Electric Morris Minor

[philthehill]

Came across this company whilst looking for something else.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/spartanclassicev
They have a selection of parts to convert the Minor to electric power.
Worth a look.

[Sleeper]

I have no problems with electric cars, their technology is wonderful and in ten or twenty years I will probably have no problem with their battery technology either but what I'm not happy with is loss of Historic status , Road Fund licence or MOT compliance..

John ;-)

[simmitc]

And until the DVLA change their policy (again) an historic vehicle converted to electric is likely to have its registration number voided and then be issued with a Q-plate.

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

I should think so. It's historic for a reason, not when the very core of it is ripped out.

[kevin s]

And until the DVLA change their policy (again) an historic vehicle converted to electric is likely to have its registration number voided and then be issued with a Q-plate.

Only if you make any new holes in the body, looks like the parts there use the original engine mount and Brake mastercyl mounting holes etc.

They are being down right stupid though, if you applied the rules as they have applied them to EV conversions every car with a towbar would need to become a Q plate too. The worst thing is they wont even publish the rules they assess vehicles by and there is no workable appeal process it's amazing to think in a democracy a goverment department can behave like some third world dictatorship.

[Sleeper]

These?

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-registration ... d-vehicles

John ;-)

[kevin s]

They have a more detailed set of criteria they use to determine if the structure has been modified, It's this the EV conversion industry wants published.

[Monty-4]

Very nice to see these become available even if some of the prices for parts like the bracketry are a little eye-watering, but I suppose the R&D costs need to be recouped and a profit made!

[MCYorks]

They have a more detailed set of criteria they use to determine if the structure has been modified, It's this the EV conversion industry wants published.

Couldn't this set of criteria just be obtained through a 'Freedom of information request' to DVLA?

[MCYorks]

And until the DVLA change their policy (again) an historic vehicle converted to electric is likely to have its registration number voided and then be issued with a Q-plate.

There's an interesting article on the potentially serious pitfalls of modifying classic cars... or any car for that matter. https://www.hagerty.co.uk/articles/main ... assic-car/
It's quite concerning what the DVLA consider to be a modification. Drilling a hole That could easily cover 50% of the vehicles on the road
Would it count if you just removed the paint and let the rust make the hole?

[kevin s]

Theres an interesting article in classic and sportscar, I think it was last month , where they discussed this very issue, apparantly a parlimentry commitee has told the DBLA to be more open a publish all the proceses they use but the DVLA are not even responding to that!

The whole process seems to be full of contradictions, they discussed the guy with the EV mini who had had his registration pulled for one 20mm hole in the battery box, they claimed he had so compromised the structure that it could never be repaired yet probably half the minis out there have had a rusted out battery box replaced at least once and it's even perfectly accetptable to replace the complete chassis leg on a modern after a crash. I guess the reason they don't want to publish is it will open the floodgates for compensation claims when it's seen how many past descisions fail to meet their own rules.

[dp]

Just to be out there but what if you just send the V5 to DVLA with a change to cc=0, fuel =electric engine number = whatever. Does the V5 come back with historic status lost? If so, does that require a change of numberplate to Q? Do you have to pay road tax?

If you make a cradle that uses the original engine and gearbox mounting holes you haven't removed any metal after all.

[kevin s]

In theory the 9 point rule appilies , the crux of the issue is to get the 9 points you must not have modified the structure of the vehicle, years ago they used to take this as choping big lumps out etc, now with some of these electric conversions they are stating even adding a small hole is enough to lose your original registration.
They are being asked to clarify what constitutes a modification, clearly they are not withdrawing registrations for fitting tow bars, wing mirrors seat belts, windscreen washers etc so why withdraw it for drilling a similar sized hole in a simularly non structural panel to pass a cable through?

If you manage to do a EV conversion using only original holes in the body you should keep your historic status and free tax but lose your MOT exemption (because under the rules for that any significant modificaton, such as an engine type change, counts)

looking at the kit above, they have clearly come up with a frame to do this for the motor/ gearbox but you would still need to come up with something for the batteries, inverter, and charger, I think it would be possible to come up with a self contained frame / box that did all of this and sat on the original engine mounts and perhaps used the front shock mounts too, only connections would need to be some low voltage cables to inside the car for the controls ( use the choke cable hole?) and a throttle cable to the drive by wire potentiometer.
It would be a long time before I consider such a thing though, at the end of it after perhaps 20K in parts and a couple of hunderd hours labour you'd have a front heavy car with at best a 100 mile range.

[les]

I drilled a hole in a panel to inject some waxoyl, should I worry ?

[Monty-4]

On a similar note, do rust holes count as a modification or an original feature?