Ashlee VanceNYT Best Seller | Reporter at Bloomberg Businessweek

Turning Classic Cars Into Electric Chimeras #classiccars #cars #electricvehicle #tesla #automotive

12 Jun 2026 · 1 min

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In this segment Ashlee Vance (Speaker A) introduces the ongoing work of Mark, a specialist who has spent nearly a decade converting classic cars from internal‑combustion powertrains to fully electric drivetrains. The focus is on a 1968 Lotus Esprit Series 1 that originally housed a modern Ford V8. The conversion process begins with removing the V8, then employing 3‑D scanning of the chassis and body to design a custom battery pack that can fit within the space constraints of a car that was never built with electric propulsion in mind. Vance also highlights the car’s cultural cachet – it’s the iconic Lotus driven by James Bond – and shares a personal, nostalgic connection, describing the vehicle as a “heart‑breaker” and a “don’t‑meet‑your‑heroes” moment from his own high‑school days. The narrative blends technical conversion steps with storytelling about automotive heritage and personal sentiment.

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For almost a decade now, Mark has been transforming classic cars with their internal combustion engines into all-electric dynamos. This particular car had a modern Ford V8, so we pull that out, and that's kind of the first step. And really what we're going to then do is we go in and we 3D scan everything. You know, in 1968, they were not thinking about how to fit a giant battery pack in these things, right? So this, it's a Lotus Esprit. It's a Series 1. It's the same car that James Bond, you know, drove. Alone at last. It's just one of those heartbreaker cars. You know, this is one I had on my locker, you know, all through high school. It is a bit of a don't meet your heroes kind of car.