For Andy Spry, the decision to convert a 1971 Volkswagen Type 3 Squareback to electric power was clearly borne out of passion and the desire to relive his youth.
Andy first fell in love with Type 3 Squareback VWs in the late 1970s, after he bought one to travel around California and the west coast of the US. The practicality of these vehicles, including the ability to fold down the rear seats and comfortably sleep in the back first attracted his attention, and they were very economical to run.
While travelling in the VW, Andy was lucky enough to also meet his future wife Jody in Newport Beach California, who undoubtedly helped to build such fond memories of that period in their lives together. So much so, Andy was passionate enough to embark on a lengthy EV conversion project to revisit these memories nearly 50 years later.
A few months ago prior to the conversion being finished, Andy reached out to The Driven to see if we wanted to share his story, so I spoke with him to get more details ,and we also caught up in person at Everything Electric in Melbourne late last year when he was keenly awaiting his roadworthiness certificate.
Since then Andy has been able to enjoy some time over summer behind the wheel of Voltwagen. He says it has surpassed all of his expectations, with “250 kg of batteries over the front wheels, it has greatly improved handling over the original car which tended to be rather light and skatey.”
“Now that it’s an EV with a bit more weight in it with the batteries, it really hugs the road. The car is comfortable, low, stable, quiet. It’s just an enjoyable ride and it’s bringing back a lot of memories for me actually. I think I’ll definitely be spending more time in this than the Tesla.”
When he is not driving his “Voltwagen”, Andy’s other EV is a rare Tesla Model S P85+ that hooked him on electric propulsion the moment he floored it. I can also attest to this, having been hooked in the exact same way myself driving a former boss’s Model S P85+ in California a decade ago.
Jody drives a Nissan Leaf, so the couple are certainly big believers in electric vehicles. Like many EV owners, they proudly keep them charged up using their own rooftop solar and home battery system, making them even more economical to run today than petrol cars were during the 1970s in California.
The conversion process
Andy first spotted the donor 1971 Squareback for sale in Perth, which just happened to be an exact match for the model he drove all those years ago in California. The previous owner had performed a ground up restoration on the vehicle, sand blasted it, resprayed with new paint and redid the original motor.
Unfortunately the owner died before being able to enjoy the car, and 20 years later it was no longer running so his family decided to put it on the market. It cost Andy $5,000, plus $800 to have it shipped to Melbourne to start the conversion process.
The conversion was performed by Electric Dream Machine (EDM), EV conversion specialists located in Moriac, Victoria. Andy’s goals for the project were to keep the VW looking classic, but he was happy to overhaul the running gear as necessary to make it a much better car to drive than the original.
Overall the process to convert Voltwagen to electric was very similar to what Nick Cummins from Electrogusto described here, who I spoke with back in 2024 about his own 1973 VW Type 3 Squareback conversion.
Originally EDM were planning to use a NetGain HyPer 9 motor in Voltwagen, the same as what Nick’s VW has, but Andy was always keen for a Tesla drive unit given his experience with the Model S and a tendency towards a heavy right foot.
Partway through the conversion, EDM rang Andy and said they’d found a Model S Small Drive Unit (SDU), which he did not hesitate to upgrade to for an additional $7,000, plus extra time for re-designing and engineering things to accommodate the different electric motor.
When tested on the dyno afterwards, the powerful electric motor produces just over 350 hp, a far cry from the 57 hp the original flat four engine produced. A dash-mounted screen allows Andy to select from 3 different drive modes and also displays speed and other vital information while driving.
In terms of batteries, they are split with roughly 250 kg over the front axle and another 400 kg behind the front seats, for a total capacity of 72 kWh. Andy says the location of the batteries gives it a perfect 50 / 50 balance and the extra weight means the car handles sublimely.
Based on his experience so far, range has proven to be around 400 km, even with Andy’s lead foot driving. Charging is performed via an AC-only type-2 socket at up to 7 kW, enough to charge up the battery in roughly 10 hours.
A complete overhaul of the suspension undoubtedly helps with the improved handling too, and was necessary given the original parts were over 50 years old and worn out. All new ball joints, upper and lower bushes as well as Koni shock absorbers were fitted to Voltwagen at the end of the conversion.
All up the process took 3 years and 4 months to complete, which did start to test Andy’s patience towards the end. However, it was worth the wait and if given the choice he would do it all again. “I think I’ve made a great choice, and I think I’ve done a good thing because I put an old car back on the road and it’s just such a joy to drive this EV now.”
For more information about Voltwagen, see this post on the Electric Dream Machine website as well as the Youtube video below filmed in collaboration with Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism.
Tim has 20 years experience in the IT industry including 14 years as a network engineer and site reliability engineer at Google Australia. He is an EV and renewable energy enthusiast who is most passionate about helping people understand and adopt these technologies.