Would you go electric?

[Laughing Coyote]

We all see it and hear it all over the news and on the web.  The big blue marble is getting hotter and the weather is going crazy.  I know a lot of us car guys and gals have put in a lot of time, money and sweat into our cars.  My question is:  If a company came up with an affordable aftermarket electrical system that can be adapted to fit your car would you swap out the engine and go electric?  Just curious what the responses would be.  Also how would the AACA change if more of the older vehicles were converted over to electrics?  

 

[bryankazmer]

How would that be any different that swapping out to a newer ICE?  To me, the idea is to capture the experience of the time of manufacture.

[SC38dls]

No, that would make my 38 a resto-mod!  I have no interest in them. Besides I couldn’t work on it as I know nothing about cars electrical systems. 
dave s 

[Hans1]

I have 13k + miles on an Escort, and 15k + on a F150 Lariat.

Escort is for short trips of 70 miles one way and the  the F150 is for longer trips of 300 to 900 miles one way.

 

I do not see wanting to charge up every 300 miles or so, and then waiting for others to relinquish the plug for my turn to charge.

 

 

[TerryB]

It’s being done now, similar to dropping in a v8 in a model A in the old hot rod days.  I would not do it to a functioning vehicle, no reason to.  

[auburnseeker]

Enoough people have screwed up our cars just trying to convert them from 6 to 12 volt with the original wiring harness and just changing a few bulbs. I can imagine how much they would screw up trying to take an Ice car and trying to turn it into an electric car.  Seems even the Bolt in anythings we put in our cars never really bolted in.  I can see the same problems with a huge multiplier. 

[Pfeil]

If a company came up with an affordable aftermarket electrical system that can be adapted to fit your car would you swap out the engine and go electric?

 

The answer is NO. If I wanted a electric antique car that's electric I would have bought something like a Detroit Electric.

Isn't one of the things this club stands for is originality? 'C'mon man! 

[76 Caddy]

No.

 

Tim

[Larry Schramm]

And you were saying about conversion kits????  See link about GM and theirs.

 

https://www.electrive.com/2020/11/02/gm-announces-electric-conversion-kit/

[Rusty_OToole]

I would buy a new electric car for everyday transportation if they were practical in freezing weather. But there is no point in converting a car to electric now. Maybe 20 or 30 years ago but now, just go buy one.

[Frank DuVal]

No to converting an antique, just buy an electric from 100 years ago. And of I wanted a hybrid, I would buy an Owen-Magnetic. Wait,, there are never any for sale! I've watched a pair for almost 50 years. Still have not left the family ownership.

[jukejunkie1015]

A very simple unequivocal NO.

[wayne sheldon]

The WHOLE point of collecting and/or restoring and driving antique automobiles is to preserve, show, and appreciate a piece of history! Changing an antique to something it NEVER was, and NEVER intended to be? Defeats the whole point!

[RansomEli]

Let me daydream a bit....

 

My basket case 1908 REO 1-cylinder.

 

Drop an electric motor and go from 8hp to 1 bazillion hp.

 

The thing would be an absolute rocket.

 

I'd kill myself within the first 50 miles.

 

No, I guess not.

[Billy Kingsley]

Wouldn't convert one but would not be upset to give a home to a Detroit Electric, like this 1932 example I photographed at the AACA Saratoga show a few weeks back.

 

or this 1911 Waverly I saw at the Hemmings Concours in Lake George in 2019.

 

[Graham Man]

I would never convert a car to electric.  I am thinking about buying a electric (sacrificial lamb) to drive to work.  The interesting part about an electric car is a lot less maintenance, and it should last forever.  Would like one of these...

 

 

So yes I will

 

This is what I will get for a driver, 2016 VW E-Golf $13K with 25,000 miles on it used, I drive 20 miles each way to work, so 40 miles a day.... no more oil changes and no more direct injection cleaning...approximately 100 mpg with the mathematical conversion.   More time in the garage with my good cars.

 

 

I kind have been thinking of a Honda Insight,  electric and a collector car... hoping that will pass

 

 

 

Edited August 10, 2021 by Graham Man (see edit history)

[maok]

IMO, its inevitable. Fuel (petrol/gas) will skyrocket eventually, having a ICE powered car will be too costly.

 

If hydrogen does come online then our old cars may still be kept in their mostly original form.

 

My next daily driver will be either a hybrid or full electric.

[Max4Me]

Absolutely NO! What would be the point? 

