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The Club PUBlication 03/25/2018

2/25/2019

750,000 Medtronic defibrillators vulnerable to hacking

The Medtronic CareLink 2090 Programmer is a portable computer system used to program and manage cardiac devices in clinic and during implant. The device allows a doctor to set the exact parameters for when the defibrillator should send pulses or high-voltage shocks to the heart. It was among more than a dozen devices named in a March 2019 cybersecurity advisory.

The Homeland Security Department, which oversees security in critical U.S. infrastructure including medical devices, issued an alert.
By Joe Carlson Star Tribune

MARCH 21, 2019 — 9:38PM

As many as 750,000 heart devices made by Medtronic PLC contain a serious cybersecurity vulnerability that could let an attacker with sophisticated insider knowledge harm a patient by altering programming on an implanted defibrillator, company and federal officials said Thursday.

The Homeland Security Department, which oversees security in critical U.S. infrastructure including medical devices, issued an alert Thursday describing two types of computer-hacking vulnerabilities in 16 different models of Medtronic implantable defibrillators sold around the world, including some still on the market today. The vulnerability also affects bedside monitors that read data from the devices in patients’ homes and in-office programming computers used by doctors.

Medtronic recommends that patients use only bedside monitors obtained from a doctor or from Medtronic directly, to keep them plugged in so they can receive software updates, and that patients maintain “good physical control” over the monitor.

Implantable defibrillators are complex, battery-run computers implanted in patients’ upper chests to monitor the heart and send electric pulses or high-voltage shocks to prevent sudden cardiac death and treat abnormal heart beats. The vulnerabilities announced Thursday do not affect Medtronic pacemakers.

Medtronic, run from offices in Fridley, says the risk of physical harm to defibrillator patients appears to be low, even though one of the two issues described by Homeland Security was assigned a CVSS base score of 9.3 out of 10. A higher CVSS base sore indicates a more severe vulnerability, but it assumes an attacker already has the knowledge and tools to mount the attack.

Although the vulnerabilities could be prevented by shutting off the devices’ wireless communications, Medtronic is urging doctors and patients to keep the devices’ wireless communications switched on. Remote patient monitoring can alert doctors to developing health or device problems and has been shown to improve outcomes in heart-device patients.

GLEN STUBBE, STAR TRIBUNE Doctors placed wires for a Medtronic defibrillator in a patient in this file photo from June 2005, watching the placement

The vulnerabilities were discovered by two different teams of security researchers and reported to Medtronic, which reported it to authorities, Medtronic officials said.

Medtronic is now actively monitoring its network for signs that someone was trying to exploit the vulnerabilities. Medtronic officials say affected defibrillators contain a feature that shuts down wireless communications upon receiving unusual commands.

Dr. Robert Kowal, chief medical officer for Medtronic’s cardiac rhythm and heart failure products, said in an interview that a hacker would have to be within 20 feet or so of the patient, would need detailed knowledge of the device’s inner workings, and have possession of specialized technology to pull off the hack.

“No. 1, this would be very hard to exploit to create harm,” Kowal said. “No. 2, we know of no evidence that anyone’s ever done this. And 3, we are working closely with FDA as this whole cyber issue evolves to make sure we are not only handling this problem but we’re working on future devices to optimize security versus functionality.”

The FDA is not expected to issue a recall. Rather, the vulnerabilities will likely be addressed through a future software patch, as happened last year with a widespread vulnerability in implantable defibrillators made by St. Jude Medical, which was acquired by Chicago’s Abbott Laboratories in 2017.

Ben Ransford, CEO of medical-device security firm Virta Labs, said he agreed with the assessments of Medtronic and federal officials that the vulnerabilities in the Medtronic defibrillators were not serious enough to warrant replacement.

“If I had one of these devices, I would not be concerned that this meant an attack is coming, or anything like that,” said Ransford, who was not involved in detecting or investigating the vulnerabilities. A known weakness

But Ransford did say it was surprising that issues like the ones in Thursday’s advisory continue to crop up in Medtronic defibrillators, since this variety of vulnerability has been known since 2008.

