A Sydney not-for-profit is planning a dedicated training centre to teach apprentices and qualified tradespeople how to convert classic cars to electric power, with a first intake targeted for February 2027.
Modern Classic Cars Foundation founder David Dyer told EV Central the centre would operate at Bankstown Aerodrome, beside the foundation’s existing restoration workshop. He hopes to establish similar centres in other states once the Sydney operation is running.
The project is still being developed. Dyer said funding has not yet been secured, so the February start remains a target rather than a confirmed opening date.
READ MORE: Sacre bleu! Retro Renault 17 Electric is proof the French brand is cooking up fast, fun and stylish EVs
READ MORE: The Pride of Kia! Forgettable 1990s Korean mini gets memorable electromod reinvention
READ MORE: Retro heaven: global explosion of electric classic cars
The centre is intended to address a problem Dyer says conversion businesses face: a qualified mechanic or auto electrician may know their trade, but converting an older car requires knowledge that crosses several disciplines.
The work involves fitting and integrating an electric motor, battery, charging equipment and controls into a vehicle designed around a petrol engine. It can also require changes to the car’s structure and other mechanical systems.
The person doing the work needs to understand the original vehicle as well as the electric components being installed.
“Current training for people in the automotive industry, mechanics, auto electricians, etc does not give a person the skills required for this process and that is what we aim to do,” Dyer told EV Central.
“We will take on both apprentices and trades people and give them the skills required so they can move on to companies in this field. It is not possible for the conversion industry to go without the people to do the work.”
The proposed centre would add a conversion focus to the foundation’s existing apprentice training. That work spans motor mechanics, auto electrical work, panel beating, painting, trimming and engine machining, with apprentices gaining experience on vehicles being maintained, restored and modified at its Bankstown workshop.
Dyer established the foundation partly because he believes skills needed to work on older vehicles are being lost as experienced tradespeople retire. Training someone to convert a classic car, in his view, requires passing on those older skills alongside knowledge of electric drivetrains.
The foundation has already put apprentices to work on an EV conversion. Its 1971 Morris Mini was stripped of its petrol drivetrain and rebuilt with an electric motor, battery and charging system. The project took two years, giving the team experience in adapting modern equipment to a car never designed to carry it.
That kind of project also illustrates why conversions remain a specialist activity. The work and cost depend heavily on the condition and design of the donor car and how extensively an owner wants it rebuilt.
Dyer previously told the ABC that a complete build of the standard of the foundation’s Mini, including extensive restoration and interior work, cost more than $200,000.
The training proposal is therefore aimed at building a workforce for a niche industry, rather than making conversions an inexpensive substitute for buying a new EV.
Dyer wants trainees to take their skills to businesses already operating in the field, while the foundation continues its broader work preserving and restoring specialist vehicles.
The post Searching for the next-generation of EV mechanics: Classic-car conversion training centre planned for Sydney appeared first on EV Central.
