Ever Monaco highlights: when vintage cars turn hybrid

The Ever Monaco exhibition is all about sustainability and renewable energies. A particular exhibitor that caught our eye is 2CV Mehari Club Cassis: a family-run business that gives a second life to vintage designs by transforming them into hybrid cars.

Some might think the yellow Citroën 2CV a little garish. Others might wonder what a car came off the market in 1990 is doing at an exhibition about sustainable mobility. But this bright design, that is to France what the Fiat 500 is to Italy, is no regular car. Fully hybrid, it has been repurposed with an electric engine by the French start-up 2CV Mehari Club Cassis.

Breathing new life into vintage cars

In April 2020, France legalised replacing a car’s combustion engine with an electric motor and batteries, a procedure called retrofit. 2CV Mehari Club jumped on the occasion. “For the last three years, we’ve been making Eden, a fully electric car. This has made us legitimate competitors in the hybrid business and has taught us the know-how, without which we could not be retrofitting cars,” explains Sales Manager Clément Chiri.

At the moment, the start-up is busy getting its retrofit cars on the market. “Our retrofit models will officially be sold at the end of 2020 or in very early 2021,” explains Clément Chiri. Retrofitted cars can cover 120km and reach a full charge in three and a half hours.

Retrofitted cars are already all the rage in the States. They offer a particularly good solution for car owners who wish to continue driving vintage models or who live in historic city centres where polluting vehicles have been outlawed.

Retrofitting a 2CV costs 13,900 € (excluded the cost of the 2CV). The French government’s environmental fund can take care of a part of the refurbishment costs.