Electric 110 Project

After a few requests I thought it might be interesting, if nothing else, to setup a thread to follow the build and ownership of our 110 EV conversion project. There are a couple of other conversions on Landyzone, but these seem to be Freelanders, and hats off to those guys, they are far more skilled than I. In fact, very little of this work is being done by me – none of the conversion aspect.

I’ve owned Defenders for 12 years but fell for them when I went to pick up a Series IIA with my father back in the early ‘90s. My first, was picked up while we lived in Uganda; a lovely 300tdi that we drove up and down the country from the northern most tip; Kidepo National Park, down to the very bottom on the border with Rwanda. We even took it him ('Stanley') on honeymoon around Kenya & Tanzania and there were tears when we had to sell it on, on our return to the UK.

Jump forward a number of years and a few kids later, the previous 90 XS ('Mungo') made way for a 1989 V8 assembled in South Africa and imported to the UK in 2021. We took possession shortly after. But with a growing concern over the climate and a personal turmoil over the impact of running a 3.5 litre petrol engine, we put down a deposit with a firm in mid-Wales to convert it to full electric. I had considered a number of options leading up to this, including a hybrid hydrogen conversion (Ulemco and Ultimate Cell), but ultimately, it seemed the best option was full EV with rapid CCS charging.

Electric Classic Cars have a history of converting classic cars to electric, including a number of Defenders (they did a special edition for Selfridges and now have a drop-in kit for some select garages). Let’s be honest, it isn’t cheap, and even with the savings on road tax, servicing and fuel costs over the next 15-20 years, we probably won’t reach parity with maintaining the V8. But, it’s hard to put a price on adventure and invention, and I personally think this prolongs the life of this classic well into the age of electric.

Now, I’m sure this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but if you’ve made it this far and remain interested, my plan is to walk people through the process of the conversion and on through to its use, warts and all. If you’ve any questions, feel free to pop them over and I’ll do my best to answer them.

I’m interested and watching already!

I'm all ears and eyes. Have an 88 110 that I'm toying with going electric.

I won’t be converting my 90 any time soon but I’m open to the idea that at some point I’ll be owning an electric vehicle so watching this with interest…

April 2023
We dropped the landy off at Electric Classic Cars in February and within a couple of hours the guys had the hood off and the V8 out. This was fairly quickly followed by more of the dino juice gubbings being stacked up on a pallet beside the cream shell, including the transmission, petrol tank and exhaust ... we won't be needing any of that from now on.

The old V8 is being replaced with a Tesla Model 3 motor (mounted where the old transmission box was and retaining permanent 4x4) and will be powered by 100kW battery pack. 10 Tesla batteries will sit neatly under the bonnet, and 6 will be placed in the rear loadbay. This does remove some of the load carrying volume, but will still allow for flip down seats to be refitted in the boot. We are looking to go for 2 flip down seats rather than a static bench. The system will provide somewhere in the region of 450bhp equivalent and a predicted range of between 120-180miles --- we'll do some testing later on, but more than enough for 2-3 weeks of city driving without a charge, and adequate for some longer more occasional road trips.

While we were in the workshop we chatted to Richard (refer to YouTube) who mentioned that they were working on the promised rapid charging capability and hoped this would be ready in the coming weeks --- something we will certainly need with our 100kW battery pack for the longer journeys. As this is Tesla bits, we will also be able to utilise many of the Tesla rapid chargers around the UK and Europe. However, this development time combined with waiting on the battery pack arrival, has delayed matters, so not much to report from the build point of view.

Here, watching eagerly for your EV conversion. Although not a big fan of EV's per se, I really do like the concept and practicalities of converting a Land Rover and have followed ECC for some time, including watching the Jonny Smith video in the Selfridges 90 many, many times. It's such a first rate vehicle. Back in February I contacted ECC asking if they're planning DIY kits for suitably qualified people. Sadly they've no plans for this...which one can understand. So, looking forward to the EV project updates as they arrive...

