air-cooled VW Buses & Classic cars

Electric conversions for YOUR AIR-COOLED VW bus and classic cars

About Our Electric Conversions Business

What began as an R&D project a few years back is now a functioning business. We are converting all VW vehicles—Beetles, Bugs, Ghias, and our beloved Buses. Have a VW Thing? We’ll do that, too. We offer various motor/battery configurations and get you a range from 70 to over 150 miles. We are actively developing a Vanagon solution that will exceed 200 miles. We are very excited about this and are taking reservations now!

Peace Vans Electric originally began as an Art Car creation for the Burning Man Festival and has now become a much sought-after project for many Volkswagen owners. Going electric has numerous benefits, including less periodic maintenance, flexibility, and efficiency. And, to be honest, it’s a ton of fun. We are 3 years into making production EV Conversions and they are just more and more fun.

Check out our featured projects

Marine Layer bus

In 2024 we converted the much loved “Da Bus” from well known, San Francisco clothing brand Marine Layer. We collaborated with their leadership team to create an iconic marketing piece for them and keep alive part of their founding story. The bus lives with one of their founder and is his daily driver from Marin County into San Francisco. “Da Bus” sports a 45kwh battery pack mated to a Hyper 9 motor delivering an amazing driving experience and close to 150 miles of range

1978 Air-Cooled VW BUS

Mike came to us with his 77 Westy and a dream to make it electric. As a well established sculptor and a passionate defender of the environment, Mike wanted a vehicle that matched his ethos. We were able to fit a 53kwh battery pack and a Hyper 9 motor which lets Mike get close to 150 miles of range.

1977 Westfalia camper

1971 Doka (double cab)

FAQ

  • We are actively working on an e-vanagon. However, while it is very possible from a technical standpoint, it’s very costly and there are still some issues to work out. We hope to have something to chat about in late 2025

  • For years, hobbyists have been converting classic cars to electric. But only recently has it really become a practical undertaking - decent range, great telemetry, recharging infrastructure, safe batteries, etc. A few years ago, Peace Vans began tinkering with some electric conversions, and in the past year, we decided to make a “full go” of it and build a team, dedicated real estate, invest in R&D, etc. to create the best place in the PNW to convert your classic car to electric.

  • Our standard package is $49,995. This includes removing all internal combustion components and installing the electric power plant, batteries, etc. This does not include additional mechanical work required. This price is for our entry-level battery package, which will range between 70-90 miles depending on vehicle type, etc. More $ will get you more range

  • Projects typically take 3-4 months from start to finish.

  • Sadly, no. Body and paint work will extend the project significantly and add much to the total cost. The first step we will take is inspecting the vehicle to understand any additional work that needs to happen (e.g., brakes, electrical, suspension). From there, we can make a master plan for you.

  • The range will vary greatly depending on the vehicle and battery pack (which is a proxy for cost). The most basic conversions on the heaviest vehicles will be about 60-70 miles. The more expensive (more batteries) on lighter vehicles could see as high as 160 miles. We realize even 160 miles isn’t realistic for road trips—most folks interested in these conversions are not using their vehicles for long road trips. If you need>200 miles, it will be a bit longer of a wait as batteries evolve a bit more.

  • To get more information, fill out the form below.

  • We passionately believe that converting classic cars is a fun & interesting project; we fully expect to be converting other classic cars in the future.

    We intend to scale this out more in 2024. We will let the market help us determine what platform is next.

  • No. There’s a large after-market ecosystem for these parts, and we leverage that. We do use Tesla modules but we buy them from trusted suppliers and test them fully before using them

  • Yes! You’re welcome to come down and test-drive on of our conversions. We also rent the electric 1977 VW Bus we call Frieda for events and other special occasions (e.g. photo shoots)

electric conversions for classic cars

Owned by Peace Vans and available to rent for day trips around Seattle, Frieda was one of our first EV conversions. She’s had a 53 kwh battery pack and now has a smaller 31 Kwh pack tucked neatly away in the her innards. Come by for a test drive some day!

Peter has owned “Freddie” for almost 25 years and uses it almost daily on his farm as an actual work truck. After undergoing a full restoration about 10 years ago, Peter wanted to take Freddie to the next level and convert him to electric. The Doka platform allowed us to fit a 63Kwh battery pack neatly tucked under the rear seat and extending into the “treasure chest”. Peter easily gets 150 miles on a charge and still used Freddie every day.