A classic orange 1970 VW Beetle has been turning heads in Burnie but not with that familiar VW bop-bop sound.

Rather, it is the absence of any sound at all that distinguishes Horst Lerchbacher's home-built electric car.

The motivation for spending close to $50,000 on the electric beetle project is clearly stated on the doors: "This old beetle quit burning fossil fuel. Let's all do that".

"I've always been looking forward to getting an electric car but the commercial ones, when I started on this project, seemed out of reach," Mr Lerchbacher said.

"As it turns out, I've spent more on this car than I would have spent on a brand new electric car, getting close to $50,000, which included getting the car restored.

Horst Lerchbacher's electric Beetle can transport both he and his message around town. ( ABC Northern Tasmania: Rick Eaves )

The engine conversion alone has cost about $28,000. Batteries were the most expensive element, along with the adaptor flange and coupling to connect the motor to the gearbox.

"A local engineering firm helped with that and did an amazing job. It's perfect." Mr Lerchbacher said.

"That's the bit that can get noisy when people do these conversions, but it's a perfect fit. The heater inside the car is much noisier than the engine."

Mr Lerchbacher is an Austrian-born electrical engineer whose last job before moving to Australia was for Porsche in Germany.

He helped integrate the electric system of the first 911 four-wheel drive.

He said the experience showed him how to squeeze a lot of electrical gear into a small space.

Horst has fitted a three phase induction motor — similar to industrial three phase motors — three battery chargers and an inverter, all just in the space in the engine bay once taken up by the cooling fan.

The result of his endeavours has been more torque than the original VW combustion engine and way less maintenance.

In fact, no maintenance!

"It's a classic 1970s Beetle which I 'inherited' from my daughter. It was a terrible rust bomb and sounded like a machine gun!"

The impressive little car it has become is near enough to soundless and very zippy, especially on the hills. It has so much torque you can put the car in third gear to start and just drive.

Plug in to rev up

The major limitation it has is range — at the moment it is only good for a cautious and slow 70 kilometres, though Mr Lerchbacher hopes to spend another $8,000 on batteries to extend the range to around 150 kilometres.

"I'm also saving up for solar panels so I can charge at home, straight from the sun," Mr Lerchbacher said.

"It has two little solar panels on the bonnet, which are just enough to keep the control voltage and the lights going.

"Charging stations are still very far apart in Tasmania. There are only four official stations," he said.

Horst Lerchbacher hopes to put a bunch more batteries in the luggage compartment. ( ABC Northern Tasmania: Rick Eaves )

It is still very much pioneering times for electric car drivers in Tasmania and just as in the days of horse and cart, a kind of "coach-inn" approach is required to travel about the state.

A website called PlugShare facilitates networking by EV or electric vehicle owners. On a drive to Launceston, Mr Lechbarcher was able to plug in at a couple of private residences to recharge.

"I got home at about three in the morning!" he said with a hearty laugh.

"My wife has also become quite adept at towing too, because if you run out of power, that's what you have to do.

"I think there about 40-50 electric cars on the road in Tasmania at the moment and I know of about six 'home-brewed' cars like mine, which people have built for themselves."

"If I drive this car until I'm 130 I'll recover the cost. It has to be done! We have to give up combustion engines," he said.

"They're a highly inefficient device as well despite all the development that's gone into them."

"The batteries are now what they need to be. That's what's going to accelerate change," Mr Lerchbacher said.

Horst Lerchbacher's spent $28,000 on the electric conversion of his 1970 VW Beetle. ( ABC Northern Tasmania: Rick Eaves )

"There's still big improvements coming but the lithium and phosphate battery is plenty good enough.

"You know in New Zealand there's no worries, the whole country is equipped with charging stations. They seem to have the foresight."