How a British EV restomod is built, and whether you can convert your classic to electric in India

The short answer first. You can legally run an electric conversion in India, but only using a propulsion kit that holds type approval from a test agency named in Rule 126 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, fitted by an installer the kit maker has authorised. The standard that covers full electric conversions, AIS-123 Part 3, applies to base vehicles manufactured on or after 1 January 1990. So the sort of car the British firms work on, a 1960s Jaguar or an early Range Rover Classic, sits outside the Indian route entirely. A one-off bespoke build is not what the rule contemplates.

What the British firms actually do

Everrati works from a donor car, and says it wants a straight, rust free vehicle with a clean title, bought and paid for on top of the conversion price. The engine comes out and in goes a new three phase AC motor, a new battery pack with its own management and temperature control, and a custom single speed gearbox. Regenerative braking is added, the dials are made to look original, and Everrati states that the conversion is reversible, which matters for anyone who thinks the petrol car will be worth more in 20 years.

Numbers are only published where the firm has fixed a specification. Its electric Porsche 911 (964) Signature is quoted at 500bhp and 500Nm, with a 62kWh pack and up to 200 miles of range, and sub four seconds to 60mph. Price is on application, plus taxes, plus the donor. Build time is confirmed at order and depends on the car and the spec.

Lunaz runs the same commission model on the Aston Martin DB series, the Jaguar XK and the Range Rover Classic, with coachbuilt Bentley and Rolls-Royce projects alongside. Charge Cars builds its electric 1967 Mustang fastback on an officially licensed shell. None of this is a kit you can order in a box. You are buying a single car, engineered around your choices, and the firm carries the engineering responsibility for it.

Why that does not translate to an Indian number plate

India's framework was written for volume, not for commissions. The Central Motor Vehicles (Seventh Amendment) Rules, 2016 set out retro-fitment through Rule 115D. Pure electric conversion has to meet AIS-123 Part 3: 2016. The kit maker or supplier holds the type approval certificate from a Rule 126 agency, that certificate is valid for three years, installation has to be done only by an installer the kit maker has authorised, and responsibility for the affected components shifts from the original carmaker to the kit maker. The base vehicle also has to be manufactured after the year of manufacture of the prototype converted vehicle that was tested.

Read that together and the position is clear. Approval attaches to a kit and a tested prototype pairing, so a workshop cannot certify your car on its own. ARAI is the agency issuing these approvals, and kit makers also need third party ISO 9000 certification before they are tested.

What an Indian conversion costs, and what it gets you

The retrofit business here is built around mass market cars. Folks Motor's xEV hybrid system, reported by Autocar Professional in July 2026, costs ₹4 lakh to ₹6 lakh on a car, ₹1.5 lakh to ₹2 lakh on a three wheeler or small commercial vehicle and ₹8 lakh to ₹10 lakh on a bus. It fits Maruti Suzuki petrol models from 1,000cc to 1,500cc with manual gearboxes, the engine stays in the car, turnaround is 1 to 3 days and the warranty is 2 years or 50,000km. The battery takes about a quarter of the boot.

One point matters for anyone in Delhi NCR. Only taking the engine out and going fully electric changes the fuel entry on the registration certificate, which is what buys relief from age based restrictions. A hybrid retrofit does not do that.

Sources

• Everrati, electric Porsche 911 (964)
• Everrati, electric Land Rover Defender
• Lunaz
• Central Motor Vehicles (Seventh Amendment) Rules, 2016
• EVreporter, Regulatory Framework for Retrofitting in India
• Autocar Professional, EV retrofitting and the cars India's EV plan leaves behind