Retrofitting is the transformation of a conventional vehicle into an electric vehicle and this practice has become popular in Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands and France. Belgium is expected to be the next country to fully embrace retrofitting as new regulations outlawing combustion engine cars will come into force in the coming years.
It will soon no longer be allowed to sell these cars in Europe. Only electric vehicles will be available. But the EU faces a great challenge if it wants to supply the market by favouring European manufacturers and maintaining acceptable prices.
Retrofitting is one of the alternative ways to meet this demand. It is ecological since it saves functioning cars from being sent to the scrapyard and not too expensive since the transformation is, all in all, quite simple: remove the engine and the tank and replace them with an electric motor and a battery. The rest of the car or van hardly changes.
However, to transform the vehicle, it is necessary to obtain the agreement of the manufacturer or to absolve them of any responsibility. This is possible if, at the regional level, the government allows this and intervenes.
The federal government must also play its part and define the technical standards that will form the legal framework and allow approval. Until now, institutional stagnation has prevented this from happening.
Retrofitting is already possible in Belgium but it involves having the modified vehicle approved abroad and then passing a technical inspection in this country. It is currently a complicated, long and expensive procedure. But it will soon be simpler: the Federal Minister for Mobility, Georges Gilkinet, has announced that the necessary royal decree is ready. It still has to be presented to the EU and sent to the Council of State but if approved, it can be implemented in regional legislation.
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The price of retrofitting is significantly lower than that of a new electric car. It depends on the model to be electrified. But in France where operations on a few brands have been standardised, the price starts at 5000 euros for a city car. If we aim for more powerful or rarer models, or even old timers, the bill climbs up to 20,000 euros or more.
But, it is the assurance of zero CO2 emissions, zero loss of value (the retrofit is reversible), very few breakdowns and limited taxes which make the costs bearable – even if it means that the vehicle will have a reduced range or around 100 to 200 kilometre per charge, compared to a full tank of gas.
In Belgium, several players, specifically start-ups, are ready for the challenge. Some, such as Décarbone, are specialising in commercial vehicles; others like Emobe focus on classic cars or Green Propulsion, which retrofit old cars.
