More and more of us are driving electric cars in our daily lives. And it’s easy to see why. Electric cars are quick, quiet and inherently easy to drive, plus they have minimal servicing requirements and there’s generally less to go wrong than you’d find on their petrol and diesel equivalents. But what if you want to combine the 21st century convenience of an electric car with the look and feel of a classic? Fortunately, you’re in luck, because there’s now a small army of companies that will convert your existing classic to electric power, or even build you a brand new car based on an iconic design.
To find out more, we called in on RBW Electric Classic Cars. The Staffordshire-based company has teamed up with German engineering giant Continental to produce a complete set of parts that can convert virtually any classic car to run on electricity.
RBW already offers a conversion service for the Jaguar E-Type, and it plans to add a number of other iconic models to its line up. However, the car that we’re here to drive is actually brand new. It’s called the RBW Roadster, and it’s built around a freshly manufactured body shell for the classic MGB that first appeared in 1962.
Why Convert a Classic Car to Electricity?
For some, converting a classic car to electric power is about fusing old and new ideas to create something that stands out from the crowd. Others are in search of added performance or want to make an environmental statement. Most, however, have rather more prosaic reasons in mind. Although many of us fancy the idea of cruising along in a classic car, not everyone enjoys the rest of the ownership experience, which can involve a fair amount of hands-on tinkering – or paying a specialist mechanic to do it for you.
Even with careful maintenance, breakdowns aren’t uncommon in older cars. What’s more, they can be quite demanding to drive, with unassisted steering, heavy clutches and manual gearboxes. To many enthusiasts, this is all part of the fun, but to others these are the stumbling blocks that prevent them from enjoying a traditional classic car.
RBW founder Peter Swain has experienced both sides of the debate. A successful entrepreneur, he has owned many classic British sports cars over the years, including an original MGB. After a weekend away in the Cotswolds in the MGB, Peter’s wife commented that she’d love to own something similar, but she felt that the MG was too unreliable and too difficult to drive. That’s when the idea of an all-electric MGB was born.
How to Convert a Classic to an EV
In the case of the RBW Roadster, it’s not a conversion as such. All the parts are brand new, and the car can be tailored to the owner’s exact specifications. In principle, though, the same treatment could be applied to an existing classic, by stripping out the mechanical parts.
The key thing that stands out about RBW’s approach is that it uses very little of the original car’s design, except for the basic body and structure. There’s now a bespoke battery pack under the bonnet, where the engine would normally sit. The motor lives at the back, as part of a self-contained module that also includes the single-speed transmission, the differential and even the complete rear suspension assembly. In between sits a Continental-designed control system that connects the various elements together, ensuring that everything works safely and reliably.
Most of the bits come from Continental’s vast parts bin, which is normally supplied to the likes of Renault, Nissan and Mercedes. The motor, for instance, is the same unit as you’ll find in a Renault Zoe, while the battery is based on parts taken from the Nissan Leaf.
Installing the electric drive system is just the start of the process. Better brakes are added to cope with the increased weight and performance, an electric power steering system is fitted to make the car easier to manoeuvre, and the shell is de-seamed to give it a smoother appearance. A comprehensive range of mod cons are installed too, including electric windows, digital instruments, satellite navigation and even an optional rear-view parking camera.
The interior is hand-trimmed in high-quality leather, which is available in five different finishes. There are also 14 exterior paint colours to choose from, plus six different wheel designs and various steering wheel options. You do pay handsomely for this service, admittedly. The RBW Roadster starts at £90,000, which is five times what you’d pay for a very nice example of an original MGB.
Driving an Electric Classic
It's hard not to smile when you’re behind the wheel of the RBW Roadster. You sit holding a thin-rimmed steering wheel of polished wood and aluminium, gazing out through a chromed windscreen surround down the long bonnet with its central hump (borrowed from the later MG RV8 to give the Roadster a slightly more muscular appearance). It’s a fantastically evocative view. There’s a rotary drive selector on top of the transmission tunnel that allows you to flick between Drive, Park and Reverse, just as you would in a car with an automatic transmission. Squeeze the accelerator and the Roadster glides away smoothly. The electric motor produces 94bhp, which is roughly the same amount of power as you’d get in a conventional MGB, but the torque has almost doubled to 220Nm.
At 1,268kg, the Roadster is heavier than an original MGB, but it’s still a comparatively light car by modern standards, and the additional torque more than compensates for this increased heft. The end result is the sort of performance level you might expect from a tuned version of the original MGB – stronger than the standard car, but not outlandishly so. RBW’s claimed 0-60mph time of 8.9 seconds feels about right, putting it roughly on a par with the 1.5-litre version of the current Mazda MX-5.
Initially, the lack of noise feels quite strange. So effective is the design of the electric drive unit that you don’t even get the transmission whine that’s noticeable on a lot of converted classics. On a long journey you might be thankful for this, but it does lose something on a quick blast through the country lanes.
And that’s where this car feels most at home. The adjustable power steering system was dialled right down for our test drive, giving plenty of weight and feel through the bends. There’s enough grip to make decent progress, but not so much that it renders the chassis inert. On the test track, it’s possible to get the Roadster into an authentic 1960s four-wheel drift, and we defy anyone to do that without a massive grin on their face.
Would you have even more fun with a petrol engine? Perhaps, but the Roadster still has a sense of occasion that few modern cars can match.
Charging and Range
There’s a discreetly integrated charging port at the back of the Roadster, where you’d find the fuel filler cap on an original MGB. This allows you to charge it from a standard DC charger or from a 3-pin household plug (via an adaptor).
At present, the Roadster only supports 3kW charging, which means that either option should take around eight hours for a full charge. However, the company is looking to introduce an 11kW option soon, which would reduce the charging time considerably if you have access to a fast charger.
The standard battery pack is said to give around 160 miles of range, which is comfortably more than most classic car owners would use in a typical day. For those looking to go further, RBW offers and optional long-range battery pack that takes this figure to around 200 miles.
A Whole New Market
Ultimately, the environmental justification for converting a classic car to electricity is pretty marginal – unless you do a lot of miles in it, you’re unlikely to recoup the carbon cost of building the electric drivetrain.
Owners of existing classics are unlikely to be forced into doing it, either. The UK has traditionally been one of the most accommodating countries in the world when it comes to classic car ownership, and there’s nothing to suggest that will change, even as the new car market transitions towards electric and hybrid models.
Vehicles over 40 years old, such as the original MGB, are already exempt from a lot of government restrictions, such as the T-Charge and the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) in London. They don’t pay any road tax, either, so the financial benefits of an electric conversion are largely confined to the savings in fuel and servicing costs.
But if you want a brand new car, built to your own specification, the argument for something like the RBW Roadster becomes a whole lot more compelling. Aside from converted classics, there’s not really anything else out there that provides the same combination of classic style and modern convenience. Factor in the peace of mind that should come from electric car reliability and it has the potential to open up the classic car experience to a whole new market.