[nick8086]

No I would not buy a electric car.. or make my mopar run with no sounds..

 

I might get a hybrid electric vehicle.

 

I had a picture of someone  that did a Henry j back in the 80 or 90 all electric. I just can not find it..

 

If you find the story post it.. It was neat to read..

 

 

FYI - we lost power 6 times in the last 5 years at our new house.. Not fun. 

 

You had to run the very loud generator at 2am and plug in the phones and  fridge. Until you got power back..

 

Here is another big no - Higher Insurance Rates.???

 

Diminished Hybrid Fuel Efficiency In Cold Weather.

 

or the facts:

 

Two immediate problems with hybrids are their lack of pick-up and their battery life. First, acceleration in hybrids is generally very poor, even if they are capable of a reasonable top speed. Second, the batteries degenerate faster than one is accustomed to with a standard car battery, and need to be replaced every 80,000 miles or less. These batteries cost several thousand dollars each. The most serious problem with hybrid designs are the manufacturing inputs for their high performance batteries and electric motors. They are very intensive in rare elements, which goes a long way to explaining their expense. Most of these elements currently come from China, and the supply as it exists today is not expected to last more than several years under even the most generous estimates. Efforts are underway to open new sources of these rare elements, but it is probable that they will not be producing in quantity before the existing supplies begin to dwindle and cause a shortage. or $$$$$

 

Edited August 10, 2021 by nick8086 (see edit history)

[Studemax]

No. I like burning dead plants that the dinos ate.

[Fossil]

NO.  The way the tree huggers are shutting down power plants where is all the electricity going to come from on cloudy days with no wind.  The dams on the rivers that are drying up? 

I'm pretty short sighted but I don't see electric being the final solution. It's been a long time since the horse was replaced by the automobile and there's still horses around. I think vintage cars will be around for a long while yet. 

[AL1630]

1 hour ago, maok said:

IMO, its inevitable. Fuel (petrol/gas) will skyrocket eventually, having a ICE powered car will be too costly.

 

If hydrogen does come online then our old cars may still be kept in their mostly original form.

 

My next daily driver will be either a hybrid or full electric.

When gasoline become unaffordable or hard to obtain, then maybe this will be worth a try!😃

http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_drane.html

Edited August 10, 2021 by AL1630 (see edit history)

[John348]

The title to the thread is somewhat misleading.

Would I go electric? my next new car without a doubt will be electric!

Any modern drivetrain in my vintage cars regardless of the power supply would remove that vintage feeling that I get from driving it

Edited August 10, 2021 by John348 (see edit history)

[wayne sheldon]

4 hours ago, John348 said:

The title to the thread is somewhat misleading.

 

However, the question is clarified in the text as to changing your collector car to an electric conversion.

 

As to the subject of a modern car for local use? I would love to have one!

As far as having an antique electric car? I have always wanted one. If I had had the money? I would have had one forty years ago, and used it occasionally almost every year since.

 

5 hours ago, nick8086 said:

FYI - we lost power 6 times in the last 5 years at our new house.. Not fun. 

 

WE were without power six times in one MONTH last year! I have a small portable generator, enough to keep the fridge cold, and one lamp and the tv and internet on (except some of the time the entire area internet was out!). For twenty years, I would pull it out of the shop and set it up when needed. The past two years? It has been sitting at the ready with needed extension cords in a handy box.

Actually, this year, we have only had a few short power outages, no need to fire up the generator except for once for a couple hours. Maybe the magic juju of sitting ready has worked?

 

 

I find threads such as this annoying, but necessary. This is a subject that needs to be out there, and seriously considered everyday. And, no, I wouldn't want it removed.

 

The first problem is, that this subject is so large, and complicated, that it would take about a hundred typewritten pages to barely scratch the surface! And at that, It would need to be very technical to have any real meaning.

 

The second (and larger) problem, is that this entire mess is almost ENTIRELY political! For all practical purposes, the only scientists pushing all this are political scientists! Real scientists and engineers have been shut out of serious discussions for decades! I knew of a real scientist at Livermore Labs about 1990 that lost his job, career, and everything because he dared say publicly that some of what the state was doing was wrong (I sat in a room full of engineers at the time at a communications seminar that to a man knew he was right!) (We had quite a 'thread drift' at that seminar shortly after it all went down.)

