If you saw our last YouTube video on converting a land rover to electric, I think, like a week or two ago, you’ll recognise this Series II that looks very similar to this, but was a little bit more restored. Shiny new paintwork, shiny new seats, shiny new roof, it was really nice.
Anyways, this was at the beginning of that video, where I showed it in build, wires everywhere, mounts, and everything everywhere. I think we’re a week or two later now, and it’s fully built and on test. So, I thought I’d show you some of the bits I missed last time.
If you haven’t watched the previous video, go watch that quickly first. There’s some nice driving, and a bit more detail under the bonnet.
This one’s going to be more about underneath and the interior. A couple of auxiliary systems you don’t think about so much in the conversion. So we’ll start over here.
Charging
First thing to note – she’s charging. Which is quite cool, ’cause it’s just charging from this, which is connected to a three-pin socket in the wall. That’s it. No wall charger here, no fast charge units.
I don’t even have a wall charger in the workshop. Don’t need one. These slow ones are totally fine; it’s called granny charging.
The charge port is tucked where the fuel filler used to be, a circle with a tube and everything in it. Looks quite nice now, locked in, so if you leave it on the street, someone can’t just come take it out, electrocute themselves, or, you know, stop your car from charging ‘cause that’s funny.
Press the release button, then boom, that releases.
V2L – Vehicle to Load
Quick thing to show you while we’re here, we’ve spoken about it in a previous video: V2L, vehicle-to-load power. Bit of a development from us. Basically, it lets you pull power out of the car.
This thing is Type 2 on one side (same as the charger plug), but this side is a three-pin socket. So we just stick that in, and you hear the car come to life.
Hold this button—boom, power out of the vehicle. My trusty Hoover from the last video plugs in. There we go, look at all this dust. Clever.
Why would you want that? Honestly, bit of a tricky one. Unless you’re working down the bottom of a field and want an angle grinder, or you’re at a campsite, toaster, or TV. Power cut at home? Microwave. Lights. Whatever.
Coolest one? You can charge another car. Just plug the charger I showed you earlier into that, and now you’re charging your electric car off your electric car. Standard on all our builds now – because why not have it?
Under the Bonnet
You’ll recognise it, standard from us. Felten UBP, cooling systems, fuse board, rad pack, all in there.
But, a little development from last time – heating.
We’re doing liquid heating, not PTC. Better efficiency, and it works with the original Smith’s heater. There’s the header tank, just normal coolant, which gets heated by a high-voltage water heater. Think of it as a VW part.
We’ve run out of space in the engine bay, Series bay is smaller, so we’ve relocated it. Under the seat.
Usually there’s a cover; I’ve taken it off for this. There’s the high-voltage water heater down there. High-voltage is coming to it in yellow. Two bits of pipework, pump under there somewhere too.
Hot water gets pumped around. Goes to the header tank, then to the original Smith’s heater. You start the car, switch on the heater with the original controls, and it comes to life. You can open those weird little vents, or close them, and then it goes out to the windscreen.
Means we don’t have to change these. You’re not finding a circular PTC heater, just not a thing anymore. But circular water heaters? Still exists. So it all works, and it’s still original.
The Tunnel & Interior Bits
You’ve probably seen this before: tunnel access for the motor underneath. Most clients now get this carpeted – not something we do – but it finishes it off nicely.
In this car, I quite like the jagged old floors. It shows this car’s got proper character. It hasn’t been touched cosmetically. Underneath, yes. Bodywork – rattly. And that’s the whole point. So, let’s go underneath.
Series vs Defender – The Axles
Right. Under here is where it gets different from a Defender.
In a Defender, like that one out there, 300 TDI, 97/’98 – we don’t touch the axles, brakes, suspension.
Series, can’t do that. Axles are too weak for the Tesla motor. And more importantly, Series cars had selective 4WD. Little yellow and red knobs to switch in when you go off-road.
Defenders, always 4WD. So big a change is needed.
Tesla motor sits where the gearbox used to be. In Series cars, that’s harder – crossmembers are welded on, not bolted like in a Defender. Means we have to drop the motor in from above, which is annoying. But hey – Series Land Rovers.
No more selective 2WD/4WD. It’s constant 4WD now – same as Defenders and Range Rover Classics.
Which means – you can’t use UJs anymore.
CV Joint Conversion
This gets a bit mechanical. I’m not the mechanic. We don’t do this bit. We’ve got a partner for it.
Broadly, running 4WD full-time on UJs just doesn’t work. They wear out. Fast. Not designed for that. So we use CV joints instead.
Same as in Defenders. Done with a kit from Design and Development Engineering. Not cheap, but very good.
Inside the same old axle casing – which looks a bit rusty – you now get:
- New half shafts
- CV joints
- New swivels
- Disc brakes
Behaves like a Defender now. 280 horsepower with drum brakes? Not a good idea.
Rear Axle
Rear’s simpler. No steering, no UJs. But still:
- Disc brakes
- New diff
- Electric handbrake caliper
That bit’s from us. Electric handbrake sits on the disc. Old handbrake used to be on the gearbox, but Tesla unit replaces the engine, gearbox, and transfer box – all in one neat box. No gearbox = no handbrake. So now we do electric ones.
Double win – better braking and lets us do the electric handbrake.
Final Thoughts
This whole axle upgrade adds a chunk to the cost, think ~£15k by the time you’ve done both ends. But Series cars are desirable, and they need it. For a full breakdown of typical conversion costs, see our pricing page.
This one – solid underneath. New chassis, axles, the works. But the top? Totally original. Rattly. Seatbelts don’t recoil. Roof strap flaps around. But that’s the charm. You’re not in a BMW i3. You’re in a Land Rover.
Go watch the other video if you want to see it driving.
Next Video Sneak Peek
Next up? The blue Defender. 110kWh seat box conversion. Only Defender 90 in the world with 110kWh in it. Longest range 90 on Earth.
It’s covered up now, don’t look. That’s for tomorrow’s video. I’ll edit it eventually. Maybe.
Thanks for watching. If you want to talk, you know where I am.
See you next time.