E~FENDER said:

April 2023
We dropped the landy off at Electric Classic Cars in February and within a couple of hours the guys had the hood off and the V8 out. This was fairly quickly followed by more of the dino juice gubbings being stacked up on a pallet beside the cream shell, including the transmission, petrol tank and exhaust ... we won't be needing any of that from now on.

The old V8 is being replaced with a Tesla Model 3 motor (mounted where the old transmission box was and retaining permanent 4x4) and will be powered by 100kW battery pack. 10 Tesla batteries will sit neatly under the bonnet, and 6 will be placed in the rear loadbay. This does remove some of the load carrying volume, but will still allow for flip down seats to be refitted in the boot. We are looking to go for 2 flip down seats rather than a static bench. The system will provide somewhere in the region of 450bhp equivalent and a predicted range of between 120-180miles --- we'll do some testing later on, but more than enough for 2-3 weeks of city driving without a charge, and adequate for some longer more occasional road trips.

While we were in the workshop we chatted to Richard (refer to YouTube) who mentioned that they were working on the promised rapid charging capability and hoped this would be ready in the coming weeks --- something we will certainly need with our 100kW battery pack for the longer journeys. As this is Tesla bits, we will also be able to utilise many of the Tesla rapid chargers around the UK and Europe. However, this development time combined with waiting on the battery pack arrival, has delayed matters, so not much to report from the build point of view.

[PS; old parts, including the V8 & transmission will be appearing on the For Sale section of LandyZone in the coming weeks should anyone be interested in them]

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Do they replace the wiring looms ?

mick the builder said:

Do they replace the wiring looms ?

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Good question, and not one I can convincingly answer right now. There will certainly be a partial replacement with much of the old systems being replaced with electric equivalents — heater, various pumps, gauges etc that need to be electric now there is no engine. Of course the bulk of the electrical work (way outside my comfort zone as a civil engineer) is high voltage cabling in bright orange!!!, but the 12v battery is retained for smaller & more standard needs. I guess if it needs replacing we will do is the principle.

v8250 said:

Here, watching eagerly for your EV conversion. Although not a big fan of EV's per se, I really do like the concept and practicalities of converting a Land Rover and have followed ECC for some time, including watching the Jonny Smith video in the Selfridges 90 many, many times. It's such a first rate vehicle. Back in February I contacted ECC asking if they're planning DIY kits for suitably qualified people. Sadly they've no plans for this...which one can understand. So, looking forward to the EV project updates as they arrive...

Click to expand...

The Selfridges video is great isn’t it, thankfully my conversion is not quite as costly as that one now the template is formed. Also worth noting that as that Defender was post 2001 it is still listed as a diesel having to pay standard road tax!!! The DVLA haven’t caught up.

ECC do do a kit as I’m sure you know but I guess they don’t sell them privately… presumably for safety & legal reasons (???) with the high voltages being dealt with. There’s a good video walk through of the kit here:

April 2023
So things are moving on a pace with the conversion. So to keep this light for now, I’ve added a list of ongoing major works and I’ll try and add add some images:

- Front battery pack fitted along with the various electric fans & reservoirs needed for the new electric system.
- Dummy Tesla motor slung underneath while the final one is away being overhauled.
- CCS charge point added to the original fuel filler point. Should be capable of up to 150kWh charging (tbc).
- Transmission tunnel removed to give more leg room / storage space up front. Avoiding installing a middle seat at the moment but option is there should I change my mind in the future.
- Rear Salisbury axle removed for refurb exchange, replacing the old drum brakes to disks to suit the new electric parking brake.

All the equipment fitting is at mock-up stage presently, while refurbishment works continue on the donor parts.

I wonder why they put the batteries in the rear load space when there is a large area where the fuel tank used to be.

It would be technically possible to put them here, but my understanding is it is a ‘bit of a faff.’ Which in my understanding of the term is the same as bespoke - gonna cost more. One benefit of being in the load bay is added protection from rock damage, and even weight distribution, with limited loss of space. I still plan to have a couple of flip down seats for short journeys - kids would have to sit with straight legs.

