thing about it that this car was originally conceived to be electric powered by the original designers (The SWATCH company of Switzerland-watchmakers). Mercedes later took over but kept the idea hence it has a full sandwich floor from the front to back to house the batteries at a low centre of gravity, hence the reason it toppled over when it was fitted with a petrol engine in the famous Swedish Elk-test. The actual starter battery stands already inside it under a lid in the driver's floor panel. There is a lot of height. There even was a version that had a second engine in the rear housed entirely in the sandwich floor without raising the boot floor level.

a) How much is the VW beetle conversion kit with DETAILED installation instructions? b) How can I order one? We only do 30 to 50 mile flatland round trips so such would be ideal for us

"Download ZapMap and you will be shocked at how few chargers there are in Lincolnshire!" - :(

I have a question, when you gonna build the Lambo Countach kit car that's always sitting on the top shelf of the workshop and will it be electric?

Hello guys 👍

those tires looked so uncomfortable - treat yourselves to some comfy chairs!

Have you considered using in-wheel motors? I realize that there are handling issues, but my understanding is that better controllers have dealt with many of those issues.

Back to the future 😅

Are yor conversions reistered with the DVLA as EV and do they loose the historic vehicle status?

Is it possible to charge an ev by towing it

You have tyre marks on you behinds

I have just two questions, are there Led headlights that can be legally used in the UK that don't look like some crap a boy/girl racer would tack onto their shitbox, I know of Holly Retro bright, but they're LHD only. And for larger cars, such as Land Rover defenders/Range Rovers or VW Campers is having a solar panel on a roof rack to just trickle charge the pack an option or even a consideration that you guys do?

Do you have a website? I am interested in the Fiat 500 kit

Is it possible change Toyota hilux into ev

I think it would be quite possible to have self drivng cars/trucks with massive batteries on it, that connect to other cars, along the journey, and charge them on the go.

I really admire you guys for such doing something special and backing yourselves. It takes massive balls and I know that. I love cars and nature and am passionate about keeping the environment clean but I am sceptical about whether electric cars are the best solution. If we had batteries with 10x the capacity and 20x the durability then I think could work. But there is no guarantee we will ever have something like that. Most countries like mine generate almost all electricity from fossil fuels. You lose a lot of that energy in the transmission of the electricity, down converting to 220v. "Rapid DC charging" means losing even more energy when going from AC to DC. With liquid fuel you lose basically zero in transport. It's just far, far too inefficient. I don't see diesel as a poisonous death juice. You can make diesel from vegetables. But you certainly can't make batteries from vegetables. Diesel is dirty but still much cleaner than batteries especially when you consider the manufacturing, lifespan and disposal of the batteries. In South Africa you meet Congolese refugees running away from basically slave camps where they dig up these minerals. As for wind and solar. I live in one of the sunniest and windiest places in the world. Even with the South African state power utility falling apart, sometimes daily blackouts and doubling of electricity prices every few years, wind turbines, solar panels and batteries are still much less practical or affordable. Believe me many, many people have tried. I just can't see it working anytime soon. If we really want to do the most we can in the near future to reduce fossil fuel consumption we should focus on efficiency. If cars were limited to smaller engines and made aerodynamic and people drove under 100km/h to avoid the wind resistance it would make a massive difference. Houses could be fitted with a single DC rail so that you don't have so many little DC converts all over the show. With simple measures like these we could probably cut global fossil fuel consumption in half within a decade without millions and millions of toxic chemical batteries doing the rounds. Don't even get me started on computers. That's my industry. Just upgrading the PHP version of all the world's old Wordpress sites would save the equivalent of an entire country's worth of energy. And that is merely scratching the surface. Something simply doesn't add up here. Having said that I wish Electric Classic Cars all the success in the world and keep up the great content!

why take tesla as an example when answering a question about "when does a battery need replacing" and at what %... your batteries have a far lesser range than a tesla so when do YOUR batteries stop becoming good enough to use on a daily or longer distance trip?

The prices he charges for conversions are the number one reason this will never become commonplace. You can never recoup that money on resale. He takes a 10k dollar bug and by the time he’s done the bug costs 25k. It will never be valued at 25k.

‘70s cars would be ideal for conversion because virtually no one could make the smog controlled engines run worth a damn. The crap that came out of the US and UK was unbelievable. Only the Japanese were doing a decent job of engineering cars in the ‘70s.

What if all of you on YT become silent, stop posting anything as a movement against what's happening now in Europe?! A minor help maybe, same as you did for the waste and raised a lotta money. I think I wanna live longer, see more YT content in PEACE along my future grandsons and daughters, along my sons and their families. I will post this message on all of my subscription channels. I can't move mountains nor bring Spring or Peace but I simply cannot rest without saying something. Best regards, one of your fans. ☮🕊✌

I have a Tesla and like the idea of converting certain cars to electric but I’m never going to be one of the unhinged to think gas is poison juice that’s killing the planet.

Anyone ruining classic vehicles with electric shit should be arrested

Not interested in this crap

You don’t have a petrol station outside your house….. what a stupid bloody answer!!! You don’t spend hours putting petrol in your car 🤬🤬🤬