A decade ago Ransford was part of a team of researchers that tested a bacon-wrapped Medtronic Maximo defibrillator and came to the surprising conclusion that it could be hacked.

In the groundbreaking paper, the researchers reported that they could cause their compromised device to issue shocks on command, shut down its lifesaving features and change functionality so the battery would wear out.

“It looks like a manufacturer still has some work to do,” Ransford said.

Ransford said the effects of the attack appeared to be essentially the same, regardless of the specific route used to attack the device. Medtronic officials said the vulnerabilities described in the 2008 paper involved a different communications protocol.

The Homeland Security advisory describes two specific vulnerabilities in the Medtronic defibrillators.

The more serious of the two is a vulnerability that could allow improper access to data sent between a defibrillator and an external device like an at-home monitor. The system doesn’t use formal authentication or authorization protections, which means an attacker with short-range access to the device could inject or modify data and change device settings, the advisory says.

A second vulnerability allows an attacker to read sensitive data streaming out of the device, which could include the patient’s name and past health data stored on their device. The system does not use data encryption, the advisory says. (Deploying encryption in medical devices is tricky because is increases computational complexity and therefore uses the battery faster.)

What to Know

• Defibrillators do not need to be replaced. Medtronic says a software update is coming.

• Turning off the devices’ wireless communication would prevent vulnerabilities but also beneficial features.

• Patients should use only bedside monitors provided by their doctor/the company.

• Patients should maintain physical control over their monitors, report concerns.

The common connection between all of the vulnerabilities and affected devices is Medtronic’s proprietary Connexus “telemetry protocol” or communication system.

The FDA first approved a device with the Connexus protocol in 2006. At the time, the system was hailed as a breakthrough that would automatically be transmitted from an implanted device to an at-home monitor to the doctor’s office via the internet.

However, Kowal noted that the vulnerabilities in Thursday’s alert must be exploited in close physical proximity to the patient.

“Nothing about this issue is related to access via the internet,” he said. Thursday’s advisory affects two types of defibrillators: standard implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) as well as more complex cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds) that can deliver current to both sides of the heart. Some of the models are approved to be compatible with magnetic-resonance imaging, or MRI.

Joe Carlson writes about medical technology in Minnesota for the Star Tribune.
joe.carlson@startribune.com 612-673-4779 _JoeCarlson

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The Club PUBlication 03/18/2018

2/24/2019

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A tip to take advantage of higher online CD interest rates

By Ann Carrns New York Times

MARCH 11, 2019 — 11:55AM

Have you seen that interest rates are rising on some certificates of deposit, only to worry that you’ll miss out on further increases? You may want to consider putting your cash in several CDs with different terms — what’s known as building a CD ladder.

It’s time to take CD ladders out of the attic,” said Chris Horymski, senior research analyst at financial site MagnifyMoney.

CD ladders are a way to hedge your bet on interest rates. Longer-term CDs typically pay higher interest than short-term certificates. So, for example, if you had $50,000, you could buy five $10,000 CDs, with terms of one, two, three, four and five years. When the one-year certificate matures, you could reinvest that cash in another five-year CD — hopefully, at a higher rate — or use the money for something else. Meanwhile, the other certificates would be earning higher, longer-term rates.

Why would someone want to do this?

Rates on CDs as well as on basic savings accounts were so low for years after the economic downturn that it often wasn’t worth moving cash around. As the Federal Reserve has gradually raised its benchmark rate over the past few years, however, yields on savings have been inching up.

No one’s getting wildly rich. But it’s now easy to find CDs at online banks insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. that pay well above 2 percent for a one-year term, and 3 percent or more on terms of five years.

The central bank has indicated that it is pausing its rate increases, but may resume them this year. No one knows for sure what will happen, but it would be frustrating to lock in a chunk of cash in a five-year certificate at 3 percent, only to see longer-term CD rates climb to 4 percent. So laddering can offer flexibility in the face of uncertainty.

