....for the E-Type Zero, in which, Harry made off with his new bride to a reception after the wedding?

 

I am a big fan of electrics in the future. I think all cars will eventually be non-internal combustion...That being said, it's sad to see an original '69 redone as an electric car....
I understand why, as Charles is one of the original environmentalists, but it's hard to swallow , for those of us that can remember the days of carbs, and mechanical fuel injection.
Kind of makes a tear come to your eye.
Edward

 

Concept Zero, built pretty much from scratch by the creative folks at Jaguar. Recall they finished a bunch of old racing XKEs and sold them for over $1M each. My hope is they find a way to offer these well below the $425K that has been floated. https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/n...-goes-electric

 

"The Concept Zero’s saving grace from the purist’s point of view is that its electric conversion is designed to be reversible. Traditional mechanical parts will be retained so an owner can return a car to its original specification. Against the stopwatch, the Concept Zero is also near-standard, offering the same 150mph top speed claimed for the petrol original in 1961, plus a very similar 5.5sec 0-60mph time."


It's going to at least let the cars be driven in the eco friendly future so that can't be a bad thing and the cars can be restored to original if desired.

 

By the covered headlamps and seats, the car is (or was) a S1 4.2 which would make it a 65, 66, or 67. It's also LHD. I don't know which is worse, an electric E-Type or one lumped with an American V8!

 

It is mostly thought that electric vehicles (EVs) are far less harmful for the environment than traditional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). Since EVs do not emit any greenhouse gases while they are being driven, one is easily led to think that they have no environmental footprint. This is untrue for a number of reasons. Firstly, EVs run on electricity, and in the United States most electricity is generated from the combustion of fossil fuels. According to the US Energy Information Administration, as of January 2015 fossil fuels meet 82% of US energy demand. [1] Secondly, the production of EVs has a significantly larger enviromental footprint than that of ICEVs. This is mainly because of their intricate lithium-based batteries (Fig. 1), which are costly to make and even more costly to dispose of. Before considering an EV, take a trip to an EV battery recycling facility. You might have a change of heart.

 

The oil companies have been spreading this stuff for years. Yes Lithium Ion isn't that great on the environment but, at least in cars, the batteries are likely to be recycled where in consumer electronics they are more likely to be tossed into landfill. Here are some of the debunking pieces (both sides have been a little free with the facts). It does make a difference how your power is generated though, we're mostly hydroelectric here (which is pretty clean). (some are more balanced than others).

https://www.greencarreports.com/news...-cars-debunked

https://wattev2buy.com/ten-electric-...isconceptions/

https://www.gadgetmatch.com/explaine...ehicle-hybrid/

 

In the course of my duties working in IH&S, I've had the experience of visiting one of these battery reclamation/recycling facilities. It was horrifyingly filthy and low tech. Nice list of cars you've got there Enderle. Would you care to share your reasons why none of them are EVs?

 

If you wonder over to the iPace section you'll see I'm one of the first to get the first electric Jaguar in production. But I belong to a Sports Car club that has a fleet of cars, they've had several Tesla cars over the years. The S was just too big and I don't typically buy sedans. The X (they've had 2) was a nightmare of problems and originally the back seats wouldn't fold down making it a stupid SUV (oh and autopilot tried to kill me). So I've been waiting for either a small SUV or a sports car (that is affordable) before I bought one. When the iPace was announced (I was at the launch in LA) I immediately tried to order one, took me a while to escalate to someone that would take my money but eventually I got it done (no dealer here in Bend, OR and the Portland folks needed motivating). Already have the charger installed the car will arrive mid October. Likely will lease it, with electrics (given how risky the subsidies are at the moment and the battery pack replacement cost it is generally thought to be less risky to lease rather than buy an electric).

Now on car batteries, they tend to go through a bit of a different process. Tesla, for instance, remissions the cells into their home energy backup program. But agree it is worth looking into what the car company does with the battery when they replace it. (I haven't done that with Jaguar yet, initially they just hadn't gotten to that point yet but thanks for reminding me to again look into that). Traveling in New York at the moment but will run that down before the car arrives (since I'll be publishing on the car experience anyway shortly thereafter).

 

That's very interesting. Thank you for sharing.