 

Several people above (I shan't take the time and space to go over all of them individually now.) have touched upon several of the real issues. Battery technologies, reliability, use of rare Earth materials, and recycling issues are not anywhere near resolved. Electrical infrastructure to provide even half enough power to charge all those batteries would require an enormous expenditure (can you say 'trillions'?). 

'Renewable' energies are mostly frauds. While there are many practical applications (mostly remote areas) for those technologies, most of them CONSUME MORE energy to be manufactured, transported, installed and maintained, than they will actually produce in their expected lifetimes! Again, one of those room full of engineers thirty years ago, got into this, got the facts, and ran the numbers(real engineers love running numbers!). Those technologies have been and can continue to be improved upon. But they are still decades away from being a solution. However politics pushing dead horses for political gain does NOT benefit society. 

Again, think this. Consuming MORE energy than it will produce.

 

Eventually, the ICE  (internal combustion engine for those afraid to ask?) will go the way of the dodo. REAL science NEEDS to be brought in and find REAL solutions to be implemented as they become feasible. A 'Mr Fusion' (film reference "Back to the Future") might be out there waiting for us to find a way to make it work and be safe. Spending billions (trillions? More?) on political pipe dreams will make billionaires out of a thousand more political hacks, and never solve the real problems our society faces today.

[alsancle]

No.

[41 Su8]

Not for me.  Is man that arrogant that he actually thinks he can change the weather?   Less than 50 years ago we were told of a coming ice age.    John.

[58L-Y8]

No.  Collector cars are such a tiny percentage of the total number of ICE vehicles is use worldwide, their emissions are a drop-in-the-bucket.  Conversion to electric would make zero difference overall.   Our fascinations are about preserving a small piece of history as it was in its time.  Modifications affective obliterates and negates that.

[Larry Schramm]

I might buy an electric car, but it would only be as a grocery getter for around town.  My primary vehicle is a full size truck that I use all of the time. It is used as a truck all of the time for hauling, towing, and other assorted jobs.  One of the reasons that I might get an electric car is my shop is wired for 480 volt three phase so I could install a fast charger.

[Dosmo]

9 hours ago, nick8086 said:

Two immediate problems with hybrids are their lack of pick-up and their battery life. First, acceleration in hybrids is generally very poor, even if they are capable of a reasonable top speed.

I'm not gonna address the original subject of this thread, which asks the question of whether or not I would convert an old car from ICE to electric or hybrid.  But, I am gonna address the above quote.

 

I keep hearing people saying that hybrid vehicles are slow to accelerate.  My wife was talking to a guy who worked at the grocery store, who was bitching about the price of gas, along with everything else.  She may not have used the best judgment when she mentioned that she drives a hybrid and doesn't have to fill up with gas as often as she did when her car was powered only by an ICE.  This guy went off, telling her that she'd better watch it in that hybrid or she'd get run over by a real car, since hybrids are so slow.  She told him that her hybrid was faster by a good bit than the gas-powered car she'd driven previously.  For the last 5 years, we've driven a 2015 Toyota Camry Hybrid.  We love the car, and one of the things we love is how quick the car is from a dead stop.  It's got an amazing amount of torque when required to accelerate quickly, especially when merging into traffic.

 

I can't speak to how other hybrids perform, but I can definitely attest to being very pleased with the performance of this Camry Hybrid.  My one issue with this particular car is that the drive train seems noisy.

Edited August 10, 2021 by Dosmo (see edit history)

[Steve Moskowitz]

How AACA would change if vehicles were converted to electric?  I will be dust before that conversation rears its ugly head but I question whether AACA would exist in the future if that happened.  It would have to make a massive about face as the club is and has always been based on preserving the history of the motor car as manufactured (with some exceptions, race cars, etc).  A historical society ceases to be if history no longer matters.  The world may be a much different place than it is today in the future and we do not know what restrictions will be on our hobby.  I, for me, am glad i will not have to face that prospect.  Change is inevitable but destroying history would be more than sad, it would be criminal.

[Bhigdog]

9 hours ago, Fossil said:

It's been a long time since the horse was replaced by the automobile and there's still horses around.

 

Having kept horses for the last 56 years I can state with some certainty that keeping horses makes keeping/maintaining old cars seem like inexpensive child's play. And, the exhaust from an old car is lot easier to deal with............Bob

Edited August 10, 2021 by Bhigdog (see edit history)

[Bhigdog]

32 minutes ago, Steve Moskowitz said:

Change is inevitable but destroying history would be more than sad, it would be criminal.

