One very smart guy I know in the electric and autonomous vehicle space jokingly refers to early EV conversion jobs as “art fair cars.” You know, these little garage-homebrew jobs driven by people who go to a lot of art fairs, purify their own rainwater, voted for Ralph Nader on not one but several occasions, still mourn the loss of their GM EV1 and occasionally drive an EV-converted Volkswagen Beetle with 22 miles of range when they don’t feel like hypermiling their 2008 Honda Accord Hybrid that day. But this Porsche, my friends? This is no art fair car.
This is a Porsche 911 “Signature” from UK-based EV conversion firm Everrati, which is a fancy way of saying it’s a 964-generation 911 widebody given a very serious gasoline-free upgrade. Think something along the lines of Icon, or maybe even Singer, but in this case, it’s all batteries, all the time.
And this particular “Mexico Blue” model is notable because it’s Everrati’s first U.S.-spec 911, designed to meet what the company calls “surging demand” in its cars. Those first U.S.-built 911s are now ready for customer delivery.
Even better is that Everrati’s electric 911 packs some serious heat. According to the company, we’re looking at a 62 kWh battery pack, an output of 500 horsepower, a zero to 60 mph time under four seconds, and up to 200 miles of range. As I said, it’s no art car. Power goes to the rear wheels via a single-speed gear reduction, but the company has said it’s working on a “virtual gearbox” to simulate the torque characteristics of the original motor and the involved shifting.
And while those figures don’t quite match some of the ridiculous ranges and outputs we’re seeing out of new EVs, it’s still very impressive for a conversion job. Plus, those don’t offer vintage style, and this one does. That’s kind of the point. The company says its goal (besides making money, obviously) is to help keep older enthusiast cars on the road in the face of our electric future.
I personally don’t think gasoline will ever fully die out—at least, not in my lifetime—but if the wide-scale shift to EVs happens as governments and many automakers want it to, it’s entirely possible internal combustion will shift heavily to the high-end, low-volume enthusiast and collector market. But this is a 911 you can drive climate guilt-free, and may be better suited to that sort of future. [Editor’s Note: Well, you’re still using energy made via fossil fuels, and there’s all that mining of natural resources for the battery, so I don’t know about guilt-free, but definitely guilt-free-er over the long run. -DT].
“Our Signature 911 (964) is a redefinition of an automotive icon that will have its legacy live on for generations to enjoy,” said Everrati Founder and CEO, Justin Lunny, in a news release. “It is a truly sustainable supercar.”
EV conversions of classic cars are becoming increasingly popular, as is the classic car collector market as a whole. You get all the style of a vintage car with modern electric power, far less maintenance and no more risk of gasoline fires. It’s not easy to do, however; packaging of batteries and electric motors can vary from model to model, so unlike, say, an engine swap, there’s no uniform way to do it yet. (I also think it’s a great option if you have a stylish car that never had a great internal combustion engine to begin with; I owned a BMW 325e for years and I would’ve kicked that motor to the curb in a heartbeat for EV power.)
Everrati’s clearly playing to an upscale crowd here. Its other cars include a bunch of classic Land Rovers and the iconic “Pagoda” Mercedes SL. They aren’t cheap, either; the 911 “Signature” starts at £270,000, or about $327,000—and that’s not including a clean-title donor car.
So it’s a lot, and for a very specific type of (wealthy) person. I’m all for it, though. I hope more and more shops figure these out while driving costs down, and that one day, EV conversions can be a viable option for anyone who wants a classic car but wants to move on from fossil fuels. That certainly won’t be for everyone, but more choices are always better than none at all.
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This car is Eco-plumage and a giant FU to the environment.
It is a beautiful trinket that is marginally useful. Let’s be honest, the owner could drive this everyday, but when they have a shiny Taycan (or Cayenne) in the garage, they won’t.
Yes, EVs are cleaner than ICE cars — when they are driven. An EV takes its carbon footprint when it is made and then earns its eco-cred when it is driven. The original car was already manufactured and likely driven infrequently so it had a very small footprint already. Those batteries should have been used in a daily driver.
How much you want to bet this thing uses liquid cooling?
converting a car with an air cooled powerplant to one with a liquid cooled one is blasphemy!
“[Editor’s Note: Well, you’re still using energy made via fossil fuels, and there’s all that mining of natural resources for the battery, so I don’t know about guilt-free, but definitely guilt-free-er over the long run. -DT].”
“Guilt-free” was a sloppy thing to write. No energy production/consumption is totally benign. No serious person claims that.
Your electricity generation mix depends on where you live.
If you live in West Virginia…
https://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=WV#tabs-4
… well you’re pretty much driving the dirtiest possible US EV.
OTOH, If you live in California…
https://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=CA#tabs-4
… your electric generation mix is 54% fossil fuel (natural gas), 46% renewables, hydro and nuclear. So, not as harmful now and becoming even less harmful into the future.
