EV Powered Magazine - APRIL 2022 EDITION

Government announces “tenfold expansion” of EV chargepoints by 2030

The Department for Transport has committed £1.6 billion to expand the UK charging network, with around 300,000 public chargers expected to be available by 2030.

The number of chargers set to be installed by the end of the decade will be equivalent to almost 5 times the number of fuel pumps on our roads today. Under the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy, there will also be legal requirements for operators to ensure drivers can pay by contactless, compare charging prices and find nearby chargepoints via apps.

£500 million will be invested to bring high quality, competitively priced public chargepoints to communities across the UK. This includes a £450 million Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund, which will boost projects such as EV hubs and innovative on-street charging, so those without driveways don’t miss out on cleaner transport.

A pilot scheme for the LEVI fund will see local authorities bid for a share of £10 million in funding, allowing selected areas to work with industry and boost public charging opportunities. Meanwhile, the LEVI funding includes up to £50 million to fund staff to work on local challenges and

public chargepoint planning, ensuring that any development complements all other zero emission forms of travel, such as walking and cycling.

The existing £950 million Rapid Charging Fund will support the rollout of at least 6,000 high powered super-fast chargepoints across England’s motorways by 2035. This comes on top of ministers’ pledges to continue addressing any barriers to private sector rollout of chargepoints, such as local councils delaying planning permission and high connection costs.

bp invests £1 billion in UK EV charging infrastructure

bp

The company’s EV charging business, bp pulse, intends to make the investment over the next 10 years helping to meet the UK’s fast-growing demand for EV charging and support the country’s

our

network making journeys easier right across the country. Clean transport isn’t just better for the environment, but is another way we can drive down our dependence on external energy supplies. It will also create new high-skilled jobs for our automotive and energy sectors and ultimately secure more sustainable and affordable motoring for all.”

transition to low carbon transportation for both consumers and fleet vehicles. The company also expects this to support hundreds of new jobs in the UK.

The investment will allow bp pulse to deliver more rapid and ultra-fast chargers in key locations, expand fleet products and services, and launch new home charge digital products and services to enhance the customer experience.

The investment will see bp pulse approximately triple the number of public charging points in its UK network. It will also accelerate the roll out of state-of-the-art 300kW and 150kW ultra-fast charging points that are able to provide EV drivers up to 100 miles of range in around 10 minutes of charging, depending on the model of electric vehicle.

In addition, the funding will used to upgrade bp pulse’s current EV charging technology across its public charging network to improve reliability.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “We’re powering ahead with plans to help British people go electric, with

expanding charging

has announced new plans to invest £1 billion in electric vehicle charging in the UK over the next ten years.

Two-year extension for plug-in van and truck grants confirmed

Plug-in van and truck grants have been extended for a further two years, paving the way for more businesses to make the switch to electric.

The government has committed £2.5 billion to vehicle grants and chargepoint infrastructure to support the transition to zero emission vehicles to date, and plug-in vehicle grant schemes have supported the purchase of over 450,000 ultra-low emission vehicles across the UK – including more than 300,000 zero emission vehicles.

The eligibility criteria for existing plug-in vehicle grants will also be recategorised from the spring with a focus on heavier vehicles. From 1 April 2022, the threshold to claim the small truck grant of up to £16,000 will be increased from 3.5 tonnes to 4.25 tonnes. Vans up to 4.25 tonnes will be able to claim the large van grant of up to £5,000.

Ford to release seven new electric vehicles by 2024

Ford has announced plans to release seven new electric vehicles by 2024, with the automotive giant also targeting 600,000 electric vehicle sales across Europe by 2026.

Starting in 2023, Ford will begin production of an all-new electric passenger vehicle, a mediumsized crossover that will be added to the lineup in 2024. Ford’s top-selling passenger vehicle in Europe, the Ford Puma, will also be available as an electric version by 2024.

Ford’s Transit range will also include four new electric models – the all-new Transit Custom onetonne van and Tourneo Custom multi-purpose vehicle in 2023, and the smaller, next generation Transit Courier van and Tourneo Courier multipurpose vehicle in 2024.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Maserati has confirmed that its entire vehicle lineup will be electric by 2030, with three new electric vehicles on the way.

Janus Electric, Qube and OZ Minerals have teamed up to trial battery-electric trucks for heavy haulage across the Australian outback.

Milton Keynes has been named as the best place in the UK to own an electric car, according to a study from CarGuide. co.uk.

