Converting an ICE (internal combustion engine) car into an EV is not as straightforward as many YouTube videos might make you believe. Such projects do not only require a lot of time, patience, and technical knowledge but also a lot of money. In fact, buying a Porsche Taycan off the shelf might be a lot cheaper. Case in point, an engineer in Canada by the name of Vincent Yu was forced to sell his family to meet the monitory requirements of converting his Rolls-Royce Wraith into an EV. To make things worse, the ambitious project soured his relationship with his family with his wife and daughter moving out of the house.
According to a report by Global News, Vincent was inspired to take up the challenge of making an all-electric Rolls-Royce after his daughter, Gloria, was concerned with the damage to the environment caused by their gas-guzzling Rolls-Royce. She even refused to ride as a passenger in her father’s Wraith. That’s when the engineer decided to adopt environment-friendly mobility. However, instead of buying an EV, he thought of converting his Wraith into a zero-emissions luxury car to make his daughter proud of him.
Vincent embarked on this difficult journey 4 years ago and started working on the car with a small team of mechanics and technicians in his own garage. Vincent says he even had to travel to several countries like the USA, Japan, and Germany for sourcing car parts. The conversion cost became so high at one point in time that he had to part ways with his house. However, this story thankfully has a happy ending. Vincent was not only successful in converting the Rolls into an EV but his family also moved back with him. Talking to Richmond News, Yu said: “Many people think I’m nuts, hearing my idea of converting my gasoline car to an electric one. But I’m so used to people making fun of me. My head is always in the clouds.”
The technical details are limited but the electric Wraith is claimed to be powered by a powertrain and battery sourced from a Tesla EV. The performance figures are unknown but the owner says the electric Rolls-Royce has a range of 311 miles. Yu has also set up a company by the name of Mars Power Technology and plans on making similar conversions of luxury vehicles, classic cars, and trucks for paying customers.
