Tesla Tom

Member
So I recently bought a Tesla and pretty much instantly realised that fossil fuels are dead, I'm not really the techy geeky type who likes that kind of thing but I have to say I am so impressed. I immediately stated googling Defender EV Conversions and found reference to a few. My 110 has done 145,000 miles and although it's still going strong it feels ready fro a make over. Conversions vary in style but the one thing they have in common is they are seriously expensive! I realise that any EV conversion is going to be pricey simply due to the cost of the components, Lithium Ion batteries aren't cheap! But I think I could do something better. I rebuilt my first 110 from the ground up, so the engineering side of things doesn't scare me at all, but there's more to an EV conversion than just nuts and bolts.

What you need is: (please feel free to chip in here)
Remove: engine, gear box, transfer box (some conversions don't) axles, (some conversions don't.) fuel tank.
Add: electric motor, motor controller, lots of batteries, electric heater element, electric PS Pump, electric brake servo, battery cooling system? motor cooling system? charging system battery management system...
Then you have to make the components all talk to each other, thats the tricky part. With a modern vehicle like my 2.2tdci there's the CANBUS system to integrate so that everything still works. This is where I fall down, I'll need someone to do the programming for me. This is why in the US where EV conversions are getting popular that are more common in older classic vehicles where there is no CANBUS to worry about.

Many components are available off the shelf thanks to a burgeoning EV conversion market, so I think a decent conversion can be done for a lot less than the £70k that seems to be the cheapest out there at the moment. What would make this even cheaper is if a few vehicles were converted at the same time, the first one is going to be the most expensive by far, the second and third will be easy by comparison. I can't see why with a bit of preparation a decent bolt on kit could be made which would make EV conversions more affordable.

I think I have spent £30,000 or so on diesel in my 110 since I bought it so I think the cost of an EV conversion should be looking at making a return over say a 10 year period. At the current costs I don't think it would but it would be interesting to see how close you could get. My guess is that an electric 110 would be about half as efficient as my Tesla, maybe slightly better than half, the Tesla is way more aerodynamic but still quite heavy thanks to the batteries. So the tesla will do about 300 miles using about £8 worth or electricity (that's charging up at home) so if the landy cost £16 to do 300 miles it would still be way cheaper to run than the existing diesel which costs about £70 to do 300 miles. As fuel costs rise this will probably become even more expensive to run. But the conversion cost is huge!

There are lots of advantages to the defender as an EV conversion, the simple mechanicals and vast amounts of space available for batteries, (the engine bay and fuel tank spaces alone would probably suffice). The simple ladder chassis makes attaching motors very straight forward too.

So are any of you crazy enough to want to try and convert a defender? I would love to do this as a group, pooling resources, expertise and buying power. The end result could be an EV kit that could be sold as a bolt on to other landy owners.

The setup I am looking at right now ditches the Transfer box and puts an electric motor on each prop shaft, located where the T Box was, on paper it delivers 320Hp and 370Lb of torque. All the torque is available at 0RPM, so it should be pretty good...
 
I'm cynical, so I'm expecting electric prices to rise greatly, and will probably attract extra tax and duty like regular fuel does currently, with special meters measuring your EV usage
Once the engine and gearbox etc are out and assuming you will be replacing the dash, what canbus is left?
 
I think my defender has a body control module. I'm not certain though. I don't think leccy prices will get close to fuel. Plus you can make your own leccy. I have been looking at getting a solar array setup on one of my sheds and possibly a battery storage system. That way you can fill up with sunshine.. It's all a bit spendy though.
 
didn't think about that! the BCM!
you can build a solar array, though i think getting enough power would be ambitious, i'm sure the gov't would tax it if they could, once they think they can get away with it. what does a home charger pull? 10A like a kettle? thats ~2400watts
 
A simple 3 pin plug home charger pulls 10A but that's only charging at about 10Mph! The dedicated home chargers run on a 32A circuit, thats what you'd need. You'd probably want at least a 75KWh battery so thats 75KWh to fully charge it at £10-12p per KWh
 
So I recently bought a Tesla and pretty much instantly realised that fossil fuels are dead

That is a rather narrow minded and somewhat dumb view of the world tbh. Currently EV's are by and large for rich fella's, who frankly need not worry about the cost of fuel in the first place. As is demonstrated by your entire post....

