That would be an awesome 4x4 vehicle if it could be accomplished.

I assume you would have to come up with a custom motor controller to make it work. It may be quite complicated because you'd have to sense wheel speeds and adjust and everything.

But that would be the "ideal" thing to do.

 

Relative.
You would have to redesign suspension. Remember, our shocks and springs are attached to the front and rear axle carriers.

Probably best would be a motor attached the front and rear Diffs. and control that electronically.

 

Good idea about attaching to the diffs. Two independent motors, controlled electronically. Then you could still use OEM or aftermarket suspension, wheel speed sensors, axles, etc.

 

Exactly.

When you start mass producing the kit, I need my 10% for R&D. Thanks

but on a serious note, the problem still remains how to eliminate the BCU.

Rewire the entire thing to a simple fuse box!

 

In my opinion, this is the most productive "engine swap" thread that could exist.

That one the Terminator had build really seems the business, but I can't fathom the cost.

There are electric drag cars that put up pretty insane times with nothing hotrod or huge expense.

The reality is we will all be driving electric cars in the next 10 years or so. I've already started following some of the electric dirt bike makers.

 

New to the thread… but converting a discovery is very possible…I should know cause I am doing that now.. people in the ev conversion world have over looked the discovery as a conversion.. they have done it to the series rovers, classic rand river and even the defender… but new the discovery…reason being is there was a flaw in the discovery’s.. the frame would rot out and be very much a pain.. but thanks to lots of research and other things.. it has started.. let’s start off with the basics, 2002 Land Rover discovery 2.. yes frame was rotted in normal spots and like it says rotted..that was completely stripped out and brand new hot dipped galvanized frame put its spot.. ohh the joy. New due to the wonderful configuration or the drive shafts. The entire drive was removed including the transfer case and replaced with ( ohh wait for it)) a 450 hp large tesla drive unit with new reduced gear set, ran in reverse so a new reverse rotation oil pump.. leaving the wimpy 180 hp engine to the scrap yard..custo shafts made to accept the rover shafts into the tesla case…batterys are 16 model s packs..about 85kwh… and that’s as far as I got so far.. next will be custom battery box and a wonderful ccs fast charge system so those long trips will be fun.. will keep info coming……

 

Send us updates. Curious why you would ditch the transfer case. I would think hooking up the electric motor to that would be the easiest route.

 

Don't need a t-case, or a transmission. Easiest way to convert is to take the Tesla motor, turn it sideways, and run your driveshafts front to rear, keep the original axles on the Disco, and delete the rest of the drivetrain. Lots of room for batteries where the gas tank and engine were. You get full power and torque immediately with electric, no need to use a t-case for lower gearing. If you can afford the Tesla components, and deal with the range restrictions, it's be one heck of a conversion. And when the battery tech advances in the next year or two, it'll be the best conversion possible. I'm just trying to keep mine running till EV parts come down in price, and batteries improve.

 

I was thinking about that too. Did you get the gear conversion from Zero EV in UK? They did a D2 conversion and wanted to offer a kit. I haven't heard from them in a while (no new videos on youtube). I don't like the full electric approach. A 10-20kWh battery would be sufficient and probably fit in between the frame and the rocker panel (both sides, fully custom). That leaves the engine bay for a diesel or gas powered high efficiency generator. The important question is for us offroaders: can the differential on the Tesla unit be made lockable?

 

By going with this sideways Tesla configuration and ditching the LT230, you effectively eliminate the ability to lock the center differential as far as I know. If I recall correctly, Tesla uses torque vectoring with open differentials. In a 4wd off-road vehicle, this is very limiting for several obvious reasons.

It’s a nice idea, but this alone kills it for me. Having no locking center diff is effectively one-wheel drive in sticky situations. Better options in my mind would be (a) sending the power through the LT230 or (b) powering each axle with individual motors. If your going to all this expense (and its quite a lot comparatively), then I think you should be able to take advantage of all that electric low-end torque off-road.