Just read an article on Piston Heads, that Twisted can turn your classic Land Rover Defender into an E.V. With a turn round time of 2 weeks. If you had a choice of keeping your old Mazda MX5 by turning it into an E.V. Would you and have no restrictions put on you, if all the main cities and towns develop Low Emission Zone’s.
Hi @J_P The Land Rover would be a fairly simple conversion due to the space available. I think the MX-5 would be very difficult there is not much space to fit the conversion and the batteries would be heavy and would result in very limited charge due to the size of the vehicle you are trying to fit them in.
Hi Street675R, I hear what your saying, it would be pretty hard, but someone’s done it with a classic mini and as technology advances week by week things inevitably will change. The question was more, would you change your old MX5 to a E.V. or let it go to the scrap heap if legislation deemed it and drive round in a more soulless E.V.
There is a series on Quest at the moment called Vintage Voltage where they convert classic cars to electric - tonight (Saturday) at 6pm. So far they have done a VW Karmann Ghia but they will also be doing a Fiat 500 and an MG Midget along with a number of others. Quite interesting.
I know Jaguar did an electric E-Type and tried to keep the power and balance as close to the original as possible. In principle they could extend that to any XK powered Jaguar, and it can only be a matter of time before someone comes up with a drop-in replacement for the ‘A’ Series engine or other common engine types.
As J_P says, if it came to a choice would you let your car sit in the garage and collect dust or drive it as an electric car. A long way from ideal but I know what I would do.
I would definitely give it a go if I had the money to do it right. It is always a shame to see a good car head to the scrap yard. I am going to take a look at the Fiat 500 as recommended by @Keith_Jayne it sounds interesting. If nothing else it would make a great track day car, the acceleration would be phenomenal not sure how many laps you would get out of a single charge though.
To Keith_Jayne, thanks for that, I will definitely look for that series tonight. I would definitely consider an E.V. Conversion, if It was financially viable and it didn’t change the characteristics of the car and it felt the same. Going by other performances of some sportier E.V.s Maybe it would improve an MX5s performance.
I’m sure there’s already a thread about it somewhere here but there’s a company which builds electric conversions with a YouTube channel called “Zero EV” and they currently have a Mk.2 MX-5 project on the go. They have six 10-15 min episodes up so far. I’m definitely interested in the possibility of this conversion for Mk.1 as it might be the perfect commuting car for me.
Having retired a few years ago and having been a mechanical engineer for 44 years. I’m probably stuck in the past, as I prefer piston’s, valves and twin cams.
For now I will enjoy my Mazda MX5 and the wonderful Honda V-Tec engine in my daily driver.
No doubt I will have to move with the times at some point in the future. EV’s are coming up fast, maybe a hybrid is the best compromise but I’m not a lover of CVT gearboxes.
Having recently bought a 2015 Renault Zoe EV, I’m a total convert and if I could afford it, I would have Katie (my 1989 Eunos) converted too. There’s something very satisfying about making swift progress without making lots of noise! I’ve been following the Zero EV channel and I can’t wait to see the finished car. So far, my Zoe seems to be working out at about 3p per mile and with zero road tax too, so what’s not to like?!
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I’d consider it but it would have to be when battery technology is at a point where I can get a guaranteed 150 miles from a charge and without adding too much weight (no more than 100 kg over the current weight of the car with a full tank). I’d still want a manual box which helpfully seems the easiest way to do the conversion anyway.
I think the problem would be that without the engine and my fruity exhaust barking away behind my right ear I’d notice all the squeaks, creaks and rattles my Mk1 can offer. It’s bad enough already for that with the roof up!
Realistically I think when fossil fuels are at a price point where my weekend toy needs to be battery powered the idea of driving for enjoyment will have long passed.
I had a Mitsubishi PHEV for 2 yrs and the silent and rapid takeoff from traffic lights was always a source of pleasure to me and surprise to some of the other road users 
There is a drag racing Miata with Electric power which makes for an amusing U tube watch.
There are a few Miata EV conversions in the USA.
If you are happy with short duration for commuting its a good plan, not so much use on long journeys.
That’s what I’m pondering, as I have a 50 mile round trip commute which ends a few hundred yards inside what will soon become London’s expanded low emission zone.
I could perfectly well not use a Mk.1 for that. Any Euro 4 petrol car, i.e. less than about 15 years old, would be exempt from the daily charge, or I could even take the train, but if I want to keep using my Mk.1 that’ll be £12.50 per day, if you please sir.
An electric MK.1 with 100 mile range might be just the job. On the other hand, if one of these conversions costs 20 grand, that’s an awful lot of £12.50’s. It’ll take a decade to break even and I could be retired by then (yeah, fat chance these days) or at least no longer working in London.
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I agree with you Martin, about the cost of conversions, they are out of reach of a lot of people. For example I read that A.C. Cars have launch an E.V. Ltd edition Cobra which has a range of 150 miles and a top speed of 120 mph and it only ways 1250 kg. The kick in the pants is, it costs £138,000. Take you a little while to break even, driving that into London. But wouldn’t you look cool.