Mark Wagner's used to getting attention for his classic VW bud.

Mint condition, convertible, beautiful.

But his favorite part is when people notice what's going on in the engine.

See, a few years ago, Wagner made a change, and his 62 ragtop went from sounding a little like this.

To sounding like this.

What's funny is how few people notice that it's quiet.

They're like, there's something missing.

It's fantastic when they figured out.

That's right.

He went electric.

I'm Gustavariano. You're listening to The Times, Daily News from the LA Times.

It's Tuesday, July 5, 2022.

Classic cars are a staple of California culture, but they have a dirty secret. They're gas guzzlers.

So now collectors are beginning to solve that problem by making their rides electric.

And everyone else wants in. Everyone wants an EV these days, gas prices, the whole global warming thing, and just also because they're cool, you know.

But today, my colleague Ron White tells us the lengths some Californians are going to get their hands on one. Ron, welcome to the times. Thank you. Very much, Gustavo. Thank you. So the first person I knew whoever bought a Tesla was my cousin Blas. And I remember when he bought it, we made fun of him for buying what we thought

was going to be a loser car.

And here we are almost a decade later.

And the demand for not just Tesla's,

but electric vehicles,

it's completely out of control.

The demand is very high.

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