What's wrong with this BMW 2002?

A company in the USA specialising in conversions has ventured into the project of bringing a 1970s car to zero emissions

Photo by: Nomad Motors

By: Gianmarco Gori

Jul 30, 2024 at 5:47am ET

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Electric restomods are becoming increasingly popular. Several companies around the world are choosing to try their hand at this kind of project to prove that cars of yesteryear can have a second life, even when the combustion engine reaches the end of its days.

The latest project comes from the United States, more precisely from Maine, where an enthusiast has chosen a BMW 2002 from the 1970s as his donor car. Here are the details.

German of yesteryear but with zero emissions

The project, which you can see in these photos, is the work of the company Nomad Motors. The American company first removed the 2.0 petrol engine, replacing it with a Netgain Hyper 9HV engine, capable of delivering just over 122 PS and 220 Nm of torque as peak values.

BMW 2002 Nomad Motors

Nomad Motors

This is a considerable increase in power over the original figure of around 98 PS, reducing the 0-62 mph sprint time by 2 seconds to 8.5 seconds overall.

All this, according to an interview with Autoblog US, was connected to six liquid-cooled, series-connected Tesla 18650 batteries with a total capacity of 32 kWh.

To transmit the energy stored in the batteries to the motor, Nomad Motors installed a DC-DC voltage converter, which took up the space of some now unnecessary mechanical components, such as the alternator.

BMW 2002 Nomad Motors

Nomad Motors

With manual gearbox

Similarly to other designs, the firm chose to leave the 4-speed manual gearbox on this car, but removed the clutch as it is unnecessary.

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To be connected to the zero-emission engine, however, the BMW gearbox required the addition of a dedicated, purpose-built aluminium flange.

BMW 2002 Nomad Motors

Nomad Motors

BMW 2002 Nomad Motors, the manual gearbox

If the project is of interest to you, Nomad Motors reported that the cost of purchasing all the components necessary for the conversion can range from $20,000 to $40,000 (£15,000 to £30,000), while the complete car can fetch as much as $60,000 (around £45,000).