Plus anyone that really thinks pure EV is the only future, clearly has a lack of common sense. There are many reasons why it is not actually viable as the prime way of moving all road traffic. At least not for a long long long time.

As for converting a Land Rover to EV. This has some fundamental questions to solve such as how many motors, 1, 2, 4? And do you retain a gearbox and/or a transfer box. Or are you not needing the full capabilities of a Land Rover 110? i.e. towing 3.5 tonnes, hauling 1 tonne payloads, road use and of course low speed off road control with high wheel torque and engine braking.

I would also suggest that in order to remain legal on the UK roads, such a conversion would be rather difficult to perform unless you plan to have the vehicle IVA'd:
https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-registration/radically-altered-vehicles

I would also suggest, citing ****ers who butcher classic cars by removing one of the fundamental things that makes them a 'classic' in the first place, is unwise when trying to preach the benefits of EV's. However I wish you luck in your endeavour, which will undoubtably never be cost effective or even remotely close.

I'm not really the techy geeky type who likes that kind of thing but I have to say I am so impressed. I immediately stated googling Defender EV Conversions and found reference to a few. My 110 has done 145,000 miles and although it's still going strong it feels ready fro a make over. Conversions vary in style but the one thing they have in common is they are seriously expensive! I realise that any EV conversion is going to be pricey simply due to the cost of the components, Lithium Ion batteries aren't cheap! But I think I could do something better. I rebuilt my first 110 from the ground up, so the engineering side of things doesn't scare me at all, but there's more to an EV conversion than just nuts and bolts.

What you need is: (please feel free to chip in here)
Remove: engine, gear box, transfer box (some conversions don't) axles, (some conversions don't.) fuel tank.
Add: electric motor, motor controller, lots of batteries, electric heater element, electric PS Pump, electric brake servo, battery cooling system? motor cooling system? charging system battery management system...
Then you have to make the components all talk to each other, thats the tricky part. With a modern vehicle like my 2.2tdci there's the CANBUS system to integrate so that everything still works. This is where I fall down, I'll need someone to do the programming for me. This is why in the US where EV conversions are getting popular that are more common in older classic vehicles where there is no CANBUS to worry about.

Many components are available off the shelf thanks to a burgeoning EV conversion market, so I think a decent conversion can be done for a lot less than the £70k that seems to be the cheapest out there at the moment. What would make this even cheaper is if a few vehicles were converted at the same time, the first one is going to be the most expensive by far, the second and third will be easy by comparison. I can't see why with a bit of preparation a decent bolt on kit could be made which would make EV conversions more affordable.

I think I have spent £30,000 or so on diesel in my 110 since I bought it so I think the cost of an EV conversion should be looking at making a return over say a 10 year period. At the current costs I don't think it would but it would be interesting to see how close you could get. My guess is that an electric 110 would be about half as efficient as my Tesla, maybe slightly better than half, the Tesla is way more aerodynamic but still quite heavy thanks to the batteries. So the tesla will do about 300 miles using about £8 worth or electricity (that's charging up at home) so if the landy cost £16 to do 300 miles it would still be way cheaper to run than the existing diesel which costs about £70 to do 300 miles. As fuel costs rise this will probably become even more expensive to run. But the conversion cost is huge!

There are lots of advantages to the defender as an EV conversion, the simple mechanicals and vast amounts of space available for batteries, (the engine bay and fuel tank spaces alone would probably suffice). The simple ladder chassis makes attaching motors very straight forward too.

So are any of you crazy enough to want to try and convert a defender? I would love to do this as a group, pooling resources, expertise and buying power. The end result could be an EV kit that could be sold as a bolt on to other landy owners.

