Last summer, as Paul McCartney rocked the main stage at Glastonbury, a small fleet of Land Rovers was working silently in the surrounding fields. The classic 4x4s had been converted to battery power by Electrogenic, in a joint project with Worthy Farm—home of the UK’s most famous music festival. 

After the final encore of Hey Jude had faded away, Electrogenic was inundated with enquiries about its Defender EV conversion kits: one aimed at farmers, the other for road use. Now, the Oxford-based company is applying this same “plug-and-play” approach to electrifying classic sports cars.

The first two cars chosen—the Jaguar XK-E and Porsche 911—aren’t so surprising, perhaps. However, while there’s nothing too controversial about swapping a rattly old Defender engine for a smooth and quiet electric motor, removing the flat-six from a 911 seems almost sacrilegious: like remixing “Love Me Do” with a pounding EDM bass line.

We’ll get to the emotive issues shortly, including what this Porsche is like to drive, but let’s examine the nuts and, well, volts of the conversion first. Suitable for any G-series 911 (built from 1974 through 1989) or 964 (from 1989 through 1994), the electric-conversion kit bolts in without any chassis modifications, so the process is…