A 1964 Corvette StingRay, currently being retrofitted by the company, is expected to sell for around €500,000. And there are other actors and actresses we can't talk about."Ī gold, fully electric Land Rover Defender, with sumptuous leather interiors and a ferocious 500 horsepower drivetrain, drives beautifully. "We've done cars for Dev Patel from Slumdog Millionaire. "A lot of what we focus on is ultra-high-net-worth individuals, business people from around the world – also actors and actresses," Norman Crowley, the CEO of Studio AVA, told Prime Time. Studio AVA, in the heart of the Powerscourt Estate in Co Wicklow, carries out bespoke conversions, but not for the banger sitting in your driveway – and only for those with very deep pockets. Yet there currently are not many options for people who lack the expertise and skill that has allowed Mr Maguire to carry out his own conversions. But Mr Maguire would like to see retrofitting of this kind happening on a much wider, commercial basis, with more businesses getting involved.Īn electric retrofit could give a second life to many vehicles otherwise headed for the scrap heap. Though it wasn’t always easy, Mr Maguire has managed to get his vehicles insured, taxed as battery electric vehicles and NCT certified.Īt the moment, it’s a niche endeavour.
But his 1996 BMW E31 "will pin you to the seat when you put the foot down", thanks to its Tesla drive unit, he said. The performance of the vehicles varies, depending on the parts used. Damien Maguire's 1996 BMW E31 has been converted to electric These cars are for his personal use, but he uses them to test the components developed in his workshop, which he then sells across the world to people carrying out their own conversions.
Though it is at times an expensive one, Mr Maguire recently completed a full retrofit for under €1,000. "We replace them with components that make it an electric vehicle – a motor, a means of controlling the motor, a battery and a way to charge the battery," he said.Ĭonverting cars to electric vehicles has been a hobby since 2009. The radiator, exhaust, fuel take and fuel lines come out.
The process, he told Prime Time, is quite straightforward. The yard outside the converted barn holds a small fleet of old BMWs, all of which Mr Maguire has converted to fully electric vehicles. As with new electric vehicles, new parts are expensive, and Mr Maguire is constantly on the look-out for second-hand and salvaged parts. Beside the work bench is a drivetrain salvaged from a crashed electric car.
The workshop in Damien Maguire's home in north Cork is part mechanic’s garage, part mad scientist laboratory.Įlectrical instruments flicker in one corner.
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