Here is a great article on an electric conversion to a model almost identical to the one I have. I have to ask myself if I would do it?
Read the full article here: https://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/this-is-the-most-efficient-classic-land-rover-ever-made-ar189626.html
Electric Four-Wheel-Drive Models Are The Need Of The Hour
In a country like Australia, where the majority of the population has access to coasts and outback, Jaunt Motors’ CEO Dave Budge, noted that a Land Rover was best-suited for trips where there’s no way to get other than a 4×4. Despite the fact that the countrymen were buying four-wheel-drive models exclusively, there was no EV that powered all the wheels. This challenge meant converting a Land Rover into an electric vehicle was the way to go. “The time was right, people have been converting cars for 10-15 years,” says Budge. “We were at a point where it wasn’t an engineering challenge – we knew it could be done – it was more of a design and user interface challenge.”
Why The Land Rover?
For its first vehicle, Budge and the company’s co-founder Marteen Burger, selected a 1971 Land Rover Series 2a.The reason behind choosing the Series Land Rover, other than its rugged build and off-road friendliness, was that it came with aluminum panels that aren’t prone to rusting.
The body-on-frame architecture further allowed it to be equipped with a larger battery pack. Also, the basic dimensions have stayed the same for most of the last 70 years. These dimensions allowed the folks at Jaunt Motors to better understand how to fit everything in with some parts removed and some parts added – including ten large Tesla batteries selected for their energy efficiency and high density.
Now coming to the conversion process, the company ripped open the Land Rover and removed the internal combustion engine, the fuel tank, exhaust, radiator, and cooling systems, and essentially anything that was noisy and smelly. These parts were swapped with an electric powertrain that consisted of a Hyper 9 motor, Tesla Model S batteries, a charging system, and regenerative braking, that resulted in the birth of the ‘Juniper’.The SUV now makes 134 horses and 173 pound-feet of torque.
Apart from the constraints that come up generally in a conversion like this, the biggest one was that 3D scanning was needed. However, a 3D model of a Land Rover chassis didn’t exist, so Jaunt teamed up with Artec and Thinglab to make one. Artec Leo scanner was used for this, that allows accuracy up to 0.1 mm. A color mesh file was also created which allowed for renders and image creation. With Artec Studio, a high resolution color OBJ along with a heavily decimated file more manageable for CAD packages were also produced.
Final Thoughts
The company has already converted two Land Rovers. The first one was made for Mountain Ridge Winery, which even created a new wine in honor of their new EV. This was done to make more plans targeted at vacation destinations such as wineries and breweries. The other one is available for rental, although the SUV is in demand and bookings are made in advance. The company has five more conversions in the pipeline for early next year.
Do you think such conversions are the way to enjoy old-school vehicles, keeping in mind the climate change and the transition to electric vehicles? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
About the author:
Sidd Dhimaan Associate Editor and Truck Expert – sidd@topspeed.com Sidd joined the Topspeed.com team in 2017 as an intern and in less than a year he earned a full-time position as an associate editor and junior automotive expert. He is currently our pickup truck expert and focuses his attention on heavy-duty and off-road vehicles.
As a full-on enthusiast, Sidd has been active in the automotive world his entire life. He started reading about cars and trucks at the age of 5 and has attended and reported numerous auto shows and race events. Over the years, Sidd has become an expert among his peers, especially in the field of pickup trucks, and finds himself constantly wrapped up the day-to-day news and developments of the truck and sportscar world.
In all honesty, Sidd’s love is divided between cars and trucks, music, and acting, but he manages to devote 100-percent of his heart to all three.