A Commonground ReWilding Project
The Aim – is to look at the Possibilities, & Costs around Upgrading Vehicles….
…… to electric. So let us introduce you to our 1967 Citroen H Van who we call Holly. We have had it for a number of years and is a great volunteer for this upgrade project. We are not just adapting it to electric, we are also adapting the look of the vehicle as well, by converting it in to a flat bed truck, to improve the variability of uses of Holly. We want to get away from its modern usage as a crepe or food van and create something much more unique and usable.
The tech
The problem with converting petrol vehicles to electric is compatibility. To convert a old vehicle to electric can cost anywhere upwards of £30,000 and economically this is not viable (although electric cars these days are not cheap either.
The main problem is that old vehicles are built to take petrol based components. If you want to build an electric car from say someting like Holly then there needs to be a complete new rig and built designed and fitted. This is not cheap as its not just about fitting motor and battery the whole caboodle needs to be reconfigured from brakes, wiring and a whole host more.
The
The good thing is once you have create a particular rig for a particular vehicle, the rig then is easier and cheaper to fit once it has been created. Although a batteries are not cheap, an EV battery was around £87 per kWh in 2021. We are looking to create an 80kw system. In 2026, 80kWh EV battery replacement costs between £7,000 and £12,000 in the UK. If you are looking to purchase a used or salvaged 80kWh battery pack for alternative projects, the price generally ranges from £3,400 to £4,500.
As we have said its not cheap and that’s because of the costs of designing the rig. One area we are looking at – is used or salvaged battery as this fits in with our sustainable aspirations. Currently we are talking to a wide range of tech companies about the project.
Current Situation – talking to tech companies.
The Look
We want to get away from the crepe/gallette van look. Instead we are aiming to create a flatbed truck look like the van next to this text. From our research no one has ever created an iconic flat bed truck from a Citroen H van.
The plan is cut off the top down to the top of the bottom doors. The side panels will match the style of the H van. The sliding doors will also be cut down to match the high of the side panel. While the image (left) is rather neat and tidy the generally look will look different.
We are aiming to fit the internal sides of the van with recycled time sleepers and the top hatch from the back will be moved to behing the drivers cab. We are currently designing the look on Blender and once that it done an image will be used to replace the image (left) we are using here.
Current Situation – Being Designed on Blender.
Cost Of Retrofitting to Electric
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Current Situation – Negotiating with tech firms
Funding the Project.
Currently we are creating a budget for the project. Our aim is £30,000 for the complete refit and build. We don’t want to cut corners but there are ways we can act really Authentically sustainable in the way we do this. The rear build will be done in-house with the a team we have put together while the electric fit will be the most expensive part of the project.
We are looking to create a Crowdfunding page for the build. If you click the link of the Current Underlined Situation line you will find an out line about the Crowdfunding plane and additional ways we aim to fund the project
Current Situation – Learning how to set up a crowdfunding page.
Important Reason We are Doing This
The Van will be used promote what Commonground aims are in relation to our planetary and bio-diversity issues.
This will be the primary promotion to getting funding through our Crowdfunding plan and the other ideas we have.
