A vintage Rolls-Royce is set to get a new lease on life when it finishes undergoing a radical conversion to an electric vehicle with no noise, emissions or petrol.

Coffs Coast restaurateur Danielle Wallace grew up with the 1971 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and wanted to make it future ready by converting the petrol guzzler into a fully electric car.

"To me it's modern conservation. I don't want it to be a relic of the past," Ms Wallace said.

"My father drove it, my mum used it as a golf buggy, I got my L plates on it. It's definitely had a lot of history."

Last year an article about a converted vintage Porsche caught Ms Wallace's eye, spurring a wave of research into the world of electric vehicle (EV) conversion.

At a cost of around $25,000, converting the car is not cheap, but the ongoing costs with electric vehicles are less than with traditional cars.

"I love the idea of not going to a petrol station, I love the idea of not going to a mechanic all the time," Ms Wallace said.

Melbourne-based company Sea Electric has been converting larger vehicles, such as trucks and vans, into electric vehicles for about four years.

It took some convincing to take on such a different project, but Sea Electric is now well and truly on board.

"The way we look at it, we're breathing new life into the old girl with new technology," the company's managing director Tony Fairweather said.

After a long trip from the Coffs Coast to Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs, the car is currently midway through the transformation.

The engine is being removed to make room for a new electric motor and a 22-kilowatt high-voltage charger.

When the month-long conversion process is complete, the retro-electric car is expected to outperform its original eight-cylinder engine in every aspect except range.

"It will be zero noise, zero emissions, zero maintenance and great for the environment," Mr Fairweather said.

"We're hoping to be able to achieve about 300 kilometres of range out of the old girl when she's finished."

Converting classic car to electric engine is 'sacrilege'

Despite Australia's slow take up of electric cars, Mr Fairweather believes the future is electric.

Last year, the price of lithium ion batteries fell below $US 300 per kilowatt hour for the first time. It had not been forecast to reach that level until 2025.

"Everything is quite simply getting substantially cheaper, substantially smaller, substantially lighter, so the economics are there now," Mr Fairweather said.

But some are a little more ambivalent about the vintage project.

Veteran Rolls-Royce dealer David Eckberg said converting vintage cars was likely to turn a few heads.

"I think there would be a few who would not approve," Mr Eckberg said.

"I thought it was mad, I still think it's mad."

But he said the project was in keeping with the innovative spirit of the brand.

"Sir Henry Royce, who founded the company, his background was building electric motors," Mr Eckberg said.

"Whether it's going to be a great success, I'm waiting to go for a run [in the new car]."

Ms Wallace said she understood why some might be sceptical.

"By converting it there is a little bit of sacrilegious behaviour. But she's like an old puppy dog we can't put down," she said.

She said the conversion would ensure the old roller stayed on the road as long as possible.

"It's like giving her a transplant. It's giving her a life that she wouldn't have had. It'll make her a new girl," she said.

Despite the many benefits, Ms Wallace admitted the car would lose some of its unique character, including the iconic rumble of the engine.

"I will miss the rattles," she said.