Rates at online banks are well above the average of 0.98 percent for one-year CDs overall, and they at least mean savers aren’t losing money to inflation, said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at the website Bankrate. (The Consumer Price Index, a widely used inflation gauge, has hovered around 2 percent for the past few years and was 1.6 percent in January, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.)

Most big, traditional banks still aren’t offering much in the way of interest on either savings accounts or CDs. “The larger banks continue to be pretty stingy,” McBride said.
Online banks, however, are competing for deposits to fund loans and credit cards. So you’ll see above-average rates from internet banks, including Synchrony, Barclays and Marcus, the online consumer bank started by Goldman Sachs.

One drawback to CD laddering is that you must keep track of the various certificate maturity dates and research interest rates before rolling your money into a new CD. “You constantly have a CD maturing,” said Ken Hoyt, a fee-only financial adviser in Westford, Mass.

Doing the research means you’re not held hostage to a below-market rate. But ladders can be a chore to manage, he said, especially if you are juggling many certificates.

It’s wise to check the details before depositing your cash. Some higher-rate CDs have substantial minimum deposits, and there’s generally a penalty if you withdraw the money early.

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The Club PUBlication 03/11/2019

2/23/2019

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Volvo owners typically live in congested uran areas, an analyst said, so most will probably remain unaffected by a speed cap.

BUSINESS
506830292
Volvo's plan to keep drivers safe:
Limiting the top speed of its cars

By Peter Holley Washington Post MARCH 7, 2019 — 12:57PM

For as long as there have been cars on American roads, the decision to obey speed limits — or recklessly push a vehicle to the edge of its performance — typically has been left to drivers.

Now one major auto manufacturer is reclaiming some of that control. Volvo, the Chinese-owned Swedish automotive brand known for its emphasis on safety, has plans to cap the top speed on its new cars. Beginning in 2020, the company said, Volvo cars will be limited to 112 miles per hour, one step in improving safety features.

"Because of our research we know where the problem areas are when it comes to ending serious injuries and fatalities in our cars," said Håkan Samuelsson, Volvo's president and CEO. "And while a speed limitation is not a cure-all, it's worth doing if we can even save one life."

Speed limiters, devices that limit a vehicle's speed, are used on some trucks and buses, but are not common among private vehicles. Ford has introduced technology that allows parents to restrict the speed of cars driven by teenagers.

Though Volvo's brand is closely associated with practical performance, high safety standards and suburban families, the company's S90 sedans and V90 hatchbacks can break 150 miles per hour, according to the manufacturer's specs.

Jessica Caldwell, the director of industry analysis with the auto research website Edmunds.com, said Volvo's decision to limit its vehicle's speed is part of a broader industry trend toward improving vehicle safety by removing human decision-making from the driving experience as vehicles become increasingly autonomous. Other examples of this shift, she said, are lane-assistant warnings, radar and cameras that help drivers account for blind spots or that automatically reduce speed when a vehicle is approaching an obstruction.

Because Volvo owners typically live in congested urban areas where speeds rarely top 50 mph, Caldwell said, most drivers probably will remain unaffected by the company's new speed cap.

"We're not talking about limiting the speed of an exotic car like a Lamborghini or a Ferrari, where track driving might be something that an owner would want to do," she said.

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The Club PUBlication 03/04/2019

2/22/2019

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Robot-assisted surgery going mainstream

Dr. Eiman Shafa of the Twin Cities Spine Center demonstrated the use of Medtronic’s Mazor X robotically navigated spine-surgery system Tuesday at Abbott Northwestern Hospital.

