Jaguar E-Type Electric Conversion Kit Will Make Purists Weep

A UK-based company called Electrogenic has revealed a "drop-in" kit to transform the stunning Jaguar E-Type into an electric vehicle. The battery pack under the hood uses the same engine mounts as the E-Type's engine, so swapping back to dinosaur juice should be easy enough.

The XKE (or E-Type) is the classic precursor to the modern-day Jaguar F-Type, which will end its production run later this year. Enzo Ferrari reportedly called the E-Type the most beautiful car in the world, but they're notoriously unreliable. That's where Electrogenic comes in.

The Electrogenic Drop-In kit is a reversible EV powertrain that will be far more trustworthy than the original inline-six and V12 engines. A single electric motor delivers a modest 160 horsepower (about 100 less than the original) but a hefty 460 lb-ft of torque. Thanks to all that torque, the electric E-Type is quicker in a straight line. It gets to 60 mph in less than six seconds, while the OG straight-six needed 6.4 seconds to do the same.

Buyers can pair the car with either an E43, E48, or E63 battery, named after the kWh each pack provides.

The smallest battery can go 150 miles, the middle pack provides around 160 miles of range, and the largest will travel over 200 miles on a charge. Electrogenic creates the E63 variant by putting batteries behind the back seat to keep weight distribution the same as on the gas-powered model.

The cars will charge 6.6 kW on a home charger, but the fast-charging rate has yet to be specified. We don't see owners of this particular conversion using anything but home charging because this is very much a Sunday vehicle you take out for a drive without a destination in mind.

Electrogenic managed to keep the battery weight down, meaning the E43 and E48 models are actually lighter than an original E-Type. Even the top E63 model weighs the same as the gasoline version. A similar conversion is also available for the Land Rover Defender, the G-Body, and the 964-generation Porsche 911.