Vintage Beetles, now with electric motors!
The classic Beetle goes electric. Photograph by Justin Carrasquillo

The classic Beetle goes electric. Photograph by Justin Carrasquillo

Think of Zelectric Motors as a genius mash-up of The Six Million Dollar Man and The Love Bug. (“We can rebuild it. We can make it better than it was.”)

The San Diego company takes vintage VWs—not just Beetles but also Things, FastbacksKarmann Ghias, and even Microbuses—and turns them into electric vehicles. You won’t be using yours for the great American road trip—it’ll have the same range, 80 miles or so, as today’s Nissan Leaf (though rumors are swirling that the little Leaf will be getting a big range upgrade)—but you’ll have the cutest little around-town car going. And given that the original motors were … well, underpowered is putting it kindly, the conversion actually improves the cars’ performance. “At night,” says Zelectric Motors cofounder David Benardo, “I just plug mine into the outlet my garage door opener uses.” From $64,000.

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