Toyota’s Akio Toyoda has nobled but flawed vision of retrofitted EVs

The thought of EV retrofits is not new. One specialized niche participant, EV West in California, sells conversion kits for a handful of traditional cars beneath the Volkswagen Group umbrella ranging from the 1955-1974 Karmann Ghia ($8,734) to the 1965-1986 Porsche 911 ($11,594) to the 1971-1979 VW Super Beetle ($18,695).

Legacy automakers are also in on the action. For case in point, Ford Motor Co. in 2021 debuted the Ford F-100 Eluminator notion, a pickup styled like a 1978 F-100 and outfitted with two 2021 Mustang Mach-E GT Effectiveness Version motors. Alongside the principle, Ford introduced that clients could invest in an Eluminator Mach-E electric powered motor online or as a result of a dealership. It is really shown at $4,340.

And Toyoda, although unveiling his vision at the Tokyo Automobile Salon, showed off a pair of carbon-absolutely free ideas derived from Toyota AE86 compact athletics autos, one particular with an EV battery and the other with a hydrogen-combustion program.

These are neat ideas for hobbyists with economic implies, but I am obtaining a tough time observing this work on a significant scale.

For starters, seeing how cautious quite a few folks are of brand name-new EVs with modern day systems and design, how considerably shopper attraction is there in getting an ageing Corolla or Land Cruiser and making it an EV? Confident, a handful of people may possibly dig it, but not the masses.

If I am interpreting effectively what Toyoda claimed — he did not give a timeline or prices — earning a major effect on air high quality would necessarily mean changing a large chunk of the about 1.5 billion automobiles on Earth.

That would also necessarily mean figuring out how to do these conversions at a scale that helps make it economically viable for retrofitters and buyers. With present day battery chemistries, getting batteries alone would be an enormously difficult and costly proposition. Increase in the installation charges, and will it be cost-effective for buyers?

With passenger automobiles coming in all styles and dimensions, how several variations of conversion kits would be necessary? Would the vehicles’ bodies and frames need to have to be in pristine problem for a retrofit, or would they will need to be fixed, including additional expenditure?

A different thing to consider is that EV conversions could significantly alter a vehicle’s bodily constitution and driving dynamics. If these kinds of automobiles confirmed any assure of turning out to be a important part of visitors, would automakers, dealership assistance departments, physique shops and other retrofitters welcome a heavier regulatory hand from authorities in the U.S. and overseas?

Most likely this could be a possible new profits stream for dealerships seeking to substitute routine servicing affiliated with ICE cars. But will there be ample small business to justify the time and expense wanted to coach technicians? And would all those dealerships or other retrofitters be uncovered to liability if a little something goes haywire with a customer’s motor vehicle?