Why would you convert a car that has one of the most glorious engines?
Why not?
I don’t see a difference between this and people doing LS swaps. It’s the same concept, just a lot more work in this case.
….. if you want a Tesla, just buy a Tesla.
I can’t imagine owning a 911 without the flat six.
There are plenty of cool cars with unremarkable or bad engines to do this to or where electric would fit the character even better than its ICE (old Cadillac, for example), but this isn’t one of those. This must increase the weight, which can’t improve the experience, plus it loses the sound and character in exchange for some little bit quicker, but undramatic EV acceleration. I’m saying this as someone for whom Porsches are nearly the beige Camrys of sports cars for their appeal to me (not saying they’re as boring as a Camry and Porsche has an amazing history, it’s just that they don’t excite me at all for whatever reason I don’t understand), so not a Porschephile, yet this still makes me cringe before I even get to the price.
I do love the color.
“I personally don’t think gasoline will ever fully die out—at least, not in my lifetime”
Countries like Norway already have new car sale market shares of 90% EV. The US at 6% is lagging behind but we’ll eventually there. The average gas car lasts around 12 years? I think within 2-3 decades if not sooner there will be the breaking point where it’s not viable for dozens of gas stations in every town to stay afloat, so they’ll start shutting down.
You know how you laugh when you see a former Pizza Hut that has been turned into some other business, but still has the iconic roof? Former gas stations with become the next version of that. There will be some random doctor’s office in a former convenience store, and kids will wonder why the parking lot is shaped so strangely with a roof that is like an awning but not attached to the building, so you still have to get wet walking in from the car.
Maybe you’ll have to go down to your local Home Depot and do 5 gallon jerrycan swaps like we do now with propane, so you can fill up your gasoline cruiser to head down to the local car show on Friday nights. Horses never went away. Ford Model T never went away. They are just hobbies now instead of something you do every day on the way to work.
Horses are still very much working animals in some parts of the world! That’s how long the long tail of the gasoline-to-EV transition will be, I think.
Old gas stations are already being repurposed around me, though most seem to have been taken over by those scammy payday loan places
Heresy? Blasphemy? A violation of the natural order?
Nay, those words and phrases tread too lightly upon the neck of this apostate.
Kidding aside, your car; your money; not my bag.
Right with you. But, if I had 6 figures to throw at a car, I’d be way more likely to get an Eagle E-type or talk to those people who take a classic Mini and stuff something in it that sounds like an anguished Hell-hound.
Would still love to test-drive this, tho. The dichotomy between aural expectations and actual experience would probably melt my brain
“But this is a 911 you can drive climate guilt-free, and may be better suited to that sort of future. ”
Honestly, this is the kind of myopic rhetoric that made me leave Jalopnik. So far the content here has been killer, please don’t spoil it with this kind of nonsense.
Hey, to each their own! You’re always welcome to disagree, as long as we (including us) keep it respectful and in-bounds. Like I said, this car isn’t for everybody, but it is for some.
Ultimately the question’s irrelevant to me since I seem to lack the needed $300,000+ (as well as the donor car) but I am excited to see where this concept goes, and what the tuner community does with it. It’s something new and exciting.
Patrick, I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful and of course there’s different strokes for different folks. And I certainly wasn’t taking issue with the fact that you find this new and exciting. I was specifically taking issue with the statement that “you can drive climate guilt-free”. There’s opinion and there’s propaganda; this struck me as the latter since there’s a lot of reasons why this is factually incorrect. Please see my remarks above.
I think DT’s editor note is objectively and scientifically correct. EV sourcing, production and charging certainly aren’t without emissions. But I also think some people do take pleasure in driving a vehicle that does not have tailpipe emissions of its own, and that was the point I was trying to make.
*Reads name*
MF! THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE!
I’m sure the donor car didn’t have a “perfectly good engine.” Calm the hell down, People.
I’m curious, what part of that statement bothers you? Climate change is here and is already affecting people’s lives. Shouldn’t we be talking about it and ways to mitigate future change?
I’m not saying the site should only focus on EVs and other climate-concious tech, but to avoid the topic completely seems a bit myopic as well.
I’m not denying climate change. What I am denying is the notion that somehow ripping out a perfectly functional combustion motor from a 911 and stuffing in a bunch of batteries is going to magically erase the effects of climate change and absolve of guilt. Nevermind that making these batteries is ecologically disastrous and environmentally unfriendly, nevermind that trashing a perfectly good combustion motor is about as senseless as believing that the energy needed to power EVs is clean… the net CO2 effect of all us petrolheads driving our classic cars say 5,000 miles a year is best measured on a thumbnail. If we really want to get serious about climate change, how about we start with heavy transportation and stop buying useless shit from Amazon. There’s a lot to be said about extending the life of what’s already been made instead of the chuck-it-and-replace-with-something-newer-and-shinier epidemic that has been infecting the US.