Uber has invested £5 million for the installation of over 700 electric vehicle chargers across North and East London.

The agreement between three London boroughs, Newham, Brent, and Redbridge, will see hundreds of fast on-street EV chargers installed, boosting the capital’s overall charging network by over 7%.

Jamie Heywood, Uber general manager for Northern and Eastern Europe said: “By targeting investment where it is most needed, we are confident that thousands more drivers will make the switch to electric, allowing them to benefit from lower running costs and higher earnings on Uber.”

Glasgow is planning to double the number of electric vehicle chargepoints across the City, with another 164 public chargers planned for this year.

Almost half of electric vehicle drivers could be missing out on cheaper off-peak electricity costs at home, according to Smart Home Charge.

Honda Motor Co. and Sony have teamed up to develop electric vehicles, with the first model set to be unveiled by 2025.

Uber joins London boroughs in £5 million EV charger boost

Talk

Justin Lunny:

Redefining Retro

As a family, we were always into cars and as a kid I was just really interested in anything with primarily four wheels, although sometimes two as well. When I was about five or six years old, I could name pretty much any car coming towards us just by its headlights in the dark. Roll on a few years and as a teenager, I got into refurbishing cars with my dad.

I then went into technology, working for Hewlett-Packard in various tech and sales and business development roles, before building two or three businesses in the fintech space. That’s where we started the Everrati journey.

There were an awful lot of people taking crashed cars and using batteries out of Nissan Leafs that were not tested and in no way engineered. They were just stuck together, and I thought there must

be a better way of doing this in a safe and reliable and repeatable way.

What challenges has the company faced so far?

We started our business in the pandemic, and we’ve managed to get through that now and obviously we have different challenges now. Because we managed to build a business during Covid and to get that level of interest, things can only get better in terms of the opportunities for

us. More and more people are looking at what we do and are really getting excited by it. During the pandemic, a lot of people decided that it was no longer acceptable to be driving a combustion engine vehicle. People realised that just being able to breathe clean air is so important and I think the pandemic drove people to EVs, and we are obviously part of that solution.

What have been some of the most significant milestones for the company so far?

The best thing for me is when we fully sign off a vehicle and hand it over to the customer. If you take not only our Porsche but the Land Rover as well, which has been entirely engineered internally through thousands of hours of development work, this is not somebody just ripping a motor out of something else. We take an OEM approach to this of making sure the powertrain is appropriate to the vehicle. If you look at our Land Rover, it is not fast because it would be dangerous if

to us about your background and how you’ve ended up where you are today?

From

to

is bringing a catalogue of electrified icons into the 21st century. Founder and CEO, Justin Lunny, talks to EV Powered about the journey of the company and the projects he is most proud of.

JUSTIN (LEFT) WITH CO-FOUNDER AND COO, NICK WILLIAMS

it was faster; it has a 0-60mph speed of 13 seconds. We make sure that the powertrain we put in there is appropriate to the vehicle and how it was designed in the first place and not to overpower something and not to make it dangerous, and that’s in everything we do, from design right through to functional safety.

What sets you apart from all other electric vehicle conversion companies?

I think there’s different levels of people in in the industry. We don’t call ourselves a converter because we entirely redefine that car as an EV. We take everything into account, from the drivetrain right down to all the different dials. Generally speaking, converters are those with 0 automotive experience, whereas our team has decades of service at Mercedes-Benz, Lotus, McLaren JLR, amongst others. That’s the real difference.

Will EV conversions remain a premium option or is there a future where these projects can be considered alongside regular ‘off-the-shelf’ EVs?

What we do is very, very expensive. We put thousands of hours of the most skilled individuals in the industry to work on our models. We don’t see ourselves going mainstream because I think the work that we do is primarily on more valuable vehicles.

I think prices will come down and they will reach a point where it’s a broader market, then we can offer more cars to the market. But we’re very much focused on the high end and people who want to effectively custom make their own EV.

Which project are you most proud of?

I’m most proud of the one that’s coming through now, which is the GT40. It is by far the most advanced repowering of any vehicle on the market today. It has been built to be a performance car, with a 60kWh high-energy battery that has the ability to deliver power very quickly and recharge quickly. It has 800bhp and 800NM torque and up to half a MW of power. I think that’s why I’m most proud of it because it sets us apart from the rest of the industry.