 

I am still more of an old school lover of gas engines but if any of you folks want to make a classic Jaguar into one of the fastest electric cars, a while expensive but way less than the Concept Zero, you then need to call, Bloodshed Motors in Texas as their 1965 classic Mustang fastback the Zombie 222 will go 0-60 in 1.79 seconds and will blow the doors off any Tesla, fyi there is a video on their site of the Zombie 222 smoking the fastest Tesla leaving it in the dust...

Zombie 222 Electric Muscle car by Bloodshed Motors

 

Ok looked at that 222. I don't for the life of me know how the hell they are getting that car to hook and get that torque to the ground but OMG I wish I'd known about them before I started down the path with my 327 XKE as I eventually want to take it electric but couldn't find a shop that had the necessary skills to create a performance electric. Thanks for posting!

 

I think for electric cars Bloodshed Motors is the place to go as they will take any classic car and build your dream electric car and they have the skill to do any restoration work and custom work in addition to the custom electric side of things. For me I drive a lot so the battery technology is not at a long enough range to consider. My 3.8s restomod with the LS1 aluminum block V8 will still do 0-60 in 3.9 to 4.05 seconds but I can drive a longer range than electric and fill it up in a short time. I am now at 100,000 miles on my car since completion in less than 3 years and I have days where I might drive 350 + miles in a day with a tight schedule. The one cool thing is when you watch the many videos of their Zombie 222 1965 Mustang electric car it is just brutal power; that car puts down 800 HP with 1800 foot pounds of torque! and is the fastest electric car period but the range is not very far but dam it is one heck of a monster that will put not only a Tesla to shame but many big block quarter mile cars as well.

 

The issue with the XKE is that is isn't a very comfortable car so I can't ever see it as a daily driver or anything I'd want to drive for range. I may eventually turn it into a topless roadster to fix that. Because mine is certainly reliable enough, I'm just too damn tall for both the top and the seats I want to put in it. I may call them and start a different project, take a beat Series 3 do a Series 1 visual conversion (I hate the way Series 3 lights bonnets look), and then send it to Bloodshed for the conversion (assuming the'd take a jag). Probably be a couple of years from now and I want to see if they can get the top speed and range up, plus I need to complete the current project. By the way just went and saw another 3.8S but this one just took and updated the existing engine, I was told it was also very quick and reliable. But also in the same shop was a conversion of a '75 XJS where they were dropping in a '94 Jaguar V12 with updated Haltec ignition and a heavy duty ford manual transmission. I'm afraid I started to drool with the possibilities. So many choices....

 

I am sure they would turn any classic into an electric monster. On the XKE like my 3.8S and all old 60-'s cars the seats are very uncomfortable and have no full back nor head support, so why not upgrade the seats to something nice like a modern Jaguar seat or a Recarro and for you modify the seat mounts so you can mount them lower than stock to gain more head room?

 

I actually have a set of Recaro seats for the car and talked about lowering the floor to free up headroom (didn't realize I needed to do that while the engine was out of the car). But even with the stock seats and rails I'm too tall and the Recaro seats are about an inch higher. We are removing the false panel behind the seats so they can recline more in the hope that will solve the problem but it isn't easy. I've noticed that others that have had this problem have ether removed the top or started with one of the 2+2 cars (which I'm not a fan of as I think they look pregnant). Plan B will be the topless roadster option.

 

Pregnant with yet to be born XK-R

Funny....My '67 "pregnant" 2+2 actually gave birth to my '08 XK-R Portfolio! I'm happy to announce all are doing fine.

 

And such a pretty baby, she must take after her father (thank god).

 

That's exactly what I'm doing. Putting a set of 2003 X-type seats in my 68 2+2. I have to modify the mounts because the seats sit too high above the sill, and they BARELY squeeze in the seat well area. I have the head room, but the seats themselves are about twice the height of the stock seats.

 

Did something similar with my XKR, put in Recaro Ergomed seats that were heated and cooled replacing the stock Recaro seats. Mounted them on the stock rails (though that did require some fabrication) they work great and are very comfortable. But the XKR had pretty high seats and these were pretty much the same height (and it has lots of headroom). The XKE 2+2 had a ton of headroom as well. I have a set of newer Ergomed seats for the XKE and will try to fit them but they may not work with the top on. Maybe I should just bite the bullet and turn the car into a topless roadster.