Land Rover Defender EV conversions — sacrilege or sensational?

Be those petrol or diesel, these fossil-fuelled engines have become an integral part in every Defender to roll off the production line since the beginning.

What happens, then, if you bring them into the future with battery power? Well, Mat’s been behind the wheel of two Tesla-powered Land Rover Defenders to find out.

These conversions are done by Electric Classic Cars, which takes the 60kWh pack from a Tesla Model S 100d and stuffs it in place of the petrol or diesel engine of any Defender you care to bring them.

Despite the batteries, both cars Mat has here weigh the same as when they left the factory — 2,000kg for the relatively spartan green ’90’ model and 2,600kg for the all-black ‘110’ Defender.

There’s plenty of power too – with both having 450hp and 450Nm of torque. Will that instantaneous torque help or hinder the Defender’s off-road abilities, though?

Well, to find that out and to see just how capable these eco-friendly 4x4s truly are you’ll need to watch Mat put them to the test…

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