The “guilt-free” line rubbed me the wrong way as well. No one should be made to feel guilty for driving a car; they’re practically required for everyday life in most parts of the US due to the way communities have been developed.
I like electric cars. I like the concept of electric conversions. I even like this particular electric conversion. But I won’t pretend that switching to a plug-in car will reverse the effects of global warming (there are MANY bigger contributors than individual passenger car tailpipe emissions). And I certainly won’t pretend that yanking out a perfectly good ICE powerplant and replacing it with batteries and electric motors is even a net positive when it comes to environmental impact.
This isn’t a black-and-white situation. There is nuance.
A 1989-94 Porsche 911 at 19 mpg for 5000 mi/yr produces 6944 lb of CO2 equivalent per year. An EV getting 3 mi/kWh (inc. conversion loss) on >90% coal mix (1.8 lb/kWh) driven 5000 mi/yr produces 3000 lb of CO2 equivalent per year. By the most pessimistic estimates currently available, a 62kWh battery requires 27,280 lb of CO2 to produce, meaning this EV will break even in 6.9 years or 34,600 miles. By the most optimistic estimates, it would break even in less than 1 year.
Would it be better if they were replacing a worthless engine? Sure.
Would a 914 conversion be smarter? Yeah, and it’s a popular conversion.
Are there more effective uses for those batteries? I can think of a few.
Are there more effective uses for $327k? I can think of many.
Does this EV reduce the driver’s footprint? Depends on how much you drive it, but yes.
Should we be discussing carbon footprints? Only for those wealthy enough to change.
Should the phrase “climate guilt” ever be used? Only for those wealthy enough to change.
Is this overconsumption? It’s a $327k sports car, so by definition yes.
Is this a toy meant for hypocritical 1-percenters to stroke their vanity? Probably.
Are EVs in general a self-defeating endeavor? Absolutely not.
Is there a comprehensive climate change plan that doesn’t pivot on the public embracing carbon reduction strategies and electrified transport as an aspirational outlet for their purchasing power? …Sadly, I do not believe there is.
I wonder what the annual mileage for somebody spending 400k on a 964 comes out to. I’d guess that it is somewhat less than 5k per year.
“If we really want to get serious about climate change, how about we start with heavy transportation and stop buying useless shit from Amazon.”
I could not agree more, actually. I’m pretty pro-EV at this point but I personally loathe how environmentalism gets pushed down to the individual purchasing level, like plastic bag bans. Call me when we also better regulate shipping, airline and factory emissions.
What bothers me, aside from the ruin of a unique and excellent example of a real sports car, is the term “climate guilt”. I won’t debate the whole concept of climate change.
At least I recognize that has no place here.
This is a website dedicated to car culture not environmentalism. And no, we shouldn’t be talking about climate change here nor ways to mitigate future change. Not here,
Get it? People into car culture come here to talk, read about, and enjoy that culture. Include the latest electric vehicles, sure. Let’s not drum up phony “guilt” to virtue signal driving a $350,000 conversion. Like so many of the pious millionaires taking their private jets to climate change conferences. You want to guilt anybody, start there, have a conversation. I have zero guilt for enjoying my ICE auto.
Love the blue inset on those seats.
I’m sure that it’s a high quality conversion, with tire melting acceleration. But, for the love of all that’s holy, NOT A 911! PHILISTINES! VANDALS! Peddle your electric conversions in less iconic packages.
There is nothing like a air-cooled 911 at full chat. Having had a 911SC, I know whereof I speak.
That’s a beautiful car, violated. I call those abusers of automotive nirvana OUT. I will meet them any time, anywhere. My gauntlet is thrown.
This thing is god awful. I get why you’d EV convert something that has a crappy powertrain…say, a 914 or base 944 if we’re talking Porsche specifically. But to rip the ICE flat 6 out of an air cooled 911 is a crime worthy of The Hague. I award Everrari 0 points, and may god have mercy on their souls. As a Porsche nerd I take the fact that this thing exists personally.
The 30 of these that get built (if that many) will make a huge difference. And isn’t one of the lures of an air-cooled Porsche the sound of the flat 6? You may not have to worry about gas engine fires, but you do have to worry about battery fires, some of which are so hard to put out that it takes a day to put out (and then they still might re-ignite). And this is all early tech – in 10 years, there will probably be much better, cheaper options for converting cars to EV.
If you’ve got this kind of money to spend on an EV, buy a new one and don’t destroy an old classic. Although I do agree with the idea of doing this to good looking vehicles with terrible/unreliable powertrains (or a classic where the powertrain is destroyed).
Why would anyone spend $300K to EV convert a 964 and not start with a whale tail donor car?!?
Because the ducktail is way cooler.
You can put a duck on any of them.