The process of electrifying classic cars has increased massively in popularity. With rising fuel prices and more support for EV owners, Electrogenic hopes to add something really interesting to the market with its new ‘drop in’ kit for working Land Rover Defenders.
Electrogenic has worked its magic on other classic cars such as the Volkswagen Beetle, the Porsche 365 and the Mini Cooper. We were lucky enough to drive the last two of these in May.
Now the legendary Land Rover Defender is set to meet the future as Electrogenic plans to market an EV upgrade kit to suit the agricultural sector. To ensure it’s fit for the hardest of challenges, the Defender with the drop in kit has been tested at Worthy Farm, host of the Glastonbury Festival, for the last 18 months.
The added benefit of this kit is that the vehicle requires no maintenance, which is something classic cars owners are all too familiar with.
An electric motor is attached to the Defender’s clutch bell housing, keeping its gears. Owners will have 120bhp and 235 Nm of torque at their disposal, which is comparable to the original diesel engine. Mounted under the bonnet are batteries producing 52 kWh with more than 100 miles of range. AC overnight charging at up to 7.5kW comes as standard via a Type 2 connector. Owners can also choose faster charging as an optional extra too.
The electric motor adds to the Defender’s rugged personality as it can face even the toughest of terrain thanks to readily available torque and dual-stage regenerative braking.
Compared to the diesel-powered Defender, owners could potentially save £6,000 a year of on-farm use. The price of the conversion kit? It’s estimated to be around £24,000 + VAT. However, should this kit be as money saving as Electrogenic says, it could pay for itself in around four years.
As mentioned before, the powertrain is maintenance-free and will last for a very long time. Electrogenic claim that the batteries will be able to do 200,000 miles before they need changing, giving the owners peace of mind.
We were treated to a preview of the Defender kit when we visited Electrogenic’s Oxford premises in May.