Medtronic Mazor X robotic surgery system enters medical mainstreamAbbott Northwestern, Mayo are among the hospitals using the new Medtronic technology.
By Joe Carlson Star Tribune

FEBRUARY 26, 2019 — 7:14PM

Following years of work, Medtronic is launching the newest Mazor X spinal surgery system with robotic navigation in the United States, with two systems already sold in Minnesota.
Spine surgeon Dr. Eiman Shafa demonstrated at Abbott Northwestern Hospital on Tuesday how the new system uses robotics and in-room navigation to precisely position traditional surgical tools, making routine spine cases more efficient and complex cases more exacting. The Mayo Clinic in Rochester also has such a system.

We’re basically performing the same surgeries that we have in the past … [but] this device helps us to do that with overall less collateral damage,” said Shafa, who works for the Twin Cities Spine Center and uses Medtronic’s Mazor X system at Abbott Northwestern in south Minneapolis. “In essence, it allows us to be as less-invasive as we can possibly be.”

Like other kinds of robotic surgical systems, the Mazor X is a piece of durable hospital equipment that also requires single-use items for each procedure. Medtronic acquired the device’s original maker, Israel-based Mazor Robotics, in a $1.8 billion deal in December.

The Mazor X retails for less than $1 million to hospitals, though Medtronic is hoping the system will drive not just sales of robots, but a long list of Medtronic supplies used in spine surgery — especially as traction grows for the latest model, the Mazor X Stealth Edition, which incorporates Medtronic engineering and design into Mazor’s existing system.

“We believe that integrating the Mazor X robot with our StealthStation navigation and O-arm imaging equipment, as well as with our spine implants, creates a long-term competitive advantage for us in the spine market; one that we intend to capitalize on,” Medtronic Chief Executive Omar Ishrak told stock analysts in November, according to a transcript from Seeking Alpha.

Medtronic announced the U.S. launch of the Stealth Edition in January. The system that Shafa demonstrated on Tuesday was the older Mazor X version, though a spokesman for Abbott Northwestern said the hospital’s system is slated to be upgraded to the latest Stealth Edition by early April.

With television cameras rolling in a small conference room on the ground floor of Abbott Northwestern, Shafa showed how the Mazor X’s robotic arm could execute a previously programmed surgical plan using a mannequin. (Although the mannequin had a large section of its “back” removed for the demo, a real lumbar-fusion surgery with the system would have been done “percutaneously” using thin instruments and small tunnels through muscle.)

Once Shafa was ready, the robotic arm emitted green light and a faint alert tone as the robotic arm swung into the surgical field above the mannequin. Using navigation data beamed from a component with dual side-by-side sensors that look a bit like the head of an old Nintendo “Robotic Operating Buddy,” the device positioned a tool holder at the correct height and angle above the “patient” so that Shafa could direct a guidewire and manual bone drill into position.

“As you can see, the steps are fluid. They are reproduceable. This allows me extra efficiency in the operating room. And a goal of having a shorter operation,” Shafa explained as he worked. “That means less blood loss, and hopefully a less painful surgery.”

Jean Pearson, 58, of Coon Rapids, said she was surprised to learn that her surgery six weeks ago would be done using robotic guidance, but she was ready to try it.

On Tuesday, she stood under her own power at the front of the room next to Shafa, who explained that Pearson needed surgery to treat a complex, multiple-level deformity that required putting screws into Shafa’s very narrow “pedicles,” which are bony structures on the vertebrae.

“It’s going really well,” Pearson said Tuesday. “I’m amazed to be standing here.”

Joe Carlson writes about medical technology in Minnesota for the Star Tribune.
joe.carlson@startribune.com 612-673-4779 _JoeCarlson

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The Club PUBlication 02/18/2019

2/18/2019

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FILE - In this Jan. 14, 2017 file photo, tax professional and tax preparation firm owner Alicia Utley reaches for hard copies of tax forms while working to stay caught up at the start of the tax season rush in her offices at Infinite Tax Solutions

BUSINESS 505928262

Five tips for cutting the cost of having your taxes done
By News services

FEBRUARY 16, 2019 — 12:33AM

Many taxpayers stress about the size of their tax bills this time of year, but many more may be stressing about the size of the bill to calculate their tax bills. For many people, the struggle to find affordable, high-quality tax preparers is real, but experts said five things can help rein in the cost.

