I met him at a gig one night with an electric car he'd been converting as a hobby for about 15 years. And I fell in love. Like, hold my beer, watch me. I'm going to make this into a business.”
Audrey and Steve Clunn both played in different local bands, but their paths crossed one evening when they turned up at the same music venue to play. Steve arrived in his pride and joy: a white Mazda 2000 B pickup truck which he’d converted to electric himself. “Is that electric?” Audrey asked. “Yep” came Steve’s reply. “Well, I’m in love...” And the rest is history.
From the moment they met, they bonded over their shared love of electric vehicles (EVs). But, for Steve, it was only ever a hobby that more than likely cost more than it made. That was, until he met Audrey.
So we had this beautiful ‘56 Ford right at home and I fell in love with it, and him. And we converted it together.”
In the beginning he had a simple sales strategy. He’d buy a car, convert it, and let someone else partner as the seller. “You drive it, you show it off, you sell it, and I'll make you the next one. Well, Audrey came along and she had all these big ideas and everything. And before I knew it, she had quit her job.”
Work never feels like work when you really love it. Audrey and Steve at their workshop.
But, as in every great love story, there came a bump in the road. They’d only just got their business’s wheels turning before the great recession of 2008 looked like it was going to put an abrupt stop to things. Says Audrey, “We all lost our homes. It was just a disaster. And I'm like, OK, what do musicians do? They put up a sign and say, ‘Have guitar, will travel.’” So, for the next nine years, that’s what they did. Travelling all over the United States, from California to Texas, Oklahoma to Virginia, converting gasoline or diesel cars to EVs wherever the next phone call took them.
Audrey and Steve set off in their iconic – and now fully electric – 1956 Ford truck.
There have been countless conversions over the years, but one stands out as special. “He called me from Oklahoma and he said ‘I know your birthday's coming. What do you want?’ So I was being a little cranky that day and I said ‘I want a 1960 Ford pickup.’” The next day Steve sends back a picture of a rare ‘56 Ford. For an even rarer price of $800. “So we had this beautiful ‘56 Ford right at home and I fell in love with it, and him. And we converted it together.”
Today, the two of them run a successful EV conversion business, Green Shed Conversions, from their leafy forest home in Florida. Their makeshift garage is home to some daring and unusual EV conversions. Even now, Audrey is one of the only female car converters in America. But her passion for EVs runs deeper than electromobility. She's driven by the need to provide a more sustainable planet to pass on to her grandchildren. “Looking after the planet for future generations is extremely important to me. And electric cars are the next step. We have a lot to do to protect all of this. Can’t be done alone, it needs all of us to come together and do it.”
For Audrey, EVs and protecting the planet go hand in hand – and love is at the heart of it all:
Doing something by yourself is always very difficult. He’s the best partner. It’s been a wonderful journey.”
The Clunns head to their workshop to do what they do best: convert EVs and be madly in love.
.jpg "Two man standing in front of a white electric car.")