Ohmwork: Automakers gave these classic cars an EV overhaul

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It’s no longer a matter of if electric vehicles will eventually overtake traditionally powered machines, but when .

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This doesn’t mean automakers are leaving the past squarely in the rearview mirror, of course. Most of them have a decently deep well of history from which to draw, and even relatively new – in the grand scheme of things – marques like Hyundai are #blessed with a few gems in their back catalogue which tug on the heartstrings of nostalgic gearheads.

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Ohmwork: Automakers gave these classic cars an EV overhaul Back to video

There are a more than a few electric restomods commissioned by individual builders who’ve plugged an EV drivetrain into a classic ride. We’ll leave those machines for another day.

This list will focus on restomods which have been commissioned or performed by the automaker itself; with deep pockets and a raft of engineers, more than a few modern electric takes on retro rides have surfaced from deep within the bowels of major automakers.

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Opel Manta GSe ElektroMOD

This spell-check-vexing effort from the crew at Opel checks all the right boxes: a fresh but not overdone take on a classic body style; an EV drivetrain; and a too-cool photo shoot.

The old four-cylinder engine under the black hood made way for an electric motor rated at nearly 150 horsepower, which actually makes this new GSe the most powerful Manta A ever built by Opel ex-works. The ‘e’ in GSe now stands for “electrification,” naturally. Its 31-kWh lithium-ion battery is said to permit an average range of around 200 kilometres.

Hyundai Pony Electric

Prior to going all-in on the compact EV hatchback segment with the upcoming Ioniq 5, Hyundai reached into its memory banks to show us this — a restomodded all-electric Pony .

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Taking much in terms of styling from the original car, its exterior design is decidedly old-school and the silhouette is unchanged from that of the original. With that in place, the Heritage-Series Pony was built on a new EV powertrain sharing much with the Ioniq 5. Unlike that car, sadly, the EV Pony is not for sale. Your author is completely enamored with the Nixie-tube dashboard display, by the way.

Chevrolet Blazer E

What do you get when you take a primo 1977 Blazer and stuff the gubbins from an all-electric Bolt hatchback in its cargo compartment? A modern dose of heritage cool, that’s what.

Last year’s virtual SEMA show saw this square-body SUV appear as a promotional device for GM’s new ‘Connect and Cruise’ package, a unit designed to take the traditional art of engine swapping into the next century.

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This concept retains much of the stock Blazer, including just about all the body panels and interior trappings. The Bolt-sourced electric motor makes 200 horsepower and apparently plays well with the stock t-case and axles.

Jaguar E-Type Zero

A couple of years ago, following its appearance in a certain royal ceremony, Jaguar Classic confirmed it would begin to restore and convert examples of its fabled E-Type two-seat roadster to run on electric power. At the time, Jag said the electric powertrain developed almost 300 horsepower and was specially designed for the Zero.

Its lithium-ion battery pack was intended to have the same dimensions, and similar weight, to the XK six-cylinder engine used in the original E. Acceleration from zero to 100 km/h is rated at just 5.5 seconds, one tick quicker than the original car.

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VW Electric Type 2

Fans of Der Kombi figured out how to electrify the Type 2 Bus ages ago, with all sorts of DIYers swapping out air-cooled guts for all-electric motivation. VW itself worked with a myriad of companies in the ’70s and ’80s to dabble in EV power for the Type 2, though it can be argued this electric-powered test vehicle, unveiled in 2019 and called the Type 20 Concept, is the most serious stab at an in-house EV restomod. A team of 25 converted the Bus to run on a 120-horsepower electric motor and small 10-kWh battery pack, all of which apparently fit in the tight confines of the original Bus powertrain area.

Chevrolet E-10

The gearheads at General Motors like to use SEMA as a launching point for their factory EV restomods, it seems. In addition to the Blazer E mentioned above, this E-10 concept showed up one year prior , packing EV battery guts under the tonneau cover of a classic Chevy truck.

When it was shown, GM said it produced an estimated 450 horsepower to the rear wheels and was capable of cracking off a quarter-mile time in the 13-second range. Still, the team wasn’t quite ready to throw off all the shackles of gasoline-powered hot rods: the concept was equipped with a trio of speakers whose sole purpose was to emulate the sound of a V8 engine.