This Electric Conversion Is The Original BMW Neue Klasse EV

• This BMW 1602 EV swap is over seven years old and is still used as a daily in London.
• It retains the four-speed gearbox, paired with an electric motor with characteristics similar to its original engine.
• If done today, this same conversion would have a number of advantages and improvements.

If there has ever been an EV conversion that retained much of the combustion car driving experience, it has to be this BMW 1602 (which BMW actually turned into an EV in 1972). From the outside, it looks like nothing has changed, and its builders wanted to keep the driving experience as close to the original by keeping the manual gearbox.

But it actually goes further than that. As Richard Morgan from Electric Classic Cars, who converted this BMW around seven years ago, explains, the motor was carefully chosen. They specifically searched for a motor with a similar torque delivery and rev range as the original combustion engine, making it a necessity to change gear when hitting the same redline as before.

Like all of these EV conversions that retain the original transmission, you can slot it into second or third, leave it there, and just drive it around like that. You won’t quite get the same acceleration as starting in first, but you also don’t have to shift up as the speed increases, making it a good compromise for daily driving.

However, in this BMW, if you want to have fun on a spirited drive, you can drive it pretty much exactly like you would a combustion car. They also intentionally left out soundproofing of the engine bay where the motor is located, so its sound does come through into the cabin telling you when to shift gear.

This looks like such a fun car to drive, and what’s best about it is that it doesn’t need to simulate anything. The sound that you hear is from the actual motor, and you need to shift gears because the power tapers off above 6,000 rpm.

It’s not overly powerful either, like many of these EV swaps end up being, since the new electric motor only has around 120 horsepower. That’s plenty for a car that isn’t much heavier, even with the 40 kilowatt-hour battery pack that’s split into two packs (one under the hood and one in the trunk) for weight distribution.

The fact that the owner still uses this car to drive around London after all these years, and it’s his only car, is proof of the viability of conversions like this one. EV conversions have improved in the meantime, too. For instance, this BMW doesn’t have fast-charging, and Richard estimates a more modern, higher-density battery pack would raise the battery capacity from the car’s current 40 kilowatt-hours to around 50 kWh, raising its range from 150 to around 170 miles on one charge.

This same car was also featured on Jonny Smith’s The Late Brake Show a few years ago, and you get an even more detailed picture of what went into creating it and what it’s like to live with, since that video also features the owner. He seems very happy with his classic EV, and we can certainly see why.