As the market for battery-powered electric cars grows, classic car collectors are clamoring to future-proof their prized vehicles.

And that means it's boom time for one Welsh business, which is expanding to meet the relentless demand.

Around a dozen cars are being converted to electric at a workshop in Wales. Electric Classic Cars is owned and run by Richard Morgan.

"I converted my own car five years ago and I did it purely as hobby to keep my classic cars alive and to use as daily drivers," Morgan says. "I put the process on YouTube and before I finished I had someone wanting me to convert their car. Five years later, we're the largest classic car converter in the world."

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Morgan's clientele is international and includes everyone from regular collectors to movie stars. 

Mechanics are putting the finishing touches onto a dark blue Fiat 500 that has had its engine replaced by batteries and is as cute as a button. It's owned by British actor Dev Patel from the film Slumdog Millionaire. 

Morgan showed CGTN the process to convert a car from a internal combustion engine to an electric battery.

"What we have here is the waiting room of the journey. This is a Ferrari which still has the engine, fuel tank, gear box and everything," he explains. "The first thing that's going to happen is we are going to strip all this out."

One of the most important parts of the process is working how many batteries can fit under the bonnet and in the boot.

"There are two constraints with the amount of batteries you can put in," he says. "One is a space constraint. The other is weight – you can't overload the car above the manufacturer's vehicle weight."

Morgan says the main advantage is the cars are easy to care for: "They're maintenance-free and you tend to enjoy the journey more because you're not stressed about whether or not it's going to break down."

He also says electric cars easily keep up with modern traffic because they're a lot more powerful.

However the cost of converting a car to electric is an expensive process, costing between $30,000 and $120,000 dollars.

"That price will come down as we convert more and more vehicles," says Morgan. 

But for people who love their car and can afford the price tag, it's worth it.

"One thing I'm passionate about is classic cars and enabling them to be enjoyed into the 21st century,” Morgan explains. "It's what gets me out of bed in the morning."

Video editing: Nuno Fernandes

Cover image: Electric Classic Cars