EcoWatch
Facebook 573k Twitter 238k Instagram 37k Subscribe Subscribe
  • Climate
  • Energy
  • Policy
  • Renewables
  • Culture
  • Science
  • Go Solar Today
      • Top Companies By State
        • California Solar Companies
        • Texas Solar Companies
        • New York Solar Companies
        • Florida Solar Companies
        • See All States
      • Top Incentives By State
        • California Solar Incentives
        • Texas Solar Incentives
        • New York Solar Incentives
        • Florida Solar Incentives
        • See All States
      • Solar Panel Costs By State
        • Solar Panel Costs in California
        • Solar Panel Costs in Texas
        • Solar Panel Costs in New York
        • Solar Panel Costs in Florida
        • See All States
      • Value of Solar by State
        • Is Solar Worth It In California?
        • Is Solar Worth It in Texas?
        • Is Solar Worth It New York?
        • Is Solar Worth It In Florida?
        • See All States
      • Company Reviews
        • Tesla Solar Review
        • Sunrun Solar Review
        • SunPower Solar Review
        • Vivint Solar Review
        • See All Companies
      • Common Solar Questions
        • Can You Get Free Solar Panels?
        • Does Solar Increase Home Value?
        • What’re The Best Solar Batteries?
        • Can You Finance Solar?
        • Where To Buy Solar Panels?
        • Payback On Solar Panels?
      • Solar Resources
        • Interactive Solar Calculator
        • Federal Solar Tax Credit 2023
        • Best Solar Panels For Most Homes
        • Tesla Solar Roof Review
        • Cheapest Solar Panels
      • Companies Compared
        • SunPower vs Tesla Solar
        • SunRun vs Tesla Solar
        • SunRun vs SunPower
        • SunPower vs Momentum Solar
        • SunPower vs ADT Solar
EcoWatch
  • Climate
  • Energy
  • Policy
  • Renewables
  • Culture
  • Science
  • Go Solar Today
    • Go Solar Today
    • Top Companies By State
      • California Solar Companies
      • Texas Solar Companies
      • New York Solar Companies
      • Florida Solar Companies
      • See All States
    • Top Incentives By State
      • California Solar Incentives
      • Texas Solar Incentives
      • New York Solar Incentives
      • Florida Solar Incentives
      • See All States
    • Solar Panel Costs By State
      • Solar Panel Costs in California
      • Solar Panel Costs in Texas
      • Solar Panel Costs in New York
      • Solar Panel Costs in Florida
      • See All States
    • Value of Solar by State
      • Is Solar Worth It In California?
      • Is Solar Worth It in Texas?
      • Is Solar Worth It New York?
      • Is Solar Worth It In Florida?
      • See All States
    • Company Reviews
      • Tesla Solar Review
      • Sunrun Solar Review
      • SunPower Solar Review
      • Vivint Solar Review
      • See All Companies
    • Common Solar Questions
      • Can You Get Free Solar Panels?
      • Does Solar Increase Home Value?
      • What’re The Best Solar Batteries?
      • Can You Finance Solar?
      • Where To Buy Solar Panels?
      • Payback On Solar Panels?
    • Solar Resources
      • Interactive Solar Calculator
      • Federal Solar Tax Credit 2023
      • Best Solar Panels For Most Homes
      • Tesla Solar Roof Review
      • Cheapest Solar Panels
    • Companies Compared
      • SunPower vs Tesla Solar
      • SunRun vs Tesla Solar
      • SunRun vs SunPower
      • SunPower vs Momentum Solar
      • SunPower vs ADT Solar

The best of EcoWatch right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

    • About EcoWatch
    • Contact EcoWatch
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Learn About Solar Energy
    Facebook 573k Twitter 238k Instagram 37k
    EcoWatch
    • About EcoWatch
    • Contact EcoWatch
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Learn About Solar Energy
    Facebook 573k Twitter 238k Instagram 37k
    Home Climate

    Could Conventional Cars Be Converted to EVs to Fight Climate Change?

    By: Olivia Rosane
    Updated: February 19, 2023
    Edited by Irma Omerhodzic
    Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon
    Electric Cars Charging
    Richard Newstead / Moment / Getty Images
    Why you can trust us

    Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental newspaper, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality, science-based content on environmental issues, causes, and solutions.

    Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon

    As the world transitions to electric vehicles (EVs), what should happen to all the gas guzzlers that will remain on the roads?

    This is an important question because even if the U.S. achieves President Joe Biden’s goal of 50 percent new EV car sales by 2030, many people will still be driving their older fossil fuel-powered rides.

    “This is something that’s not being talked about enough,” EVAdoption CEO Loren McDonald said, as The Guardian reported. “We’re buying more new gas-powered vehicles each year than we are electric. So the supply of gas car vehicles keeps rising … and people are holding on to their vehicles longer.”

    One potential solution to this problem is to convert conventional vehicles into EVs. In theory, it’s a simple process, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). 

    “Although uncommon, a vehicle with an internal combustion engine can be converted to an all-electric vehicle by completely removing the engine and adding a battery pack, one or more electric motors, high-voltage cables, and instrumentation,” the DOE explained, adding that it’s important to make sure that the converted car both has the space for and can support the weight of the new battery and motors while still meeting emissions and crash-safety standards. 

    However, in practice EV conversions are pricey and therefore out of reach for many, as The Guardian noted. 

