Jaunt EV makes waves Down Under

AUSTRALIAN classic vehicle conversion specialists, Jaunt Motors, has this week announced its move to a larger new facility in Melbourne’s east. The news comes just months after the electric vehicle outfit announced its merger with Zero EV, and is set to provide the growing manufacturer with the space it needs to expand both is fabrication and R&D capacities.

Jaunt Motors, which primarily converts early Land Rover models to electric power, says global demand for converted classic models is growing exponentially, and that the capacity will allow it to offer even more models, including its “next, smallest vehicle line”.

“After a hectic couple of weeks, we’ve now completed the move across town to our new development and production facility in Scoresby,” said Jaunt Motors chief design officer, Dave Budge.

“There is still a lot to unpack and setup, but the new space has allowed us to immediately scale up and work on more vehicles simultaneously.

“But it’s more than floorspace. We’re now able to separate R&D, fabrication, electrical manufacture, and vehicle assembly areas to optimise the process and stop individual teams from getting in each other’s way. For example, we now have a dedicated battery build room.

“It also gives us space to start on our next – and smallest – vehicle line.”

While Jaunt Motors’ share of the 5000sqm facility is still in the early stages of being “production ready”, Mr Budge said work is continuing on several projects in anticipation of offering even greater capabilities in the months ahead.

“You might be wondering when and how we got around to building all this,” he said.

“We’re leasing part of a facility build by DS International, a 90-year-old automotive transmission development company that now works on systems for global vehicle platforms both EV and ICE.

“Their development process is very aligned with our own, and they have the equipment to carry out testing and validation to global standards. Having access to their knowledge and capabilities is a dramatic leap forward on our path to ISO accreditation – as we have in Fellten UK – and setting the new standard in EV conversions.”

DS International’s history in Australia dates to 1928. It was founded by ER Coote and OH Jorgensen as a local industrial power transmission engineering firm. The company now offers a range of services including engineering and design, testing and evaluation, as well as vehicle and software development.

Mr Budge said the partnership will help Jaunt Motors to accelerate plans in a similar way to those already exhibited in its collaboration with Zero EV. In November 2022, Jaunt Motors and Zero EV combined to form Fellten, an EV conversion firm specialising in the conversion of traditional petrol- and diesel-powered cars into electric vehicles.

Fellten, from the Welsh word for lightning, now has a presence across three continents and says it is upscaling to offer bolt-in EV systems for a range of classic cars, all produced to OEM levels of quality, performance, and reliability.

The company has already engineered systems for a variety of classic brands and models, including Porsche 911s, Morris Minis, and Land Rover Series and Defender models. All meet stringent ISO quality compliance standards.

Vehicles can be delivered compliant to regulations in regions including Asia-Pacific, most of Europe, North America, and the UK.

The company’s board now comprises Chris Hazell as chief executive officer, Alex Dawood as chief technology officer, Marteen Burger as chief operating officer, Dave Budge as chief design officer and Mark Poole as chief financial officer.