See if you can get free help
The IRS programs — Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) — provide free tax-prep services generally to people who make $54,000 or less, have disabilities, are older than 60 or speak limited English. This can be a huge money-saver if you qualify. To find locations in your area, go to (irs.treasury.gov/freetaxprep)

Shop around (but thoughtfully)
Comparison shopping for tax preparers can save money, but it can be tricky, too. Not all tax preparers charge by the form — some charge by the hour and some charge per return, said Christine Freeland, president of the National Society of Accountants. It’s OK to ask a preparer for an upfront estimate. And if the final bill is significantly higher than what you were quoted, ask why.

Read the contract
A contract will help you understand how the preparer’s fees work, and it may give you a clue on whether there will be charges for things such as extra copies of your return. Preparers can’t base their fees on a percentage of your tax refund amount, Freeland said, and they can’t charge you a separate fee for having the IRS direct-deposit your refund.

Ask for a break if you need it
Negotiating tax-prep fees isn’t very common, but sometimes it’s OK to ask for a discount, Freeland said. “If you’re having a bad year and you’ve been with somebody for a long time and something’s happened, somebody’s lost a job, you’ve lost a spouse, you’ve had something that’s out of the ordinary, I think there’s nothing wrong with calling your preparer and saying, Is there anything you can do for me?’”

Start early, get organized
Tax preparers often charge more as the April filing deadline nears, so the earlier you get your documents to them, the more you could save. Many preparers draw a line in the sand somewhere around the last week of March, Freeland says. After that, fees often start rising.

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The Club PUBlication 02/11/2019

2/11/2019

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Minnesota craft breweries make a splash with hard seltzer

Lift Bridge Brewery in Stillwater now makes hard seltzer.

The spiked sparkling water is trending here and everywhere.
By Sharyn Jackson Star Tribune

FEBRUARY 10, 2019 — 9:09AM

A typical brewery’s color palette may range from gold lager and black stout to brown and amber ale. Now, there’s a new shade in craft breweries’ arsenal, and it’s clear.

Hard seltzer is the latest release from Stillwater craft brewery Lift Bridge Brewing Co., which joins a handful of others nationwide in brewing up the latest drinking fad. The spiked sparkling water is trending here and everywhere, fueled in part by LaCroix mania (that’s the wildly popular sparkling water originally from Wisconsin), and in part by rising health consciousness that has consumers looking for lower-calorie drinking alternatives.

Lift Bridge is touting their hard seltzer as just that.

“You don’t feel like you’re becoming too full from them,” said Brad Glynn, Lift Bridge’s co-founder. The brewery notes that one 12-ounce hard seltzer has 120 calories and 2 grams of sugar.

The thirst for lighter alcoholic beverages goes beyond breweries. The bestselling cocktail at some Parasole group restaurants, which include Good Earth and Burger Jones, is a vodka with club soda, said COO Donna Fahs. The trend dates back to the earlier part of this decade, when so-called “skinny” drinks got their own heading on cocktail menus.

“That’s really when we discovered that people were wanting less,” Fahs said. “I think some people are more interested in getting the buzz and not having the calories.”

That’s one way to account for hard seltzer’s meteoric rise — a 166 percent increase in 2018 from the year before, according to Nielsen data.

Because hard seltzer is made from fermented sugar as opposed to malt, it also gives breweries a new way to go after the gluten-free market.

But those aren’t the only drinkers they’re after. The craft brewery boom has led to what some analysts see as an oversaturation. As craft breweries continue to expand — there are a whopping 7,000 in the U.S. now — they have to diversify their offerings to keep themselves in the game — and draw non-beer-drinkers through their doors.

“The bartenders were talking about regulars,” Glynn said. “One said, ‘I’ve known Gary for three years and never met his wife because she didn’t like beer. Now I finally met her.’ We’re seeing the rise of ciders and alternative beverages like this because people do want to hang out and have a good time and not just drink water.”

