A 1960s Volkswagen Beetle retrofitted with an electric motor and requiring no petrol is leading the charge for electric cars in its German homeland.

The company behind the transformation kits, Reevolt, is touting the ability to retrofit cars as an energy revolution.

"It makes consumers autonomous from their energy and fuel providers," sales manager Jost Broichmann said.

Reevolt's parent company Wemag is a small power retailer which is hoping to tap into the German government's ambitious energy turnaround plan.

"Since the energy transition we need to take a look at new businesses. Retrofitting cars is a very interesting business for us as a deliverer of energy," Mr Broichmann said.

The government has big plans to have 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2020.

While manufacturers like BMW and Audi are at the forefront of electric vehicle development, buyers remain in the slow lane.

This year only 12,000 electric vehicles were registered for German roads.

Investment 'paid off after 50,000 km'

But with 44 million conventional cars, Reevolt hopes its retrofit kits will take off.

Its standardised kits can be installed by any garage.

They do not come cheap, costing around 13,000 euros, but the company claims the investment is paid off after 50,000 kilometres.

"When you run a normal car in Germany you pay fuel costs of between 10 to 12 euros per hundred kilometres. Run the car with power and it's between 2.50 to 3 euros," Mr Broichmann said.

The cars take between three to five hours to charge and can be plugged into a regular powerpoint at home or at one of hundreds of charging stations across Germany - the battery lasts for up to 100 kilometres.

Many customers come from the Netherlands, where subsidies are available for retrofitting cars.

The next step for the company is developing kits for vans in order to tap into the small business market.

For motorists who are happy with their existing car - retrofitting could be a way to plug into the all-electric future.

Watch Emily Stewart's report on The Business at 8:30pm on ABC News 24 or 11:00pm on ABC.