Converting Work Vehicles To EVs Could Be Economical As Well As Environmentally Friendly

Converting classic cars to electric drivetrains is a subject sure to get EV haters upset. Although a classic car can be one of the least reliable forms of transport you can choose and most polluting, apparently this is part of the character. But electrification can be much more than just a virtue signaling vanity project for a rich classic car aficionado. It has the potential to prolong the useful life and massively cut the costs of working vehicles too.

Going electric isn’t just about zero tailpipe emissions, after all. Despite the dramatic increases in energy costs this year, electric vehicles are still a lot cheaper to run than fossil fuel per mile, particularly when not charged using expensive public services. They also have fewer components to go wrong, so are more reliable and cost less to maintain. And even though there are claims that “EVs can’t tow”, in fact the immediate torque of an electric engine makes it ideal for pulling a trailer over rough terrain. An EV’s range is greatly reduced if you’re towing a caravan at highway speeds, but if you’re pulling something around a farm at low velocity, not so much.

In fact, working farm vehicles are ideal candidates for electrification. An EV is perfect for shorter start-stop journeys, and that’s what a lot of farm vehicles do. They also don’t necessarily stray very far from the home base, which can have its own charger (or chargers) as well as local renewable energy sources, further reducing fuel costs. Fossil fuel engines, on the other hand, are at their worst economy when accelerating and decelerating at low speeds or on short urban journeys. A farm might have its own fuel storage, but that still must come from an external distributor.

So an electric vehicle does have potential savings, but of course they are expensive to buy new and a farm might have existing vehicles that are perfectly adequate in terms of capabilities. This is where an EV upgrade of an existing vehicle, rather than an entirely new one, could be the most cost-effective route. To illustrate this potential, UK EV conversion specialist Electrogenic has been working on a pilot scheme to create a drop-in kit for farm-based Land Rovers. The aim is to make a kit that costs £24,000 ($31,600) plus sales tax but saves around £6,000 ($7,900) a year compared to the running costs of the original diesel vehicle, so in theory will pay for itself in just four years.

The Electrogenic kit is meant to leave as much of the original vehicle intact as possible. The electric motor fits straight onto the existing gearbox, so only the petrol engine is removed, and batteries won’t significantly add to weight either. The driving technique is essentially the same, with all the gearing modes available as before. However, the electric motor won’t need oil changes, new spark plugs, or even air filters, so is essentially maintenance free. The electric motor provides 120bhp and 235Nm of torque, which might not seem a lot, but a 1980s Land Rover 90 or 110 only had 68hp, and even the classic Td5 engine of the late 1990s had similar power (122hp), albeit with more torque (300Nm).

You only get 120 miles of range, but it’s unlikely a farm vehicle will do as much as that in a single day. So while only 7.5kW “Type 2” AC charging is available, the battery can easily be replenished overnight. Electrogenic claims the batteries will last for 200,000 miles, so the vehicle is likely to endure decades beyond its four-year saving cycle. Land Rovers are well known for going hundreds of thousands of miles with proper maintenance, so this is unlikely to be a vehicle that needs replacing after four years, even if it is already some years old before conversion.

A number of Land Rovers with the conversion have been tested at Worthy Farm for the last 18 months. If you haven’t heard of Worthy Farm before, you should have, because it is where the legendary Glastonbury Festival has been taking place for over 50 years, although not during Covid. Allegedly, they have been performing their duties very well on this dairy-oriented farm.

The conversion does sound like a good deal compared to a replacement Land Rover, too. Buying a secondhand approved Defender will cost you at least £38,000 ($50,000), and the new one starts at £45,000 ($59,000). So while electrifying your old 90 or 110 won’t give you the modern features of the new version, it is cost effective for a working vehicle you already own that doesn’t need them – and apparently the heater will work immediately, because it doesn’t need the engine to heat up to work.

I visited Electrogenic’s factory in Oxford recently, and while they didn’t let me try out one of the Land Rovers, I did get to drive a couple of the company’s non-agricultural conversions – a classic Mini, and a Porsche 356. These were unlike driving a modern EV, because they still have gears and clutches. You can start off in virtually any gear, although a lower one is better for a quicker getaway. These cars maintain much of the character of the original vehicle, though, so if you grew up with a manual “stick” shift you can pretty much operate them in the same way you have been for decades. They also won’t stall or have trouble getting up a hill because you’re in the wrong gear. Also missing is the noise the and the smell.

An electric classic car conversion may seem like a luxury toy for the well-heeled – and they do generally cost a lot more than just buying a brand-new EV. But converting a work vehicle can be a different matter. Keeping the price down by only changing what’s necessary, and not providing features beyond what fits the intended use, can mean the saving in fuel will make great financial sense well within the lifetime of the vehicle.

The Electrogenic Land Rover kit isn’t officially launched yet but is imminent. You can watch the prototypes in action on Worthy Farm here.