Edit (June 2023); in addition to the above, ECC have a policy that they don't cut or drill new mounting points for their conversions for 2 reasons - should the owner or future owner want to convert them back to ICE (highly unlikely) and to ensure that it can clear the DVLA modified vehicles checklist when registering as an EV following successful completion.

May 2023
Plenty of work has been cracking on this month, and we have a tentative date of conversion completion in August. Work done this month includes; low voltage looms, modification to battery box & radiator mounts, header tank & water pipe installation and testing (EVs need cooling too), conversion of heater to electric and the strip down of the axles.

This final one was an interesting one, with the team at Winchester Gears helping out with this one … and what a great job they do. The brakes have been upgraded from drums with the full overhaul ensuring the axles can take the increased torque and breaking needs. (Before & After pictures below).

Link to Winchester Gears: https://www.winchestergears.com/salisbury-110--130-rear-axle-pre-2003-4067-p.asp

Plug: Finally, for anyone interested, the old V8 and associated gearbox, exhaust, radiator and fuel tank is up for sale. I’ve posted it on LandyZone & Gumtree but all links lead to the EBay listing. However, happy to take DM’s and the price is negotiable. The engine is a 1989 3.5L Petrol V8 matched to (I believe) an LT85 gearbox.

June 2023

Work this month has been rather limited. There was a small spot of rust in the footwell/bulkhead of the vehicle that needed sorting – the only spot of rust of what is a truly remarkably clean 1989 chassis thanks to the weather in South Africa – and this is being sorted as I write.

With that done attention could turn to the rest of the high voltage wiring and installation of the CCS Type 2 rapid charging capability. When complete we should be able to charge up to 150kW/h making the occasional longer journey far easier than if we were stuck at 22kW/hr.

While this has been going, I’ve been busy retrimming the front seats using an Exmoor retrim kit. This was a touch harder than I’d imagined but I found a fantastic step by step video on the YouTube to help with the process. The key was a can of spray adhesive! Pretty happy how these have turned out.

On the other front, my focus has been in looking to ensure security of the car when it is completed. This has started with investing in some Optimill parts to maximise physical attacks, visual deterrents in the form of wheel and pedal locks, and working out which tracker and immobiliser combo to go with.

The later of these is key to gaining insurance for our conversion. There is another thread on here raising the question of insurance for EV conversions and I can testify that this is a difficult nut to crack. I have had marginal success so far, but this is not helped that our V5C still currently shows the car as a V8 Petrol and will until we request the change (due soon). Generally, the issues appear to be threefold;

1- Huge uncertainty around JLR at the moment. A large number of JLR’s are being stolen daily right now. These are generally newer Rangies, Discos and new Defenders and tend to be due to the keyless start. The insurers I spoke to suggest JLR seems to be ‘ignoring’ the issue and need to come to the table with a solution. So, my main takeaway to deal with this, is to ensure we retain the keyed ignition, allowing an immobiliser to be fitted and to prevent hacking.

2- Increase in value. Conversions aren’t cheap, so the value rises dramatically on the base car. Ours is also technically a classic car, so often restricted to smaller classic focused insurers. They seem fine with the concept if not a little surprised when we discuss ‘fuel type’ but underwriters have been the sticking point … but things do seem to be changing there with education and more conversions appearing, hopefully as this gains pace (not just Landy conversions) things will settle down a touch.

3- Access to off street parking. Many of the insurers who are okay to insure based on the above, then want garaged vehicles or at least off-street parking. This may be tricky if you live in a city, or a terrace house with limited off-street access, but would help calm insurers fears a little further.

We will be progressing our final insurance over the summer (with luck) but so far, the firms I’ve got furthest with for those of interest include;

Weir Insurance (Hagerty underwriters … who wanted a complete list of new parts), McClarron Affinity … who manage the insurance of Twisted owners, Marsh Commercial … who noted a firm in Wales with knowledge of ECC, Andrew Yule … who said ERS underwriters were not keen but has had better luck with a more run of the mill insurer, Lancaster … appear to be making the right noises but I’ve not spoken at length, 1st Central … who are a fairly run of the mill insurer and had asked to get in contact after paperwork is completed. I've also been passed the Heritage Insurance who appear to insure a number of ECC's cars.

