The Volkswagen T1 has an apparently unlimited expiration date. As with the Beetle, the trade in these vans is still very much alive and the many surviving copies are sometimes kept on the road for big money. This T1 ‘e-Bulli’ is completely ready for the coming decades.
As with the Volkswagen Beetle, you can expect the typical roll of a boxer engine with the T1 (and T2 and T3). Not with this e-Bulli. It passes almost silently with its unmistakable carriage. In the back is an 83 hp electric motor. A recognizable power for a VW electric motor? That can be right: this is the same power source that is also in the e-Up. The last photo clearly shows that it fits perfectly in the T1.
Volkswagen did not rebuild the car itself, this T1 Samba from 1966 was taken care of by the company eClassics. With the approval of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, however. eClassics now supplies complete conversions for T1’s, T2’s and T3’s complete chassis with this 83 hp or a 101 hp electric motor and a 35 kWh or 45 kWh battery pack. All drives and batteries are from Volkswagen. eClassics is also converting Beetles into electrically powered ones.
Performance
The T1 in question is therefore not a one-off exercise, but the first example of what can happen to more classic VW vans. This Samba came to eClassics after more than 50 years on the roads from California, has been completely restored and is now fully electric. It also makes a difference in performance; the bus now has a top speed of 130 km / h (25 km / h faster than before) and will undoubtedly reach that speed much sooner.
The maximum range is said to be around 200 kilometers. An empty battery is charged to 80 percent in 40 minutes with a 50 kW fast charger. Due to the new chassis, the car now also has independent suspension, coil springs, adjustable shock absorbers and disc brakes at the front and rear. That should of course also take driving behavior to a completely new level.
Cost
Well, classic VW vans have already become enormously expensive in the past ten / fifteen years, but this whole story, including conversion, costs a lot of money. At least € 64,900 is lost for the eClassics treatment. But how much you can add to it will probably also depend on the condition of the bus you want to have converted. If you want to cut costs, you can also buy individual components and do a (partial) conversion yourself. Incidentally, the whole story is also possible for the T2 and T3.