Driving A Brooklyn Spares Land Rover Defender Electric

Picture yourself sitting patiently at a junction, daydreaming if you want to go left or right in your 30-year-old or so Land Rover Defender. You hear birds chirping, children playing in the park, and people chatting on the pavement. And nothing else. No rattling, no rumble from a smelly old diesel engine, no whining from a gearbox. Did you break down? No, not really, as the familiar sensation of a classic Defender comes rushing back as soon as you hit the accelerator! This is what could happen if you, at one point in life, drop off your trusted Land Rover Defender at Brooklyn Spares to convert it to electric drive! And having driven it myself for a couple of hours, I must say it’s a surprisingly hilarious experience! 

It’s far from the first time we’ve stepped into the world of restomods, and nor is it the first time we’ve checked out something cool based on a Land Rover. However, the work done at Brooklyn Spares, a company in Breukelen, the Netherlands, is a bit different. Where most others modify cars to pristine condition, with ludicrous power and lavish interiors, Brooklyn Spares aims to retain the soul of every car they build and customise. And by soul, they mean the very essence of what the car was intended to be in the first place! Allow me to explain…

Brooklyn Spares x Electrogenic

Brooklyn Spares might sound like it comes out of New York, but the fact of the matter is the company is Dutch through and through. It’s located in Breukelen (which is where the name Brooklyn originates from, also for the NY borough) and was founded with the intention of preserving, restoring and modifying classic Land Rovers. From the earliest Series One models to more recent ones, and even Range Rovers, are welcome.

But the best part is, where others often turn to big V8s from General Motors (the much-seen LS-swap), Brooklyn Spares uses Ford and Jaguar components only. So don’t expect 500 horsepower or more, but modest power boosts instead to make navigating traffic easier. Various Ford Ecoboost 4- and 6-cylinder petrol engines can be dropped right in with only minimal modifications needed, and they communicate with ECUs, transmissions and so on, without a hitch. That means the Defender retains its soul as a utilitarian vehicle and, more importantly, its off-road capabilities are untouched! Better yet, with the power increase, the Defender feels adequately powered, rather than underpowered.

The work doesn’t end there, as modifications can also be done to the exterior and interior. Although Brooklyn Spares tends to preserve the look and feel of a vintage Defender, they can restore it to beyond factory fresh should a client desire to. Even a lavishly upgraded interior is a possibility, but talking to the guys and seeing the various cars in the works reveals this is rarely done. If you haven’t caught on, it’s all about character, even if that means a few dings and scrapes.

Brooklyn Spares also offers an EV conversion, which was an idea they played around with for a long while before finding a suitable partner to develop such a drivetrain with. With the rise of electric cars, it was only a matter of time before the car modifying game would start experimenting with battery power too. And although sales of new EVs might stagnate or even decline at the moment, there’s something to be said about an EV Defender if I’m honest. For starters, you can go anywhere, as the car is registered as an EV and therefore can bypass emissions restrictions in cities and such.

Searching for the right type of drivetrain led the Brooklyn Spares team to partner with Electrogenic, the company known for converting Mazda MX5s to electric drive, and develop drop-in kits to be installed at home (if the time, skills and space to do so are no issue). Together, they modified the EV drivetrain to fit the Defender, resulting in a system that is as easy to use as it can be, that works with the transmission and transfer box of the original car, and delivers on power as it should. The result? A Defender that hilariously messes with your senses, and that’s fit for wherever you want it to go.

Fit for the highlands, not the high street

The car you see here is the first car converted to electric drive by Brooklyn Spares. The client who owns this Defender 110 bought it at an auction in the Middle East, and was adamant to keep the exterior as it is. So that means it comes with faded paint blotches, scrapes, dents, a bit of surface rust here and there, but above all: soul! And, since it’s fit for the highlands and not the high street, it’s no big deal (to the client at least) if it gets some additional patina along the way.

