This B.C. company wants to electrify your Porsche, your mini van and your school bus

Canada still not on track to meet electric vehicle sales target despite popularity Kneider is president and CEO of Riise EV, a Vancouver-based company that specializes in electric conversion, and the Porsche — his daily ride — is one of the company’s products.The eye-catching and virtually silent sports car recently got people talking at the Vancouver Sun Run, where it led the race as the 10K run’s pace car.“This has way more appeal, I’ve done something right, I’ve kept an old classic on the road, I’m greener, cleaner, no emissions, and it just makes logical sense,” he told Global News.The conversion involved removing the car’s old 87-horsepower engine and replacing it with a 130-horsepower electric motor Kneider jokingly called a “60-pound turkey.”Add in the batteries and the car is about 100 kilograms heavier but delivers 50 per cent more power.

Canada extends electric vehicle rebate, but few cars available for B.C. buyers In its current stage, Riise EV specializes in converting sports cars and classic cars, usually at a cost of about $50,000 to $100,000.“The cars are cool and we’ll always do them to keep the classics on the road.

And people are willing to pay the price to get into them, to have them fully electric,” Kneider said.“A lady called me with a ’76 Volkswagen bug, a guy came in with an old Rolls Royce, I’ve had guys come in here with tractors and RVs.”But that’s just the start.

The company also advertises commercial fleet and bus conversion, an avenue Kneider hopes to see scale up into a core element of the business.At the right scale, he said, converting a school bus to electric would cost about half the price of a $400,000 new vehicle — making both economic and environmental sense.