Do you consider modern electric vehicles to be ‘boring’?

Most cars, whether they’re electric or not, have to conform to a certain design because of crash regulations and emissions regulations. A lot of the cars today are just a means of getting from A to B and they’re not exciting or engaging. They’re not analogue in any way which is what we’re about.

We want to retain the essence of a car. It’s a very digital world at the moment and I think people want something that is beautiful and classic in design, which isn’t the case with modern cars.

Which classic car would you love to convert to electric?

The Mercedes 300 SL Roadster. It’s arguably one of the most beautiful cars that has ever been made, and I think it would be absolutely incredible as an electric car.

What do you say to people that are skeptical of electric vehicles and what is your response to those that say you are ruining classic cars?

The stats show that over 95% of people that drive an EV would never go back to combustion engines, so all those people can’t be wrong. I would say that a lot of the people that are resistant to -

wards EVs either haven’t tried one or just want their last hurrah in a petrol engine before they’re not allowed to drive them anymore. If you compare our Porsche 964 to a standard 964, it is so much better on every single level. It might not be for everybody and there will still be people that want to drive their combustion engine cars, but once people experience one and are open minded enough, they will realise that EVs are clearly better.

What does 2022 have in store for Everrati?

The main thing is our US launch. We’ve already got US customers, with both the Porsche and Land Rovers being built for customers over there. Outside of that, it’s all about expansion. It’s about building the business so that we can serve more customers in more markets. There are opportunities all over the place so it really is an exciting year to build on what we’ve done so far.

VW ID. BUZZ

Back in March, Volkswagen finally pulled the cover of the highly anticipated ID. Buzz, the manufacturer’s first ‘Bus’ for almost 20 years.

The excitement was justified, as VW teased the world with retro and multicolored half-reveals and previews, but with the production version now fully unveiled, we can tell you everything you need to know about the VW ID. Buzz.

DESIGN

“With the ID. Buzz, we are transferring this T1 DNA to the present day and thus into the era of electric mobility,” said Jozef Kabaň, Head of Volkswagen Design.

The 1950’s inspiration is clear to see, with a smiling front end, V-shaped front panel and twotone paint finish all clear representations of the manufacturer’s original camper. There are other cute details, too, such as the large VW badge on the face of the vehicle and the straked detailing at the rear. There is a super-small overhang at the front of the vehicle, too, much like the original models which had no overhang at all.

There is, of course, a modern touch to the ID. Buzz as well. Powerful LED headlights occupy the front of the car and wrap around the side, with the EVstandard LED lightbar also in place at the rear.

There’s also sliding doors, a much longer wheelbase than the original and 18-inch alloy wheels which can be upgraded to 21-inch as well.

On the inside, Volkswagen has drawn inspiration from its other ID models rather than its funky retro past, with a fully kitted out interior.

With every model, you’ll be greeted with colourful décor, a 5.3” digital drivers display and a 10” infotainment system, which can also be upgraded to a bigger and better 12” screen. The ID. Buzz is a five-seater as standard, with 1,121 litres of boot space. Six and seven-seater options will be available next year. Other features include ambient lighting with 30 colour options, and an interior produced from recycled materials for seat covers, floor coverings and decorative headliner.

In terms of design, the ID. Buzz is a colourful blend of fun and practicality. There is a playful dose of nostalgia with all the quirky design features, but

Everything you need to know about Volkswagen’s latest electric vehicle

After years of sneak peeks and previews, Volkswagen’s latest EV is finally here, and it is a stylish, fully electric reimagination of the manufacturer’s legendary T1 campervan.

the ID. Buzz has all the features and trappings of an electric vehicle that is fit for the new era of mobility.

TECH SPECS

The ID. Buzz and ID. Buzz Cargo, the LCV variant, are launching across Europe with a 77 kWh battery, which will provide a current to a 150 kW electric motor, which – as the flat engine once did in the T1 – drives the rear axle, with 204bhp and 310NM of torque.

Able to receive as much as 170 kW in charging power, the Buzz can charge from 5 to 80% in as little as 30 minutes. The lithium-ion battery can also be charged from wall boxes or public charging stations using 11 kW alternating current (AC).

Volkswagen has yet to confirm details such as range and top speed, although it is expected to offer around 250 miles, and achieve a top speed of 90mph, with an estimated 0-62mph time of ten seconds.

