Electric car conversion

But how easy would it be to get your own EV conversion off the ground? Dads nationwide will no doubt be thinking, can I create one of these strange new cars in my garage?

It's not as an outlandish proposition as it might sound.

There are companies in the UK which sell electric conversion kits, but before you start should really consider whether your car is in any way amenable to a conversion.

You can convert your current car or hunt out a suitable donor car and the latter needn't be as expensive as you might think. Ideally you should source a used manual transmission with a defunct combustion engine that can be replaced by the electric motor.

Bear in mind that the lighter the car, the better. Light cars will be less punishing on the battery packs.

Lead-acid packs are really the 'homebrew' version of modern battery acids, largely because they are the most common and cheapest to use. They can also last up to 10,000 miles before you need to replace them.

The ideal power unit however remains the lithium-ion batteries which are at the moment fairly expensive. These however will last tens of thousands of miles and give you a very good range.

You'll also need an electric motor of course, a power controller to regulate, as well as conductors to rig everything up.

They are just the basic ingredients. You can make this process as complicated as you wish.

The upside of your hard work will be more efficient and reliable than a petrol-powered counterpart because many of the key components have next to no moving parts.

You'll still be looking at around a £10k investment mark for a full conversion which at this stage pushes this sort of conversion into home enthusiast or retired DT teacher territory. Sure an EV is going to save you money in the long term and, if your car's engine is wrecked an EV kit might be the remaking of your vehicle. But this is not a job to be taken likely.

There are loads of books out there to help you, plus (as you'd expect) a vast amount of online support thanks to specialist websites such as EVconvert and the inevitable forums. These forums will provide you with instant answers.

For further examples of excellent EV conversions and top notch insider tips, you should visit EV guru Jack Rickard's website and seek inspiration from his astonishing 1957 Porsche Speedster conversion while taking solace in his more down-to-earth electric 2009 Mini Cooper.

If this all sounds like too much hassle then UK-based Alternative Vehicles Technology can convert a wide selection of cars from your Ford Ka to your Lotus Elise.

Alternatively you could buy an EV straight from their stock. A classic Citroen 2CV EV for example could be yours for £12,466.

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