FROM V-8 TO EV
Gas-Guzzler Turned Electron-Sipper Becomes Owner’s Perfect EV
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY JEROME ANDRE
R
EPLACINGa Land Rover’s powertrain is not new; even equipping it with an electric motor is not. Land Rover did it in 2013 with a limited run of “research vehicles.” Since there was only a handful of converted Defenders in the world, specialists such as London Electric Cars have recently been offering turnkey solutions, converting any Defender to e-power.
According to Matthew Quitter, who founded LEC in 2017, it is, in fact, reasonably straightforward … “well, once you have done it a few times.” Matt even compares it to assembling a remotecontrolled electric model car. The components and systems are remarkably similar.
Matthew and his team repurpose Nissan’s EV technology from its bestselling Leaf. This follows the circular economy concept: recycling, retrofitting, and stopping wasting. Some might argue that’s old news for Land Rover owners since they tend to keep their pride and joy for decades, preserving them regardless of cost. But this goes further and applies to all types of classic cars, and eventually, large-scale retrofitting.
Classic Cars, Modern Tech
Recycling does not mean you cannot embrace modern technologies and production techniques. Matthew leads a team of CAD designers and automotive engineers using the latest top-notch tools. They produce their own parts thanks to onsite 3D printing, or they get them milled out of aluminum blocks in the UK capital.
LONDON Electric Cars recycle electric car components to convert Land Rovers and classic cars.
To convert each vehicle model, they scan the engine bay, undercarriage, and chassis to design scalable solutions for consecutive builds and speed up the prototyping process. Not so long ago, all these technologies were reserved for OEMs. The next step is to prepare the recommissioned Nissan powertrain. Again, the team covers the whole process in-house, from stripping a complete, written-off Nissan Leaf to reprogramming its brain to work as a stand-alone unit in the Defender.