Yokohama-based EV Conversion shop OZ Motors is the mastermind behind this Classic Nissan Cedric EV…as in an electric vehicle.
This fellow in Japan got quite the surprise when he spotted a classic Japanese big body sedan, a Nissan Cedric, topping off its batteries at an EV charging station. You’d expect to see a Tesla, Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi iMiev, or perhaps a plug-in hybrid of some kind, a fairly new electric car, charging up at an EV charging post, but a classic car? What kind of wizardry is going on here?
Check out his tweet with all the lovely photos below.
！！！？ 旧車セドリックのEVとか理解が追い付かない…(しゅごい 横浜のOZモーターズというショップの車輌だそうです。 pic.twitter.com/qM8ZZI2TNj
— 剣潭 (@kenta_n) August 23, 2019
I couldn’t narrow down the year but this Cedric is most definitely a second-gen 130 sedan of some sort.
Details are few and far between but presumably this Twitter user asked and relayed info that the aforementioned OZ Motors is responsible for the EV Conversion.
OZ Motors is known around Japan for selling vintage VW Beetles complete with EV running gear underneath in the neighborhood of $25,000-$30,000, Beetle shell included.
Looking around their website (linked above) they do offer EV Conversions for classic cars and complete EV running gear packages if you want to do all the work yourself.
Since those VW Beetles come with 12 kWh and 24 kWh battery packs, I’m going to assume ranges for those EV Beetles hovers between 40-80 miles respectively.
The internet says a Nissan Cedric weighs about 2,800 pounds. With an EV conversion, I’m willing to bet that Classic Cedric, now with EV running gear, is a tad over 3,000 pounds, a lightweight as far as EV cars go.
Nissan stuffed 4, 6, and 8 cylinder engines in those classic Cedrics but the most powerful Cedric that civilians could buy packed a 2.4L inline-6 good for around 130 HP.
I’m guessing this Cedric EV is just a tad faster at peak power, its owner probably enjoying all that low-down electric torque.
It warms my heart to see these older cars still running around Japan, now with modern electric running gear underneath.
I hope this trend catches on in the United States. Rising gas prices and the CO stigma attached to traditional ICE engines doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy classics like our beloved Detroit Muscle.
We’ll just have to adapt and get some electric muscle under the hood like they’re doing in Japan.
