Electric classic - what's not to love?

It’s been a while since we last had one of our interviews, so let us introduce you to Kit Lacey. Kit is the founder of eDub Trips, where you can hire a camper van - but not just any camper van, no, these classic VW Campers are 100% electric! You read that right, you can hire a completely green, 100% guilt-free, environmentally friendly classic camper van. How much fun does that sound? Let’s find out a little more about this brilliant company from Kit himself…

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Firstly, we’d really love to know what inspired eDub Trips?

A long car journey with my mum. I have always loved classic camper vans (who doesn't?!) and on a long car journey, our discussion turned to; "Could you put a battery pack and motor into a classic VW instead of an engine?". My mum, who’s been a lecturer on the topic of EVs for many years, had some great inside knowledge of its feasibility and I, having a problem solving mind and knowing the large market and following for classic VWs, saw a problem that needed to be solved. And there was interest from the masses to do it, so after about an hour we decided 'how hard can it be?'. This was in the summer of 2013, and so eDub Trip was born. As it turns out, it was very hard!

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Well the hard work certainly seems to be worth it! Having said that, can you tell us what your mission is?

We believe in Vehicle Electrification for everyone, which includes classic cars. eDub Trips offers a service for EV virgins to hire and try an EV in style and see how easy they were to use. Plus, there's electricity at the campsites, so that's where you re-charge! We then branched out to offer conversions a few years ago, adopting the newest technology in our ever changing market. We also offer wedding hire and consultancy and so became 'eDub Services Ltd'.

Wow! How many camper-vans have you electrified so far?

So far we’ve managed to convert 2 and a half, plus half a Datsun 240Z. Our latest project is currently on-going (hence the half).

That’s brilliant! You must really be enjoying yourself - what’s your favourite thing about your job and eDubtrips in general?

The innovation. Always pioneering something new. Seeing the problems and fixing them, whilst keeping an eye on a great experience. These vehicles should make you smile, so we aim to keep that up. I love that eDub Trips looks back and forward at the same time, recognising and respecting iconic classic engineering, but delicately keeping it for future generations.

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And what do you see for the future of eDubtrips?

The grand master plan is to branch out and have eDub Stations across the UK and even the world. We 'd love to see every classic VW camper-van electrified (why not!?) and for those who can’t afford to own one, they can hire one from anyone of our eDub Stations. We'd love to have these in every national park, so people can rock up, collect an eDub and explore the National Park the Station is based in.

And there you have it; the electric classic. If this doesn’t inspire a green (in every sense of the word) camping trip, we don’t know what does! What an inspiring project… ⚡️🌿

A big thank you to Kit Lacey for taking the time to talk to us. If you would like to find out more about eDubtrips, check out their website here.

 

Interview by Charlotte Dautzenberg