The setup I am looking at right now ditches the Transfer box and puts an electric motor on each prop shaft, located where the T Box was, on paper it delivers 320Hp and 370Lb of torque. All the torque is available at 0RPM, so it should be pretty good...
 
No the future are Transportation Pads.
reality game.jpg
 
So I recently bought a Tesla and pretty much instantly realised that fossil fuels are dead, I'm not really the techy geeky type who likes that kind of thing but I have to say I am so impressed. I immediately stated googling Defender EV Conversions and found reference to a few. My 110 has done 145,000 miles and although it's still going strong it feels ready fro a make over. Conversions vary in style but the one thing they have in common is they are seriously expensive! I realise that any EV conversion is going to be pricey simply due to the cost of the components, Lithium Ion batteries aren't cheap! But I think I could do something better. I rebuilt my first 110 from the ground up, so the engineering side of things doesn't scare me at all, but there's more to an EV conversion than just nuts and bolts.

What you need is: (please feel free to chip in here)
Remove: engine, gear box, transfer box (some conversions don't) axles, (some conversions don't.) fuel tank.
Add: electric motor, motor controller, lots of batteries, electric heater element, electric PS Pump, electric brake servo, battery cooling system? motor cooling system? charging system battery management system...
Then you have to make the components all talk to each other, thats the tricky part. With a modern vehicle like my 2.2tdci there's the CANBUS system to integrate so that everything still works. This is where I fall down, I'll need someone to do the programming for me. This is why in the US where EV conversions are getting popular that are more common in older classic vehicles where there is no CANBUS to worry about.

Many components are available off the shelf thanks to a burgeoning EV conversion market, so I think a decent conversion can be done for a lot less than the £70k that seems to be the cheapest out there at the moment. What would make this even cheaper is if a few vehicles were converted at the same time, the first one is going to be the most expensive by far, the second and third will be easy by comparison. I can't see why with a bit of preparation a decent bolt on kit could be made which would make EV conversions more affordable.

I think I have spent £30,000 or so on diesel in my 110 since I bought it so I think the cost of an EV conversion should be looking at making a return over say a 10 year period. At the current costs I don't think it would but it would be interesting to see how close you could get. My guess is that an electric 110 would be about half as efficient as my Tesla, maybe slightly better than half, the Tesla is way more aerodynamic but still quite heavy thanks to the batteries. So the tesla will do about 300 miles using about £8 worth or electricity (that's charging up at home) so if the landy cost £16 to do 300 miles it would still be way cheaper to run than the existing diesel which costs about £70 to do 300 miles. As fuel costs rise this will probably become even more expensive to run. But the conversion cost is huge!

There are lots of advantages to the defender as an EV conversion, the simple mechanicals and vast amounts of space available for batteries, (the engine bay and fuel tank spaces alone would probably suffice). The simple ladder chassis makes attaching motors very straight forward too.

So are any of you crazy enough to want to try and convert a defender? I would love to do this as a group, pooling resources, expertise and buying power. The end result could be an EV kit that could be sold as a bolt on to other landy owners.

The setup I am looking at right now ditches the Transfer box and puts an electric motor on each prop shaft, located where the T Box was, on paper it delivers 320Hp and 370Lb of torque. All the torque is available at 0RPM, so it should be pretty good...


I think a lot of range calculations are best case scenarios in a slippery modern car shape made from lightweight materials, low resistance tyres, ideal climate, not towing anything or carrying heavy loads....
Horses for courses. The Defender is probably the worst vehicle possible to EV. You would be sacrificing range and usability with outright speed, which is crazy for a utility vehicle. Other vehicles, luxury cars etc would be well suited to a conversion.
 
That is a rather narrow minded and somewhat dumb view of the world tbh. Currently EV's are by and large for rich fella's, who frankly need not worry about the cost of fuel in the first place. As is demonstrated by your entire post....

Plus anyone that really thinks pure EV is the only future, clearly has a lack of common sense. There are many reasons why it is not actually viable as the prime way of moving all road traffic. At least not for a long long long time.

