ELECTROGENIC MINI COOPER

TESTED 18.3.22, BICESTER HERITAGE ON SALE NOW | What could be better for modern urban motoring than an electrified classic Mini?

- ILLYA VERPRAET

The reasoning behind electrified classic cars is that many owners don't actually care all that much for manual gearboxes and temperamental carburettors, and converting them to electric power makes them more usable. Anyway, if there's one thing we can agree on, it's surely that seeing more classic cars out and about is a good thing.

It would be a shame to rip out a naturally aspirated V12 and turn it into a coffee table, but the BMC A-series engine in the original Mini? That was always just a tool for a job.

If any EV-converted classic is going to work, it might well be this Mini Cooper from Electrogenic. All of the Oxfordshire firm's work is bespoke, but this is about as off-the-shelf as it gets. In fact, the car I'm driving here belongs to a company called Smallcarbigcity, which runs tours of London in classic Minis and plans to convert its entire fleet to electric.

Conversions start at £32,000 plus a donor car- and that's assuming it needs no other suspension or body work. It's a good thing that Minis aren't known for rusting, then...

For that money, you get 21kWh of Tesla Model S battery cells taking the place of the engine and fuel tank and enabling a range of 80-100 miles.