 

At the risk of violating the politics doctrine: Tell the above to the "woke" crowd who, no doubt, will be coming for the polluting, noisy, smelly and totally unnecessary play things of the rich white guys.............Bob

Edited August 10, 2021 by Bhigdog (see edit history)

[Brass is Best]

NO

[60FlatTop]

No! I want a new, clean, efficient electric car. Freshly mined iron and aluminum material shipped from the far corners of the earth, rare earth battery components shipped from impoverished countries, smelting and processing plants consuming energy day and night to meet demand. Fresh coatings of polymer paint and newly manufactured interior components, and shipped to a location near me by trucks carrying six new cars at a time.

 

No, you won't see me supporting any lingering residue of that inefficient technology.

 

I want to new one, self driven, so I can sit back and ponder how a planet consisting of mainly carbon and most of it in a molten core had to rely on dead dinosaurs and plants for a supply of hydrocarbons.

 

Sure not converting a old car when I can think about that.

Edited August 10, 2021 by 60FlatTop (see edit history)

[mrspeedyt]

i might consider an self driving electric as a daily driver. however problems of charging it on a long drive vs a 5 minute gas stop and the eventual overloaded electrical generation facilities.

Edited August 10, 2021 by mrspeedyt (see edit history)

[1912Staver]

 Not a vintage conversion. Some day we may not have a choice for regular transport. I don't see electrics making much of a difference on the Climate Change front, but I get the feeling that at some point the legislation is going to be pushed through anyway. Too much money to be made .

[Frank DuVal]

14 hours ago, nick8086 said:

First, acceleration in hybrids is generally very poor, even if they are capable of a reasonable top speed. Second, the batteries degenerate faster than one is accustomed to with a standard car battery, and need to be replaced every 80,000 miles or less.

 I personally have not met a person who had to replace their hybrid  battery at 80k miles, or 100 k miles, or 125 k miles. Or within 7 years of buying it. Not many people get 7 years out of the lead acid one under the hood. Where did this information come from, I question it knowing how many people drive hybrids in this area. Sorry, I see I am picking on Nick again, didn't notice who I was quoting until now...

 

Have you driven a Prius? Or a hybrid Chevrolet truck? No acceleration complaints from the people I know who own them. Not Helcat performance, like the Tesla....😉

[JamesR]

18 hours ago, Laughing Coyote said:

If a company came up with an affordable aftermarket electrical system that can be adapted to fit your car would you swap out the engine and go electric?  Just curious what the responses would be.  Also how would the AACA change if more of the older vehicles were converted over to electrics? 

 

I would say that if the oil industry were to become totally defunct - as in no gas anywhere at any price - I would consider a conversion, but unless us mostly baby boomers (and many older than that) live to be 160 years old, that isn't a likely scenario in our lifetime. Never say never, though.

 

So, if gas got up to $20 - $25 (or more) a gallon due to scarcity, I probably still wouldn't convert my old cars to electric. I just wouldn't drive them much.

 

OTOH, I would have no problem buying a new electric car over a new gas car if the current issues of limited range and infrastructure are worked out. This is because I see most cars of the last 30 or 40 years as little more than reliable appliances - much like a refrigerator or microwave - so I have little loyalty or emotional attachment to the internal combustion in that regard. 

[Bloo]

1 hour ago, Frank DuVal said:

 I personally have not met a person who had to replace their hybrid  battery at 80k miles, or 100 k miles, or 125 k miles. Or within 7 years of buying it. Not many people get 7 years out of the lead acid one under the hood. Where did this information come from, I question it knowing how many people drive hybrids in this area.

 

Me neither. I have a 2002 Prius I inherited from my parents that I have been using for a winter car. It is now 19 years old, more than 220,000 miles, and doing fine on the original traction (hybrid) battery. It still has never had any repairs I would consider major.

 

I used to read the Prius mailing lists years ago when my parents had this, and no one on the mailing lists knew what a traction battery cost. Why? There were very few reports of failures, and when there were, Toyota replaced them for free even if they were way out of warranty due to high mileage.

 

The little 12v lead-acid battery that bootstraps the electronics to start the car though, was one spot where the engineers missed. It is about the size of one in a lawn tractor. It wasn't big enough. My car has had several of those over the years.

 

[Guest]

18 hours ago, Hans1 said:

 

The Escort is for short trips of 70 miles one way and the  the F150 is for longer trips of 300 to 900 miles one way.

 

 

 

 

 What car do you use to get back home?  😁