The ID. Buzz will also feature the latest generation ID. software with new assistance and charging functions. Included as standard in the ID. Buzz and ID. Buzz Cargo is the ‘Car2X’ local warning system, which utilises signals from other vehicles and the transport infrastructure to spot hazards in real time.

OTHER MODELS AND VARIANTS

A few different variants of the Buzz have also been revealed, such the aforementioned ID. Cargo, as well as the ID. Buzz Pro and the ID. Buzz Pure, which will be the entry level model. A long-wheelbase version will also be available, in addition to the ID. Buzz ‘California’ campervan that won’t be available until at least 2025. Rumours are also circulating around a performance ‘GTX’ model, if Volkswagen follows a similar path to the ID.5 which was unveiled earlier this year.

Whilst details on other models are few and far between, the manufacturer has revealed a

prototype autonomous version of the ID. Buzz, which will be deployed in commercial services from 2025.

Developed by self-driving specialists Argo, the ID. Buzz AD prototype uses a suite of sensors, software, and the computer platforms to provide a 360-degree awareness of the vehicle’s environment, predict the actions of pedestrians, bicyclists, and vehicles, and direct the engine, braking, and steering systems so that the vehicle moves safely and naturally, like an experienced driver.

Testing of the ID. Buzz AD occurs in collaboration with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles at the Argo AI development centre in Neufahrn, near Munich. Argo also has a nine hectare closed-course near the Munich airport to test a variety of traffic situations unique to European driving conditions, in addition to their test track in the United States.

Mobility service provider MOIA will be the first user of the self-driving vehicles, rolling the ID. Buzz AD out across its fleet which operates as Europe’s largest, all-electric ride pooling service.

“The ID. Buzz AD test fleet represents a milestone in our partnership with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles,” said Bryan Salesky, founder and CEO of Argo AI. “Building on our five years of development and learnings from our operations in large, complex U.S. cities, we are excited to soon begin testing on the streets of Munich in preparation for the launch of the self-driving commercial ridepooling service with MOIA.

WHEN CAN YOU BUY ONE?

The VW ID. Buzz will go on sale later this year, with six and seven-seater models to come to market from 2023. Prices have yet to be confirmed but is expected to start from around the £43,000 mark.

There is a playful dose of nostalgia with all the quirky design features, but the ID. Buzz has all the features and trappings of an electric vehicle that is fit for the new era of mobility. ”

“

CHARGING ON THE GO

Jonathan Carrier, the co-founder of portable EV charging solution, ZipCharge, joined the Everything EV Podcast to talk about how these suitcase-sized batteries fit into the ecosystem of EV charging.

Charging infrastructure has always been the hot topic in the world of electric vehicles, and as the industry continues to call for more and more chargers, one company has added another piece to the charging puzzle

ZipCharge’s portable EV charger on wheels can provide users with up to 20-40 miles of range wherever they are, and co-founder of the company, Jonathan Carrier, explains how the ‘ZipCharge Go’ fits into everyday life.

“The average distance travelled in the UK is 18 miles, in Europe it’s a little bit more, and in the US it’s 26 miles, so what our charger can do is give you the ability to charge your vehicle with the range you need every day.

“Does that mean it’s going to be your charger for every eventuality? Absolutely not. When you charge, you don’t use the same type of charger, it’s not like a petrol or diesel car with one pump, one pump speed and one type of fuel. With electric vehicles, there are different types of chargers with different speeds and different applications. If you go on a long journey, you need rapid charging, but when you’re parked at home, you want what’s the cheapest and most convenient and that’s where we fit in. You don’t need to fill the vehicle to 100%. When you own an electric vehicle, you graze, you don’t gorge. In a petrol or diesel car, you wait for the light to go on and then you fill it up. With an EV, it’s more like a mobile phone that you top up as and when you need.

“It’s complimentary,” Jonathan adds, as he discusses ZipCharge’s role in an ever-growing world of electric vehicle charging solutions, which now consists of home charging, route and destination chargers, as well as community charging. However, Jonathan believes it does not have to be one or the other.

“We have to stop thinking of electric vehicle as an ‘or’ debate, it’s an ‘and’ debate. You can have multiple different types of charging solutions that will be relevant to meet different people’s needs at different times depending on what car they have, how far they’re driving, what the situation is, where they are, a number of different factors. We don’t need to have a homogeneous EV charging network.

