Wednesday, October 9, 2024
Electric VehiclesLatestNews

Electrogenic electrifies classic Mini for London tour company smallcarBIGCITY

Electrogenic has partnered with smallcarBIGCITY to convert its fleet of Minis to run on zero emission, all-electric power.

Electrogenic takes beautiful classic cars and sympathetically converts them to electric power using its proprietary EV technology. With a full collection of classic Minis soon to follow, their initial conversion, ‘Rosie’, is intended to become the first ever 100% electric, converted classic Private Hire Vehicle in London. The next step in this journey is TFL compliance testing, before carrying members of the public.

As with all Electrogenic conversions, the Mini is tailor-made to smallcarBIGCITY’s exact specifications. The Mini’s original 51 bhp petrol engine has been replaced with a zero-emission Hyper 9 electric motor which is coupled with a 5-speed gearbox and is permanently restricted to mimic the power of the original engine, as part of TFL’s compliance requirements.

For other customers, these restrictions are not necessary and the performance of the Electrogenic Mini conversion is significantly increased compared to the original car.

This conversion has a 21 kWh battery, giving a range of 80-100 miles, minimising the build costs to match smallcarBIGCITY’s tour requirements and also maximising luggage space.

Electrogenic has battery options that can more than double this range.

The iconic classic Mini design is visually unchanged inside and out, with the original dashboard beautifully restored, with a repurposed fuel gauge showing the battery state of charge.

A polished aluminium charging port replaces the original fuel filler cap. The manual gearbox gives the expert tour driver the option to fully recreate the classic Mini driving experience, or keep it in a single gear for easier urban driving.

Steve Drummond, Director and Co-Founder of Electrogenic, said: “All our conversions are bespoke and this classic Mini is no different. It’s a small car, so fitting in the batteries and the Hyper 9 motor was all about using space efficiently and optimising weight distribution to maintain the Mini’s famous driving characteristics. I’m also really pleased that we were able to deliver smallcarBIGCITY a vehicle that they can drive as an ‘automatic’ around town, but with the gears on the open road. It could be the perfect car for London!”

Ian Newstead, Director and Co-Founder of Electrogenic, said: “We love the challenge of converting beautiful classic cars with technology that means they will be able to continue to be used guilt-free, even in our cities, for years to come. That’s our entire reason for being, so this partnership with smallcarBIGCITY is a real labour of love for us. The company has done an incredible job of beautifully restoring its classic Minis and it’s truly a pleasure for us to help keep this incredible car’s legacy alive for the 21st century via their zero-emissions driving tours.”

Robert Welch, Founder and CEO of smallcarBIGCITY, said: “The next decade is going to be critical in the fight to combat climate change and I firmly believe that everyone has a responsibility to play their part in the recovery. London is one of the most progressive and innovative cities in the world, leading the way in sustainable architecture, transport and green spaces.

“I was inspired by the Mayor’s commitment to improving air quality in the capital and wanted to take action in my own business. We’ve already been working for a number of years to offset the carbon we produce, but our aim is to actually be carbon negative by 2023 by converting the fleet to electric, and really focusing on sustainable tourism.”

Image: courtesy Electrogenic

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