“You do have to be a little bit mad,” Rosemary Penwarden said. “I want to thank the oil companies for the motivation.”
She picked up a 1993 Honda from a wrecking yard and had it towed to her house. She removed the gas engine herself, and then worked with a friend to convert the old car to run on electric power. The total cost was about $15,000, which is pretty good for an EV conversion. She readily admits that it’s not something everyone can do, because it’s very time consuming, and time is money. But she and her friend do this to make a point about recycling and the adoption of electric vehicles. She thinks that most people would probably want to just buy an EV, but that doing conversions on larger commercial trucks that run around town could be not only financially viable, but also better for the environment..
For an enthusiast car, I can see both sides of that. It sure would be cool to have the cars of yesteryear with modern power and torque, especially something like a VW bug. I’m seriously considering doing this myself, and I have Herbie’s plate number on a Jetta in my state, waiting for a bug to put it on again.
For commercial vehicle, EV conversions can be a great idea. If you’ve got a lot of money invested in a big vehicle with specialized equipment, starting completely over can be extremely expensive. Repowering equipment, especially when a combustion engine is on its last legs and needs rebuilt anyway, can be a great money-saving move.Featured image: A screenshot from Rosemary Penwarden’s Twitter account, showing off the work.
This article gives the background more fully than the Guardian. Hagen Bruggemann and James Roy HARDISTY founded in 2018 They convert combustion vehicles and offer a DIY solution. Hagen Brüggemann converted his car 2011.
I will say for a $24k she could have bought a used Bolt EV.