“What we need is access to more charging, where people park but also more convenient charging that allows them the confidence to go electric because, at the moment, that’s the biggest barrier. Most people look at charging and they look at electric vehicles and go “how am I going to charge it?” So until you can convince someone and give them reassurance that they can actually go electric, then that’s a massive barrier, and that is where ZipCharge can come in.”

Scan the QR code for the full episode:

HOW CAN WE MAKE PUBLIC EV CHARGING ACCESSIBLE TO ALL DRIVERS?

Dora Clarke, Head

of Marketing & Communications at Osprey

Charging, shares her views on the status of the industry and what has to happen next.

Until recently, the main measure of success in the roll out of public charging infrastructure was simply how many charging points you had in the ground. The concern that EV infrastructure was lagging behind EV sales drove government and bodies such as the SMMT to quote targets for funding, or a single large number of “public chargers” that was needed for the future. With their eyes on this numbers prize, and in a race to secure sites to build their network, charge point operators (CPOs) installed at pace – but often at the cost of quality, safety and inclusivity. Whilst the desire to find and build an “ideal” number of public chargers to match car sales does still pervade, there is now at least a growing scrutiny on the accessibility of charging locations, for all drivers. And a growing understanding that the charging networks that get this right will be the ones that succeed.

When we talk about accessibility, it is about the physical space, charger access and charger usability that is essential for wheelchair users and those with any type of reduced mobility, permanent or temporary (such as pregnancy). Optimising these factors also makes the experience better for all drivers manoeuvring around their car with a charging cable, or with children or shopping.

It’s easy to conflate the requirements for accessibility to simply having bigger bays and cross-hatched areas like traditional parking bays, but there is far more to it than this when it comes to charging. By working with UK charity Motability, taking on customer feedback, and in choosing hardware Osprey have reviewed a host of requirements, including: space around the vehicle and in front of the charging point; ability to reach and use the screen, buttons and cable handles unobstructed by kerbs, wheel bumpers or poorly placed bollards; ability to see the

screen in bright light or night time; ease of use and payment with one hand without the need for high force, grasping or twisting; and weight and manoeuvrability of charging cables to and from the vehicle.

So it’s not just the charging site design, but also the hardware choice, payment options and even branding colour choice that can improve or reduce accessibility.

Some of these factors are fully within a CPO such as Osprey’s control, for example providing a tapand-go contactless card reader, and choosing to partner with charging manufacturers like Tritium (whose models are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA 1990) and the European standards (EN 301549). Osprey has also undertaken an extensive site re-design on both our larger hubs and smaller urban compact sites, to produce the ideal layouts we would install.

“

Looking to the future, we expect to see the leading charging networks all incorporating accessible standards into their hub sites, and hopefully more compact installations too. ”

However, responsibility and power to affect the key factor of space sits ultimately in the control of the landowner granting a demise on which an operator can install charging. Types of charging site range from busy, urban retail parks, where space is at a premium, to large new developments, where provisioning adequate space for accessible charging is easier. To ensure new public charging at all types of sites meets the needs of all drivers, regulatory standards on charging are essential.

A significant step is being taken this year: Motability and OZEV (Office for Zero Emission

Vehicles) have developed the ‘PAS 1899’ minimum standards for charging bays. These new BSI accessible charging standards will be published for consultation in Q2 2022 and hopefully finalised in the summer.

As one of the CPOs on the review board, Osprey can already see how useful these standards will be as official guidance alongside our existing advice for commercial landlord partners, leading to agreement for adequate space much more effectively. Ultimately, these standards need to then become law, and Osprey are also publicly promoting and supporting this. There would then be a very easy conversation at site design stage with the partner landlord, on how to work together to meet the standards and thus accessibility in all areas.

In parallel to these standards for new sites, all charging networks can take a good look at their existing estate – many, like Osprey, are the product of over five years of installing, and not up to the latest standards for full accessibility. We are starting to return to sites to change the bay layout to improve space and access to the charger (usually by turning existing 3x normal bays into 2x wide bays), replace older charging hardware with the ADA-compliant Tritium chargers, and add a second charger at single-charger sites to improve availability.

Looking to the future, we expect to see the leading charging networks all incorporating accessible standards into their hub sites, and hopefully more compact installations too. For example, we’re excited to be installing a number of ‘flagship’ charging hubs over the coming year, where we have a large space to design highpower, multi-charger facilities. We intend these sites to showcase the improved accessibility and driver experience that will be expected as standard from the charging network of the future.

