What is an E56? 

It’s our non-invasive Direct-drive Electric Vehicle conversion kit for your original Porsche 356, from Pre-A, through A, B, and C. Cabriolet, Couple, Speedster, Convertible ‘D’, or any other variants. It bolts right in and can be reversed, with no modifications to the original car. The car remains a 356, but with Electric power, hence the name e-56. 

The unit comprises a rear power module plus a front battery in place of the fuel tank. It also replaces the gearbox – crucial as the added torque of an EV motor can pose a serious risk to this sensitive part of your car. 

The setup is respectful to the character of the original – it adds no more weight – unheard of in an EV conversion. We also tune the performance to respect the car, to match its original envelope. 
 

Why an EV 356? 

The Porsche 356 has always been in my blood, and I have been surrounded by them all my life. It was thus a natural choice for my product.  

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The electrification of classic cars is now a booming industry, and for good reason: as cities and countries move towards a zero-carbon future, the Internal combustion engine is being replaced, mostly by new, faceless EV cars. The electrification of old classics allows enthusiasts of ‘real’ cars to be able to continue to drive with character as this inevitable and critical transition to Electric cars continues. 

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What was your ‘brief’ ?

Many Porsche 356’s have already been electrified, by simply attaching an Electric motor to the existing gearbox bell housing, thus keeping the clutch and gears. I wanted to do things differently and better, using direct drive, lowering weight, simplifying, and removing all the less reliable and sensitive components of the Internal Combustion drive system – engine, clutch and gearbox. 

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What does non-invasive mean? 

Non-invasive means zero changes to the vehicle being converted – components can be removed, but not altered. No holes can be drilled nor brackets welded on. Essentially the car should be able to be put back together again in its original IC form. 

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Why non-invasive? 

Classic cars are valued for their originality. Our process harms none of this: we are simply retiring the polluting and unreliable IC components, allowing them to be stored. As a result. the car’s provenance can be maintained, and if needs be, returned exactly to its original state, by reinstalling the IC components’ 

 

Why direct drive and not gearbox like everyone else? 

Removing all the IC components reduces weight and complexity. Reducing weight allows the adverse heavy batteries to be offset, and thus for the car to retain its light and nimble character. 

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Also, the gearbox is arguably as valuable and delicate as the IC engine, and thus removing it from the car is essential to preserve the car’s value and originality, especially since the box was never designed to transmit the very high torques available in EV systems. Certainly the 356 clutch is not up to the task. Direct drive removes all these, simplifying and retaining the driver’s experience 

 

What were the challenges? 

The fundamental challenge with this conversion is the direct drive – as removing the gearbox disrupts the swingarm rear suspension, which is carried on the gearbox. 

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This required the development of a whole new rear suspension system, which also had to be non-invasive, and utilize the existing mounting points. 

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Related to this, the very small size of the car was a challenge for packaging. Luckily, addressing the suspension issue allowed more space as the EV drive system could be crammed into where the gearbox used to be, so solving the one unlocked the other. 

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The other target was to maintain the same or similar weight distribution, which we have managed to do, again unlocked by the packaging of the rear unit around our tiny direct drive motor and gearbox.  

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We have opted for a smaller (33kWh) battery and fast charging, but with the curb weight unchanged from the IC car, and with a rearward weight bias. Careful tuning of the power curve gives a car that matches the original – not over powered, but nimble and light. Not a tyre shredding EV monster as seems to be the current EV trend. Low weight and lowered power also gives increased range from smaller batteries. 

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So, attacking the hard problem of the suspension has allowed this all to come about, which would not have been possible with a simple on-gearbox conversion 

 

How have you overcome these challenges? 

With any classic car, there are no technical drawings or blueprints, so it is always a challenge to design new parts that perfectly fit the old. With the 356, things are even harder as there is no straight line or flat surface on the beautiful monocoque  

 

We have extensively used techniques such as 3D scanning (we own our own scanner), rapid prototyping via additive manufacturing, and other novel low volume fabrication techniques, which allow is to cost effectively and accurately make subsystems that can bolt into a vehicle without fettling 

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The glue that holds all our work together is on-line design and manufacturing systems, that allows our small but geographically distributed team to work as one from around the globe. 

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How long has it taken? 

The original concept car took us 12 months from concept to a running prototype, and was completed under Covid lockdown in South Africa. This made the way clear for a more mature pre-production build, which we have just completed in under a year. 

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Now the real work starts, of validating our design before we make it more widely available. 

 

When will the E56 be available? 

Our pre-production version is now ready to start extensive testing. This will comprise both cold and hot weather testing in Australia, Southern Africa and Europe, with a small set of prototypes operating in donor cars on each continent. 

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We want it to be right, reliable, safe and dynamically sound, unlike many of the more basic hobby conversions that are around. When we ship, we require that the unit be supported wherever in the world it may be, and this takes a lot more effort than merely assembling a set of components. It will be ready when it is ready. 

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We estimate we will be able to start fulfilling orders within 9 -12 months, but this will be subject to successful testing and identified improvements having been made