'Classic' car EV conversion residual values

'Classic' car EV conversion residual values

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Discussion

northwick

Original Poster:

103 posts

177 months

Thursday 15th February
quotequote all
We live in an area where we get a quite a bit of flooding and other tricky conditions so having the 4x4 is pretty essential mainly because I can't just WFH for the day.

Unfortunately my 1998 Wrangler's water pump st itself the other day when my wife was driving it and it has ended up melting itself pretty badly. Garage are saying new engine needed but they still go for decent money when running (at least £6k, probably because they are pretty iconic looking)

Don't expect much change out of £2k for a new engine installed if that is the case (got a proper call booked with them next week) not to mention a comparative lack of engines available in the UK.

I like old cars so I've been wondering about an EV conversion. Lots of places do a Defender conversion but even they are approx £30k and are getting some economies of scale there.

I can't find many 'used' EV conversions for sale. Four on Pistonheads: https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/search?fuel-type=E...
...so it is hard to tell if, hypothetically, you could get anything like your money back out? Does anyone have any info / insight? Are the people paying for these expensive EV retrofits doing it out of love / curiosity or do they hold their value to some sensible extent?

Thanks in advance.


Edited by northwick on Friday 16th February 00:19

TheDeuce

21,737 posts

67 months

Thursday 15th February
quotequote all
If the car is worth 6k and the conversation likely to be in the region of 30k, it's a stretch to see it being worth it unless the jeep in question is sufficiently cherished enough to start raising in value over the next few years.

A typical driver of such a car would likely save about £2000 a year on fuel costs vs electricity so no chance of recouping the capital spend that way.

Especially not when a new jeep EV, fully loaded can be bought for £30k...

However, this suggests the parts are available for a lot less: https://www.treehugger.com/converting-your-car-to-... but of course you'd need to find a qualified person and business in the UK to get it done.


PurpleTurtle

7,016 posts

145 months

Friday 16th February
quotequote all
As the poster above says, this is completely economically unfeasible.

You’d be better of selling it for spares and buying a more economical 4x4.

PushedDover

5,659 posts

54 months

Friday 16th February
quotequote all
Man maths - Distinction / higher level

PushedDover

5,659 posts

54 months

Wednesday 21st February
quotequote all
Man maths - Distinction / higher level