THE UK’S BEST ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING NETWORKS

bp pulse

Number of chargers: Over 8,000 Payment method: Contactless, ApplePay, Google Pay

Charging speed: Up to 150kW

Charlie said: “With over 8,000 chargers, bp pulse’s network is one of the biggest in the UK, providing drivers with charging speeds of up to 150kW. The chargers are simple and easy to use, and you have a number of options when it comes to paying. Thanks to its massive network, you can always find an available charger, and paying is easy too, so you can plug in and be on your way without any fuss.”

Running low on range? Take a look at our list of the best electric vehicle charging networks in the UK to find out where to charge.

There are currently more than 29,800 public electric vehicle chargers in the UK, with that number growing day by day as the electric vehicle industry continues to grow in popularity and demand. With so many charging options available to EV owners, choosing which charger to use can be a difficult task.

With that in mind, EV Powered’s Charlie Atkinson visited a charging point from every single network provider in England, to compile a list of the best networks to use for your next charge.

The criteria for this list focused on the number of charging stations across the UK, as well as looking at how easy it is to pay, how fast each charger is, and general ease and convenience. Accessibility was also considered. The networks included in this list have not been ranked against each other but are instead our top picks for some of the best charging networks available to electric vehicle owners.

InstaVolt

Number of chargers: 700

Payment method: Contactless

Charging speed: Minimum of 50kW, up to 350kW

Charlie said: “I have used InstaVolt chargers more than any other network and have always found them to be easy and reliable, often going out of my way to use one of their chargers over others. The network isn’t as big as some of the other providers on this list, however InstaVolt is rapidly expanding its network, with plans to reach 1,000 chargers by the summer.”

Shell Recharge

Number of chargers: 119

Payment method: Contactless, app or charge card

Charging speed: Up to 150kW

Charlie said: “Shell Recharge’s network is by the far the biggest in the UK, with other chargers, such as Ubitricity, now part of the Shell Group. For the sheer size and scale of the network alone, Shell Recharge scores highly. Payment is also quick and easy, with strong charging speeds on offer, too.”

IONITY

Number of chargers: 17 sites

Payment method: Contactless, smartphone, RFID, app

Charging speed: 350kW

Charlie said: “Although the network is relatively small compared to the others on this list, IONITY’s chargers offer the fastest charging speed out of all the networks mentioned, delivering 350kW with no power sharing. The network is fast, easy to use and one of the most accessible out of all the charging networks I experienced.”

GeniePoint

Number of chargers: 500

Payment method: App or RFID access card

Charging speed: Up to 100kW

Charlie said: “I enjoyed using the GeniePoint chargers, despite having to download yet another app. However, it is quite simple to navigate which makes paying easy and straightforward. My preference is always to use chargers that let me just tap my card, but for a charger that insists on an app or an RFID card, it was relatively hassle free.”

HONOURABLE MENTIONS:

Tesla Supercharger

Charlie said: “A network consisting of 3,000 chargers, all of which offer up to 350kW of power. I wasn’t able to charge at a Supercharger site for this test, but having used them in the past, they really do set the standard for electric vehicle charging points.”

Osprey Charging

Number of chargers: 300

Payment method: Contactless, smartphone

Charging speed: Up to 50kW

Charlie said: “With 300 chargers currently available, Osprey’s network is growing rapidly, having recently announced plans to install rapid EV chargepoints across a number of retail sites in the UK. Expect to see a lot more of these knocking about it no time!”

Pod Point

Number of chargers: 6,200

Payment method: App Charging speed: 50kW

Charlie said: “One of the biggest networks across the UK, with chargers available in a variety of destinations, such as Tesco car parks, which offer you free charging whilst shopping. I have found paying via the app difficult at times, which is the only mark against Pod Point.”

MFG EV Power

Charlie said: “Unfortunately, with only 119 chargers available across the UK, I couldn’t get to an MFG charger as part of this test, but MFG deserves a mention for its plans to install 60 charging hubs this year as part of a £50 million investment.”

All figures were correct at the time of publishing.

SPARKING LIFE INTO OLD CLASSICS

Meet Richard ‘Moggy’ Morgan, the face of Electric Classic Cars, the Newtown-based conversion firm that gives iconic motors a new lease of life.

The industry of classic cars being converted to electric is growing and growing, with a number of cool and quirky cars ditching their internal-combustion engines for a modern, electric drivetrain. And whilst the majority of these projects are carried out by small, unknown companies, there are a few faces in this field that you might just recognize.

