Students from a variety of programs at Georgian College are collaborating on a unique project to retrofit a 1972 Volkswagen Westfalia into an electric vehicle.
The project has a budget of $80,000, including $16,000 for the purchase of the vehicle that did not have an engine and was being sold online on Facebook Marketplace. It is also being funded by several sources. The project is scheduled to be completed sometime in the spring and was introduced Monday at the Automotive Business School of Canada (ABSC) in Barrie, Ont. — which is part of Georgian College.
“I have a friend, who is another faculty member, who has a Volkswagen and is having engine trouble. (So) I said, ‘Why don’t you convert it into (an) electric, and that got the idea going,” said the project’s manager Ron Sky, who is also a Professor of Engineering and Environmental Technologies at Georgian College, in an interview with Canadian auto dealer.
Sky said Dr. Rebecca Sabourin, Georgian’s Dean of Engineering and Environmental Technologies and Skilled Trades, is also a Volkswagen aficionado. She mentioned the idea to ABSC Executive Director Jason Dale.
“Really the way this came to fruition is the Automotive Business School of Canada needed some sort of different marketing tool that we could utilize to get young students in high school very interested in the automotive industry,” said Dale. “I approached the executive team to start talking about it. I’m a Volkswagen fan and Rebecca is also a Volkswagen fan, and she said we’re looking at projects for the future, maybe we could buy one of these and convert (it) into electric.”
Dale added that he “then approached our ABSC Board of Directors and asked if they would fund such a project for us and (if) we’d be able to have a vehicle that we’d be able to move around to high schools and show them the really exciting and cool projects that we do here.”
He said all the people involved in the search agreed on specifically buying the Westfalia because it’s a ‘70s iconic vehicle.
“The young students actually think these are so cool, and they really are very cool when you see what you can do and how versatile a van used to be,” said Dale.
While he said the plan is to have the retrofitted vehicle ready for the Georgian College Auto Show that is put on by the ABSC’s students in June, there might be a sneak preview at the Canadian International AutoShow in February, depending on how far along the project is that point.
“This is really just a one-off project for students to really showcase what the future is going to look like,” said Dale. “I really believe this is going to be part of our industry in the future with all the governmental mandates and all the environmental mandates that we have upon us. There is going to be a whole industry that is going to be taking our Internal Combustion Engine vehicles and transporting them into EVs.”
John Leeder, President and CEO of Leeder Automotive and a member of the ABSC Board, said the project was given the go-ahead because it’s a way to promote the school at shows and involve students converting a car into an EV.
“It seemed to be the right thing at the right time, especially when we started talking to some partners who were willing to financially support it,” said Leeder. “Not only do we get to show off what the school can do, but we also have something that we’ll use for years to come.”
One of the departments involved is Georgian College’s Interior Design program. Kelly Raffan, is one of eight students from her course working on the project. She said it is definitely unique for her department to be working on a car.
“Interior design is not just houses, a lot of people don’t realize just how big the industry is,” said Raffan. “Cars are a little bit less of a venture, but it’s still a design. The automotive students look at everything else and we just make sure it looks pretty.”
Two concepts will be shown to the school, from which one will be chosen. “Every conversion is going to be unique and it’s all about giving the students those hands-on skills and that real-world experience,” said Sky. “It’s all part of the package of what we’re trying to do at the college.”
Sky said the budget includes money for the conversion kit, which costs more than $30,000, upgrades, training materials, and faculty supervision. And then the wrap up and marketing of it. She said the funding came from the school, the Fletcher Foundation that is part of the Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists, and individual sponsors — including Volkswagen.
