Despite or perhaps because of the all-new SUV being launched, older Land Rover Defenders are more popular than ever. We're talking boxy design and simple engineering from the last century. But what if that hid some modern Tesla technology, wouldn't that be cool?
Today, Mat Watson from Carwow reviews not one but two such vehicles that have been converted to run on Tesla batteries. Opening the hood to find a cell is like discovering your grandma secretly listens to techno and has a tattoo sleeve.
Even though the technology package is borrowed from the Tesla Model S 100D, the layout isn't the same. In fact, you could say it's been reversed. A single motor sits in the middle of the chassis, rotated and connected to prop shafts and electronic locking diffs at both ends. Meanwhile, the battery that used to sit under the Tesla's floor is split up. 60 kWh of it takes up the whole area under the hood while the other 40 kWh is under the trunk.
They can fast-charge really well and the range is pretty decent for such brick-like vehicles. It's even better when you're going off-road.
Splitting the batteries gives the old Defenders the same weight distribution they would have normally. But get this: they're also the same weight. The one that looks like a green Bronco roadster is only 2,000 kg, which works out to 4,409 lbs. What were those old engines made out of, locomotive iron? The 4-door pickup is a little heavier at 2,600 kg or 5732 lbs. That's comparable to an AMG G 63.
Since we mentioned German V8s, you're probably wondering how fast the Tesla-powered Land Rovers are. So were we. The Tesla motors apparently make about 450 horsepower and are supposed to reach 60 mph (97 kph) in 5 seconds. Sounds difficult to believe, right? Well, Mat tested the lighter one and got to 60 in under 4 seconds. "Blimey!" as the British would say.
The black one is apparently called the SVX Spectre Edition Defender because it's inspired by the one in the James Bond movie. That's the one where Bautista is like a scary, unstoppable killing machine. It's also the one with the Jaguar vs. Aston chase scene.
Anyway, all those cool mods you see do come at a price: £150,000 or about $208,000. Ouch! But how many people do you know who have an electric James Bond villain car?
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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