Tucked away in a remote corner of Newtown, Wales, is Electric Classic Cars, led by Richard ‘Moggy’ Morgan, the face of Quest’s ‘Vintage Voltage’ television series.

Although Moggy and his crew are buried within the quiet, luscious hills of mid-Wales, the company’s workshop, or ‘toyshop’ as they prefer to call it, is actually the base of operations for a huge, global EV conversion business.

With the latest series of Vintage Voltage having just been released on Quest and discovery+, we went to see Moggy to hear about his journey, and what inspired him to convert classic cars to electric.

“It started as a hobby in my shed about seven years ago when I converted my first car,” Moggy explained on a tour around the toyshop. “Now it’s a hobby that’s out of control. We now have 15 staff, a two-year waiting list and shipping cars all over the world, from Australia to California and everywhere.”

As a self-confessed ‘old-school petrolhead’ with a background in rallying, Moggy first discovered

RICHARD ‘MOGGY’ MORGAN

the world of electric vehicle conversions on YouTube when searching for his next project.

He said: “My hands were itchy in the workshop and I wanted to build a new engine. I had a look around at what to do and I came across a motor conversion on YouTube from a guy in the US and I thought “let’s do that!” As soon as I put my foot down for the very first time and felt that power, I knew electric was where it’s at.”

“Modern electric cars are a little ‘jelly mouldish’ to me,” he explained. “They don’t have much character behind their design. There are reasons why the designs have become boring and sterile over the years, with passenger and pedestrian safety. Classic cars are much more attractive from an aesthetic point of view, just not from a reliability and maintenance standpoint. If you marry a 21stcentruy drivetrain with something that looks stunning and classy, that to me is the ultimate car.

“That was another reason why I started this. I was looking to buy an electric car for my wife, and we looked at the Nissan Leaf, the BMW i3, and they were just a bit boring. So I thought “why not convert one of my VW Beetles to electric and you can have that?” and that’s what we did.”

a second season, with another one potentially in the pipeline.

And yet, with the classic car conversion industry soaring to new heights, and with electric vehicle sales growing month after month, there are still critics and sceptics of electric vehicles. Having been a petrolhead all his life before his electric vehicle awakening, what does Moggy say to those people that are skeptical of EVs?

Fast forward seven years, and Electric Classic Cars has gone from strength to strength, with around 70 projects completed and with another 68 in the order book. It’s hardly surprising that the workshop is cramped, with at least 16 projects on the go at any given time.

Out of all those projects, Moggy admits that it is hard to single out a favourite, but there are a few that he is particularly proud of.

“The one that stands out for me is the Ferrari 308, that was really special,” he said. “After we converted with the Tesla drive unit, that thing flew. Another one that stands out was the DeLorean. That was a pretty rubbish engine, but with the drive unit it drove like a modern Tesla Model 3 but looked like a DeLorean, and who wouldn’t want that?”

According to Moggy, the DeLorean is the perfect example of a car that can be completely transformed with an electric drivetrain. When asked which car he would love to convert in the future, he explained that he likes to find cars that were originally “flawed” and that can be given a new lease of life with an electric motor.

He said: “One car that we haven’t converted yet that could definitely be improved is the Lamborghini Countach. To me, that car had a great engine but everything else was just rubbish. The driving position is awful with a huge transmission tunnel, the clutch is too heavy, and the handling is awful because the engine is behind you, so that’s a car I think could be drastically improved by converting it to electric.”

With company’s orderbook full and with plans to expand the workshop and double the number of staff within the next six months, it is clear to see that the industry of classic car conversions is booming. And whilst Moggy believes a lot of that is down to certain factors like the environment and the reliability of ICE classic cars, he also feels that classic cars offer more in terms of a design than modern EVs.

What started out as a hobby in his shed has now led to orders flying in thick and fast from all over the world, along with a TV show that just aired for

“Don’t listen to people with an opinion, listen to people with experience,” he said. “Talk to people that have driven and owned electric cars and ask them questions, not the average man down the pub that doesn’t have an electric car but has a very negative opinion on them for whatever reason. And then, go out and drive one. Simple. I was the biggest petrolhead out there, and if I can be converted, anyone can.”

If you marry a 21st-centruy drivetrain with something that looks stunning and classy, that to me is the ultimate car. ”

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