As for converting a Land Rover to EV. This has some fundamental questions to solve such as how many motors, 1, 2, 4? And do you retain a gearbox and/or a transfer box. Or are you not needing the full capabilities of a Land Rover 110? i.e. towing 3.5 tonnes, hauling 1 tonne payloads, road use and of course low speed off road control with high wheel torque and engine braking.

I would also suggest that in order to remain legal on the UK roads, such a conversion would be rather difficult to perform unless you plan to have the vehicle IVA'd:
https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-registration/radically-altered-vehicles

I would also suggest, citing ****ers who butcher classic cars by removing one of the fundamental things that makes them a 'classic' in the first place, is unwise when trying to preach the benefits of EV's. However I wish you luck in your endeavour, which will undoubtably never be cost effective or even remotely close.
A few weeks ago I would have agreed with most of that, but when you actually look into it EV's are the future. Like it or not. There will still be diesel HGV's, tractors and plant but I think surprisingly quickly we'll all be driving electric cars.
Regarding the gear ratios I don't know the answer, on paper the electric motors deliver so much torque at such low revs, (from zero in fact) that a low box might not be required. But some conversions have kept the T Box. For towing which I do a lot of, torque is key, and for off roading which I do a fair bit of too (at work rather than in competition). The best landy engine I had previously was the 2.8TDI that Motor and Diesel used to import, that developed peak torque at 1400RPM which was awesome off road. But an EV will be way better than that so it should be really good. I think with the right diff ratios and the right motors (I'm thinking two) you could go from crawling over rocks to motorway speeds without any need to change gear. I may be wrong about this though.
You're right, it won't be cost effective. But the best things rarely are.
 
at the moment, the only way forward is nuclear. wind and solar have uses but not exactly clean when you look at the full picture. wave/tidal is even worse and all are a blight to wildlife and the environment
that said, current nuclear isnt exactly clean
it would be interesting to see a study on direct comparison between internal combustion vs electric, specifically non-nuclear power plants and the efficiency of both, losses at the power plant, losses in transformers and power lines etc, then losses in the vehicle per mile driven.
 
Then again you’d have to question the ability of someone who can’t even post in the correct site section being able to join two cables together. :p:D

I’d have put this in the general Land Rover section. At least more people would know you’d bought a testler :rolleyes:
 
London Electric did a conversion on a 1983 RRC they used tesla components.

It only cost £50,000 :cool::D

Main issues were the rear springs had to be replaced for rather stiff units because of the weight and the boot floor had to be raised to accommodate the batteries.

It also couldn't really tow anything, and the other downside is the vehicle weight was close to 3 ton stock so with a trailer even remotely loaded you have to get an LGV/HGV licenece and fit a tacho LOL :D

To be fair i'm not a cynical however the idea of a full electric LR is an oddity, a reason there isn't one now, even though electric hype has been strong for close to 5 years..

Some underestimate the amount of batteries needed to move such a vehicle, a Tesla "naked" with nothing in it is light "in car terms" however even without an engine a landie is a heavy thing, so range isn't going to be great.

Also space, some have the odd thought that the batteries take up no space and can be just "stuffed in"..

However i doubt you could fit a full Tesla battery pack to a 110 with room to spare, in a 90 i'd say it would be close to impossible.

have you every wondered why the new EV Mini has less range than a Model S? :D

It is all about space :D

As for the future being electric, nothing is certain to be fair to 'em they can get good range, however Range is still an issue, you might of noticed the hype around Electric vehicle has gotten stronger but the range hasn't :oops::confused:

Towing too is an issue and for vehicles like the Range Rover etc that are heavy things to begin with i doubt they'll go full leccy anytime soon as their main prerogative "among many" is to make it lighter and more efficient :confused::D

As for Fuel prices rising..

That is a scare mongering tactic by the Gov and populus who preach "green" and bullshít,.

The money this cash cow of a goverment gets from Fuel and tax i doubt they'd give it up ;)

And to be fair how long are they gonna let you scrounge electric for free? ;)
How long will they allow a "no tax" policy?

Nothing comes free..
 

Similar threads