Electric Classic Cars Is Upgrading The Quintessential Game Safari Vehicle With An Electric Powertrain

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The crew over at Electric Classic Cars has been doing bespoke electric conversions and recently started building ready-to-install conversion kits for a range of classic cars. They do all of this out of their workshop in Newtown, Wales, in the UK for a decade now.

Their creations have traversed several continents, climbing mountainous terrain, and taking down the combustion competition on the drag strip but their latest project is taking them in a completely new direction.

Inspiration

After a trip to Africa, Electric Classic Cars’ co-founder Richard “Moggy” Morgan was inspired to build a custom electrification kit for the Land Rovers used as game safari vehicles. He loved the safari experience but envisioned a future where the loud diesel engines powering them was upgraded with an electric powertrain, allowing guests to crawl across the savannah in a nearly silent electric safari truck.

I sat down with Richard and Tim from Electric Classic Cars while they were in California and he opened up about this new project to me. Moggy is a passionate man who lets his ideas and energy flow out. When he started talking about electrifying game viewers, he perked up in his seat and it was evident he was really excited about the opportunity.

These game viewers have been used for decades and have demonstrated their utility with three rows of passenger seating behind the driver serving as the primary source of income generation. It’s the quintessential Safari experience that so many people around the world are looking for, though if you’d ask, none would have the loud diesel engine on their list of highlights. At least not in a positive way.

The vision was simple: making affordable kit at a high volume that will allow these safari operators to upgrade the experience and transform their safari experience. Driving through a wildlife preserve in an electric vehicle feels a lot more like riding around the range on horseback. Imagine silently gliding through the savannah, almost sneaking up the animals you’re desperately wanting to see on your trip.

Upon returning home he put pen to paper, mapping out not just a custom electric conversion kit, but one that could be affordable in higher volumes for the masses of Land Rovers running around Africa.

Solar-Powered

As they built out the concept, the idea of powering the vehicle from the sun surfaced as a possibility. Game viewers typically have three rows of seats with cover overhead to keep them out of the blazing sun. Why not use solar panels as the overhead covering and use those to recharge the battery?

It seemed like a viable option to allow safari operators to self-generate most of the range they need in a day. To accomplish this they started working on a custom DC to DC charger.

Overall

All told, they truly hope to transform the safari industry. They’re shooting for something far larger than just transforming a single game reserve. They’re hoping to build a solution that can be adopted in high volumes at an affordable price with an attractive value proposition.

They have already created an initial variant of the kit, which they’re now working to optimize and scale. With the current variant of the kit, they were able to install it in one hour though it will likely take longer than that for most people on their first time.

It’s an extremely exciting project and one we will be keeping an eye on as they work to finalize the kit and ramp up both sales and production. I for one would love for my first safari to be one in a converted electric Land Rover.

Check out their video below to see their first kit for safari game viewers. For more information about Electric Classic Cars, follow them on X, check out their impressive YouTube channel, or head to their website.

All images courtesy Electric Classic Cars via X.