Adrian Flux passed on the opportunity (but understand I might be speaking to the wrong person/department), as did Peter James and Novo Insurance.

mick the builder said:

Do they replace the wiring looms ?

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While I'll hold my hands up to be no expert in electrics/electronics, if seems that they may well replace most / all of the low voltage wiring looms. It would certainly make sense. This is currently in progress for us, as can be seen in the below image.

August 2023
Shorter update this month with the summer putting the brakes on too much progress. That, and some minor bodywork needed before the final assembly.

The original vehicle was originally assembled in South Africa - keen to find out more on that origin story (any tips welcome) - and a life in RSA means the chassis is still close to factory spec, but clearly the weak spot has always been in the footwells.

So a short trip on a trailer and a few weeks later and the bulkhead is looking like new, and colour matched to the ‘desert’ Cream. Before and After images below.

This slower progress and slight tangent, and a busy order book at ECC has pushed completion back a couple of months unfortunately, but I’d agree that it’s best to get things right first time.

Next steps will be complete low and high voltage wiring before it’s handed over to the assembly team ahead of testing.

Certainly an interesting project, although sad to see another classic being modified.
Don't think that current rates of thefts on modern Range Rovers has anything to do with insurance on old models.
My son's Ninety is cheaper to insure than my Defender as its not actually listed as a Defender.
We fitted a premium seat cover set from Exmoor trim, looked very good but worn badly in less than a year. Tried to blame us but strangely sent a new kit without argument, which suggests they knew they had a problem.
Is IVA needed due to being a highly modified vehicle?

Anaconda said:

Certainly an interesting project, although sad to see another classic being modified.
Don't think that current rates of thefts on modern Range Rovers has anything to do with insurance on old models.
My son's Ninety is cheaper to insure than my Defender as its not actually listed as a Defender.
We fitted a premium seat cover set from Exmoor trim, looked very good but worn badly in less than a year. Tried to blame us but strangely sent a new kit without argument, which suggests they knew they had a problem.
Is IVA needed due to being a highly modified vehicle?

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Thanks for the comments, and interesting to note on the insurance. This is a 110 technically, so might be well worth making sure that this is what it is down as during any insurance quotes. I'll watch out on the Exmoor recovers too, I feel I did a half decent job, but time will tell.

As far as the IVA is concerned, a points system on modifications is used by the DVLA. ECC make sure that they use all of the existing chassis fixings - not a single hole is drilled - and the axles are like for like upgrades etc. So then the process 'should' be fairly straightforward for updating the V5C document by meeting the minimum of 8pts and avoiding the IVA. There is an article on this type of thing here: DVLA's Dos and Don'ts

October 2023
After a September busy period, I got the chance to pop down to Wales to check on progress with the conversion rebuild, and a chance to take a look at another Defender project they had in the garage - a 130 receiving 165kW in VW ID batteries spread across the vehicle.

Plenty on the 130 on their YouTube channel. Back to our build and on first impression it didn’t seem that the early December collection would be feasible, but after a walk around, over 90% of the HV and LV wiring is complete. This has been a large part of the project with ECC ensuring all builds are R100 compliant (UNECE Regs). Inertia cutoff switches, “in-gear buzzers” and various other additions have been fitted to meet the new requirements.

With the wiring ending, the battery boxes are now off for powder coating. Once complete, the final assembly will commence, with testing scheduled for early November. While the testing is underway, there will be an MOT and associated official checks if/as required, and plenty of conversion paperwork. I’ll try and cover that next month.

During September the new Exmoor Trim 2nd row seats and front centre seat arrived, and I was able to drop off the front seats I recovered with the Exmoor trim kit. So come December it should be looking ready for collection, but with plenty of scope for some at home aesthetics tinkering.

Interesting how he says the 'pile of oily mess' is really complicated, comparing to the sealed units of battery and drive motor, but if you treat a diesel/petrol engine as a sealed unit then what's complicated about either?
I wouldn't like to open up a Tesla motor and let all the magic smoke out!!! I'll bet there's more to them then the motor in your desk fan