    Learn About These Solar Options From EcoWatch
    • Should You Get a Solar Carport?
    • The Best Solar Panels for RVs and Campervans
    • Here are the Best Solar Panels for Boats

    For example, the San-Diego-based conversion company Zelectric Motors said its conversions usually start at around $70,000, five thousand dollars more than the average cost of a new EV at $65,000. 

     “It’s not a $5,000 to $10,000 retrofit that’s going to save your old car,” the company’s CEO David Benardo said, as The Guardian reported.

    The reason is both the current cost of batteries and the fact that each car has different requirements, demanding specialized labor. The company mostly retrofits vintage Porsches and Volkswagens and only works on around six to eight conversions annually. 

    There was a potential sign of hope in January when Toyota debuted two green versions of its classic 1980s Corolla GT-S at the 2023 Tokyo Auto Salon, as KTSM 9 News reported at the time.

    “The reality is that we cannot achieve zero carbon emissions in 2050 simply by switching all new cars sales to EVs,” Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda said in a speech announcing the conversions. 

    However, Toyota further told The Guardian that the company did not have plans at the moment to convert its older models en masse.

    The two cars displayed at the show were converted differently. One, the AE86 BEV, was electrified using a Toyota Tundra hybrid pickup truck motor and a Prius Prime plug-in hybrid battery pack. The second, the AE86 H2, maintained the combustion engine but ran on hydrogen instead. 

    So-called clean fuels like hydrogen are the solution pushed by the Rhodium Group in a 2021 paper. Transportation is currently the U.S. sector that emits the most greenhouse gas emissions, and even the highest possible uptake of EVs won’t see it reaching net zero by 2050. Even if almost 90 percent of light-duty vehicle sales are electric by 2035, transportation would still emit 525 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The report argued that the remaining emissions could be cut by switching to decarbonized fuels such as biofuels, electrofuels, or fossil fuels that are successfully offset. Another solution? Making travel more efficient.

    “The most direct way to reduce emissions from transportation is to move people and goods more efficiently—either by improving the fuel economy of cars, trucks, buses, ships and airplanes, or reducing how many miles those vehicles need to move people or goods,” the report authors wrote. 

    Finally, instead of converting private fossil fuel cars to EVs or running them on alternative fuels, we can move away from a one-person-one-car transportation model altogether. C40 Cities Executive Director Mark Watts said that one of the most important things urban leaders could do to tackle the climate crisis was to prioritize pedestrians and cyclists in design over private motor vehicles. 

    “A global shift away from cars to more active forms of travel is exactly what the world needs right now,” he said. “Replacing a trip by car with active travel is a highly effective way to cut emissions quickly.”

    Subscribe to get exclusive updates in our daily newsletter!

      By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from EcoWatch Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.

      Olivia Rosane

      Olivia Rosane is a freelance writer and reporter with a decade’s worth of experience. She has been contributing to EcoWatch daily since 2018 and has also covered environmental themes for Treehugger, The Trouble, YES! Magazine and Real Life. She holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Cambridge and a master’s in Art and Politics from Goldsmiths, University of London.
      Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon

      Read More

      Biden Asserts Pension Fund Managers Can Consider ESG Factors, With First Veto
      President Joe Biden used his veto power on Monday for
      By Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
      Battery Data Genome: A Path to a Brighter Renewable Battery Future
      The Battery Data Genome (BDG) project aims to compile as
      By Craig Thompson
      Feds Send Nevada $2.4 Million for Cloud Seeding
      Cloud seeding is a geoengineering technique that involves using planes
      By Climate Nexus

      Subscribe to get exclusive updates in our daily newsletter!

        By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from EcoWatch Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.

        Latest Articles

        • Biden Asserts Pension Fund Managers Can Consider ESG Factors, With First Veto
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          March 21, 2023
        • Mountain-Dwelling Species Losing Habitats Rapidly, Study Finds
          by Paige Bennett
          March 21, 2023
        • 400,000 Gallons of Contaminated Water Leaked From Minnesota Nuclear Plant
          by Olivia Rosane
          March 21, 2023
        • Battery Data Genome: A Path to a Brighter Renewable Battery Future
          by Craig Thompson
          March 21, 2023
        • Feds Send Nevada $2.4 Million for Cloud Seeding
          by Climate Nexus
          March 21, 2023
        • This Is the Make-or-Break Decade for Climate Action, IPCC Warns
          by Olivia Rosane
          March 20, 2023
        • EU Solar Companies Say New Plans to Boost Domestic Products Over Imports Would Hamper Solar Progress
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          March 20, 2023
        • Millions of Fish Dead in Australia River Following Low Oxygen Levels, High Temperatures
          by Paige Bennett
          March 20, 2023
        EcoWatch

        The best of EcoWatch right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

          • Climate Climate
          • Animals Animals
          • Health + Wellness Health + Wellness
          • Insights + Opinion Insights + Opinion
          • Adventure Adventure
          • Oceans Oceans
          • Business Business
          • Solar Solar
          • About EcoWatch
          • Contact EcoWatch
          • EcoWatch Reviews
          • Terms of Use
          • Privacy Policy
          • Learn About Solar Energy
          • Learn About Deregulated Energy
          • EcoWatch UK
          Follow Us
          Facebook 573k
          Twitter 238k
          Instagram 37k
          Subscribe Subscribe

          Experts for a healthier planet and life.

          Mentioned by:
          Learn more