Defender goes electric

The 'Electric Defender' is claimed to produce zero emissions without compromising the Defender's tough, go anywhere capabilities.

"Investing in innovation has always been the lifeblood of our business and our engineering teams are working hard to develop innovative new technology to provide sustainable motoring solutions," said John Edwards, Land Rover Global Brand Director.

In the Electric Defenders, a 70kW / 330Nm electric motor, combined with a 300-volt lithium ion battery, replaces the standard diesel engine and transmission. Range is described as being in the region of 50 miles, or up to eight hours use before recharging is necessary, whichever comes first.

Some power can be restored through generative braking. For example, using the Defender's Hill Descent Control can generative 30kW of energy, with almost all the regenerated energy able to be recovered and stored, due to the battery technology. Land Rover say up to 80-percent of the kinetic energy can be recovered this way, depending on conditions.

The electric powerplant and battery add around 100kg of additional weight compared to a regular, diesel-powered Defender 110, depending on body style. Some weight is saved through the elimination of water-cooling equipment (the 70kW electric motor is air-cooled), but this is cancelled out by the battery weight. Placed in the engine bay, the battery pack weighs 410kg.

While range is poor, Land Rover says the plug-in Defender's legendary off-road ability is unaffected, as the standard four-wheel-drive system and diff lock is retained. As the electric motor delivers maximum torque from startup, there's no need for rowing through the gears to get the right traction. The Electric Defender's transmission consists of a single speed 2.1:1 reduction gearbox, which is combined with the standard Defender four-wheel-drive system. This is combined with a modified version of Land Rover's Terrain Response System.

Developed by Land Rover's Engineering Team, the Electric Defender is based on the Land Rover electric research vehicle, Leopard 1, which itself was based on a Defender. Trials to test the electric Defender's off-road and towing capability included fording an 800mm water crossing, and hauling a 12-tonne 'road train' up a 13-percent gradient.

At present, there are no plans for the Electric Defender to enter production, with Land Rover saying the seven examples that are set to go on show at Geneva will be further developed in specialist applications later this year.

"The project is acting as a rolling laboratory for Land Rover to assess electric vehicles," said Anthony Harper, Jaguar Land Rover Head of Research.

"It gives us a chance to evolve and test some of the technologies that may one day be introduced into future Land Rover models."