Lift Bridge isn’t the first brewery in the state to offer hard seltzer. That would be Third Street Brewhouse (219 Red River Av. N., Cold Spring, Minn., 1-320-685-3690, thirdstreetbrewhouse.com). Cans of their hard seltzer, called Hula, are sold around the state. They come in mango-papaya, pineapple-guava and starfruit-dragonfruit flavors. Hula was launched last summer, and brewmaster Karl Schmitz expects to see more local breweries coming out with their own hard seltzers before long.

“I think it’s a whole other category of drinker,” Schmitz said. “We felt maybe the direction of seltzer waters was one to pay attention to.”

But Schmitz wouldn’t call it a health drink, exactly.

“By definition, it’s beer,” he said. “I think it’s a perception thing. It’s perceivably more healthy, but we’re not actively promoting it that way.”

Lift Bridge is the largest local brewery to bring hard seltzer into rotation.

Four flavors are available in the taproom (1900 Tower Dr. W., Stillwater, 1-888-430-2337, liftbridgebrewery.com): Northwoods Juice Box (apple-cranberry), St. Croix Berries, Voyageur Citrus and Island Time Tropical Blend. Northwoods Juice Box will show up at bars in the Twin Cities soon.

When the product is canned this spring, it will go up against nationally distributed hard seltzers such as Whiteclaw.

“There are a lot of national companies and bigger corporations doing these,” Glynn said. “We thought, ‘Why can’t we make something locally crafted with some interesting flavors?’

Sharyn Jackson is a features reporter covering the Twin Cities' vibrant food and drink scene.

sharyn.jackson@startribune.com 612-673-4853 sharynjackson

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The Coachmen's PUBlication 02/04/2019

2/4/2019

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Vintage cars
with electric
hearts

JIM McAULEY • New York Times Jaguar’s “Concept Zero” E-Type, a classic sports car converted to electric power. The only external clue to the car’s true power source is a glowing digital screen nestled in its dashboard.

Some classic autos are using voltage rather than gas, but it’s a costly conversion.

By ROBERT C. YEAGER New York Times

They’re classic cars fit for a concours d’elegance, a royal wedding or simply a quiet drive down a country lane. They exude vintage elegance, but lifting the hood reveals that they’re fueled by electricity, not gasoline.

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle quietly sped off in a 1968 E-type Jaguar after their 2018 wedding, they made automotive history. Although completely “stock” in appearance, beneath their roadster’s sleek, opalescent blue bonnet throbbed a heart measured in kilowatts. Indeed, the royal honeymoon coach was believed to be the first classic sports car converted to electric power by a major automaker.

“In the collector world, this is a very exciting development,” said McKeel Hagerty, whose namesake firm in Traverse City, Mich., sells vintage-auto insurance, tracks classic car values and conducts driver-owner surveys.

Shortly before year’s end, another venerable British marque joined the trend, the newcomer being Aston Martin, the century-old automaker. (In October, Morgan Motor Company of England postponed plans to introduce an electrified version of its iconic three-wheeler.)

Aston Martin unveiled a reversible “cassette” system meant to offer owners the best of all worlds. Installed directly on the original engine and gearbox mountings, the zero-emissions EV powertrain is enclosed within its own self-contained cell or “cassette.” If an owner wishes to compete in classic car shows or sanctioned motor sports events, the original engine and transmission can be reinstalled in about a week’s shop time, says Paul Spires, president of Aston Martin Works.

“We want to give our heritage cars greater longevity,” Spires said. “We’d hate for them all to just wind up gathering dust in museums, where no one can actually enjoy a classic Aston on the road.” A secondary goal: staying ahead of global environmental “regulatory and social pressures,” especially as they relate to automobile use in and around urban centers.
As with Jaguar’s “Concept Zero” E-Type, the only external clue to the car’s true power source is a glowing digital screen nestled in its dashboard.