From the outside, nothing special seems to be going on with the car. Sure, the Safari canopy sits on a beefed-up tubular construction to improve rigidity. Michael, one of the founders of Brooklyn Spares, explained that the original tube construction has always been a bit, well, flimsy. The new canvas top looks perfectly fit to the car, and since it was a very hot day, I actually liked the idea of an open driving experience very much! It’s underneath where the proverbial magic happens, though. Developed in partnership with Electrogenic, the EV conversion kit in this 1995 Land Rover Defender consists of a 120KW electric motor with an output of 163bhp. The battery pack offers a range of up to 200km, but more powerful and longer-range options are also available.

Stepping into the car reveals that the unique character of the Defender has indeed been retained. The interior is a bit cramped, and you sit very upright and rather close to the steering wheel. It’s what you expect from a 4×4 designed for a hard life, right? It was never intended to be a comfortable long-distance cruiser. Anyway, since I am 2.01m, it was a bit of a squeeze getting in, but once seated, all was fine!

Starting the car works very similarly to a normal one, by turning a key and waiting for the EV system to kick into life. A simple knob on the dashboard lets you switch between drives: Forward, Neutral, Reverse. A dash-mounted display shows you things like range and so on, and on the outside, there’s a hidden plug that accommodates both a normal charging plug and fast charging. In terms of power output, we’re dealing with. The standard high/low gearing is still in place and functional, but we’re not messing about with that today. Brooklyn Spares also installed self-levelling air suspension, which you can raise or lower on demand, making sure you can enter parking garages if needed, or climb over obstacles with a bit of extra clearance. An added benefit is less rattling, compared to the standard suspension set-up of the Defender.

The beauty of an electric motor, of course, is the instant torque. And to come back to that idyllic scene I painted in the intro, it’s quiet at a standstill! It literally makes no sound, so the boneshaking rattling of a classic Defender is ironed out of the equation! It’s eerie, but also hilarious at the same time! Hit the accelerator, and the old Defender theatrics come rushing back. Things start to shake, rattle and rumble, you hear the rolling of the tires even more than before. And on top of that, there’s the hallmark whine from an electric motor filling the cabin! Power delivery is as smooth as butter, as it’s not set up for blistering performance. More than enough to let you trundle along traffic in a quiet town while enjoying the scenery, but it also serves up plenty of “go” if you want to hit the highway and make a bit of distance. And if you want to take it off the beaten path, you absolutely can!

Honestly, the experience was hilarious. It really is a fun juxtaposition of sensations! What I like most about the whole deal is that the Defender is still the Defender as it was set out to be. An extremely capable off-roader, without the sometimes senseless drama of a big, barn-storming luxury SUV. And although I’m not the biggest environmentalist when it comes to cars (I love a good engine sound more than anything else!), there’s an honest and fitting reasoning to this. Converting it to EV means it becomes more versatile. Sure, it won’t cross barren deserts anymore (charging will be the issue), but it can still do all it used to do, and then some. It can now go into city centres, stroll the countryside in peace, and offer a bit more power and a bit more fun in the process.

Now, the conversion does come at a financial cost. I was told the installation of the battery pack, the electric motor and all else that’s needed is about EUR 75,000 in total. That is, without the donor car, and not factoring in any repair work that might be needed to get it on the road safely and reliably. And not to be overlooked, Brooklyn Spares also takes care of the whole process of getting the car re-approved for road use. From start to finish, and depending on the condition of the car, the build takes up to four weeks. Any updates not related to the EV conversion will add some time to that, obviously. All in all, it’s an exciting way to breathe new life into a classic off-roader!

Brooklyn Spares was kind enough to offer us a drive for a couple of hours in their first EV-converted Land Rover Defender. As this was a client’s car, we are very grateful for the opportunity provided by both Brooklyn Spares as well as the owner of the car.

For more information, please visit BrooklynSpares.com or Electrogenic.co.uk.