My 2000 Jag XK8 is still running well in most aspects, and body is in great shape. But its trade-in value is only about $3 to 4 K. Is it worthwhile to convert it to an EV. I only need to have a range of 100 miles and can run on freeway. Isn’t that cool to have an EV Jaguar XK8? How much would you think I would need to pay to have it converted? Do you think it is worth doing it? Thanks.
Only you can make that decision. There are number of home-brew EV conversions running around the world. They are usually expensive and far from optimal both in travel miles and speed. A big, heavy car like and XK8 would require a lot of expensive batteries, a lot of re-engineering structure and of controls including the brakes. And depending on where you live, would need a series of inspections just to get it on the road.
If you are paying to HAVE it converted, I’d budget more than the cost of a new Chevy Bolt EV that can travel 300 miles on a charge at highway speeds and isn’t 18 years old.
1 Like
Thanks for your discussions. Some added information:
I live in the weather perfect Palo Alto, CA. I can have the top down for most of the year. Honestly, if I can HAVE it done for $30,000, I would think I will have a VERY cool car to drive around in the Bay Area.
Seems like you already made that decision! 
I’m not sure $30K is going to get the job done paying California labor rates. You want a shop that have done conversions before and you want to talk to those customers and even drive their cars if they will let you.
You may have an issue with smog inspection, not sure. Yes it would be an EV, but silly little Cali inspection trolls may have an issue with not being able to connect to your OBD2 port.
I would budget at least $100k
and passing CA inspection may be difficult to almost impossible.
“Worth it”? In any $$ sense of the phrase, no possible way. If you want an expensive hobby (there are plenty of those), sure.
Contact the Cali DMV and ask them what the ramifications of this conversion would be. You might also look on line and see if there are any conversion shops in the SF Bay Area. If there are shops, they will know how to steer clear of DMV problems. If there aren’t any conversions shops nearby, it may mean you can’t do it in California.
Wheeler Dealer updated the EV conversion on a Maserati Biturbo:
EV West supplied the parts, they’re outside of San Diego, they could probably help:
http://www.evwest.com/catalog/index.php?osCsid=q4garlhmita9cp6mi4oaorb4p3
Yeah I had the figure of $100,000 in my head too, but 100-200. Better to buy a new electric something and take the Jag body off and put it on the new chassis. If gas hits $5 or $10 a gallon, think of the savings. Of course then you gotta worry about the power grid staying up.
It would be wise to contact a bar referee BEFORE doing anything