Name: Most people shouldnt convert their gas car to electric. Here’s why
Uploaded: 2025-11-07T00:35:48.108Z
Duration: 1 min 55 s
Description: Most gas-to-electric car conversions are too expensive for everyday drivers, but for city fleets, they might be the smartest shortcut to cutting emissions fast. CBC’s Johanna Wagstaffe looks at how retrofitting garbage trucks and work vehicles could help bridge the gap to a cleaner future.

Most gas-to-electric car conversions are too expensive for everyday drivers, but for city fleets, they might be the smartest shortcut to cutting emissions fast. CBC’s Johanna Wagstaffe looks at how retrofitting garbage trucks and work vehicles could help bridge the gap to a cleaner future.

Saskatchewan

Converting old gasoline cars to electric vehicles is technically feasible, but the high costs and limited emissions savings mean it is not a practical solution for most people. Retrofitting a car can cost between $20,000 and $100,000, often exceeding the price of buying a used or new electric vehicle.

While classic car enthusiasts and city fleets may benefit from conversions, especially for vehicles that are not yet available as EVs, the process remains a boutique business in North America. For municipalities with large fleets of high-emission vehicles, conversions offer a practical way to help meet climate targets.

Most people shouldn't convert their gas car to electric. Here’s why

If we can convert old gas cars into electric ones, and we can, why isn't everyone doing it? Sounds like the perfect climate solution. Reuse the frame, swap the engine, save the planet. But here's the thing. The total emissions savings is not as big as you might think. You're still manufacturing new batteries and wiring, and a full retrofit can cost anywhere from $20,000 to $100,000. That's more than most secondhand and even new EVs cost. So who should convert? Well, if you're a classic car enthusiast and you've got to replace your engine, it might actually make sense. That's where a lot of the conversion community started. And overseas in Europe and China, conversions there are cheaper and easier thanks to looser regulations and smaller cars. Here, it's still a boutique business. But there is one place where conversions actually make a lot of sense. City fleets. Really what's holding us back is being able to get the fleet. But we have changed a lot of our light vehicle fleets. The challenge is going to be the trucks that we have. The garbage trucks, the fire trucks, everything else. Every major Canadian city is racing to meet their climate targets with deadlines coming fast. And one of the easiest ways to slash emissions is focusing on the vehicles burning the most fuel, driving the same routes every day. That's where companies like Blue Force come in, designing custom electric kits for existing work vehicles that don't exist as EVs yet. Majority of the clients that we have been focused on have been the municipalities and the fleet-based organizations. They tend to have the bigger mass of the similar types of the vehicles. So it allows for that technology to be very well developed and enhanced and replicated throughout the rest of their fleets. So no, we probably shouldn't convert every car on the road. But for fleets of large, high-emission vehicles in urban centres, conversions are a practical bridge for cities to reach their climate targets.

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