Both Aston and Jaguar say their electric cars offer handling and performance that’s on a par with the originals. That works out to top speeds of roughly 120 miles per hour and modern-day-matching 0-to-60 acceleration times.

Wrote Car and Driver magazine of its August 2018 test drive in the Jag: “It handles rougher surfaces well and, despite some enthusiastic throttle applications, never felt short of traction.” The review was headlined: “Battery Power Doesn’t Ruin the Jaguar E-Type.”

Spires said a ride in Aston’s converted 1970 DB6 MKII Volante — successor to James Bond’s famous DB5 — conveys “an incredible sense of wellbeing.” It may not deliver the same soul-satisfying sounds and smells as a half-century-old original, he acknowledged, but silently cruising through winding country lanes in a vintage top-down roadster offers its own rewards.

“We expect sophisticated global buyers, especially those who consider themselves socially and environmentally aware, to think more of Aston Martin,” Spires said. “This adds credibility to our value as a brand.”

To be sure, electric automobiles are nothing new. Ferdinand Porsche unveiled the first hybrid-powered auto in 1900. Thousands of early electric cars, taxicabs, trucks and buses were built in the United States by firms like the Electric Vehicle Co. The hybrid Owen Magnetic a century ago, for example, used a gasoline motor to run its generator, a setup reminiscent of today’s Chevrolet Volt.

Still, might not the Jaguar-Aston offerings rankle some purists as, well, heretical? “On the contrary,” Hagerty said, “it bodes well for the collector hobby.” Last year, for the first time, his firm recorded more requests for vintage-auto insurance quotes and greater usage of its valuation tools by Generation Xers and millennials than by baby boomers, he said.

Something of a purist himself — he still drives the 1967 Porsche he restored with his father at age 13 — Hagerty added, “If this gives someone a reason to buy a vintage car for the first time, it’s awesome.”

Even so, electric-minded collectors should brace for some sticker shock. Jaguar estimates something “in the region” of 300,000 pounds (a bit over $380,000) for a fully restored E-type Zero, and then about £60,000 (over $75,000) for a conversion.

The company, based in Coventry, England, says it has already taken deposits on deliveries expected to commence in the summer of 2020. Jaguar is working to bring street-legal versions to the United States, says Mike Goodbun, a spokesman for Jaguar Classic, a division of Jaguar Land Rover dedicated to preserving the firm’s heritage. Build slots are filling up fast, he said.

Would a converted — or rather a reconverted — classic really be welcome at ultra-choosy events like the annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in Carmel, Calif.? “It depends on how seamless it is,” says Martin Button, a member of the show’s selection committee and owner of Cosdel International, which transports and stores vintage cars.

“If the reversion process really removes all evidence of the changes, it would probably be judged like any other car,” Button said. “But if it’s still got some little screen on the dash, that’s another matter — that would be a real takeaway.”

Chances are those glowing controls won’t pose an insurmountable problem, at least for the Jags, said Bruce Trenery, an E-type owner. “The original instrument panels come out with a few thumb screws,” he says, “so swapping out a digital screen shouldn’t be that big a deal.”
On the other hand, the economics of vintage cars could present a higher hurdle. Even a perfectly restored Series 1 roadster, with covered headlights and dashboard toggle switches, “is a $250,000 car,” says Trenery, whose company, Fantasy Junction in Emeryville, Calif., has bought and sold collector vehicles for over four decades. “A nearly $80,000 conversion fee would represent almost a third of its value.” For less valuable American sports cars like most Corvettes and Mustangs, such conversions would seem even more impractical, at least for now.

Button also frets about the usable range of electrified sports cars. “Spirited driving can really gobble juice,” he says, remembering an experience in a Tesla Roadster. With a reputed range of well over 100 miles, the Tesla ran dry at less than 50, he says.

Despite such reservations, Trenery and Button see a path to the future in the British automakers’ announcements. The Jaguar XKE “isn’t just a beautiful car, it’s a milestone design that’s going to live on,” Trenery said.

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