Designed by Dutch electronics specialists Plougher, the Twisted EV Defender conversion effectively replaces the standard car’s gearbox (upstream of the old-school four-wheel-drive system) with a 268hp electric motor and fills the space where its engine and fuel tank would otherwise have been with liquid-cooled lithium-ion batteries and power electronics.
If you have a T90 short-wheelbase car, you get a 61kWh battery capacity and an advertised range of 140 miles (and you end up with a Defender that’s about 300kg more than a combustion-engined 90) . Opt for a T110 instead and the battery goes up to 81kWh, for over 180 miles on a charge. However, neither version offers DC fast charging yet. A three-phase AC charge of 22 kW is the fastest possible charge.
The rest of the car’s body, chassis, suspension and interior are upgraded to the familiar and alluring Twisted standard – and in the cab of the T90 truck we tested, the result was indeed very clever. Getting in and getting comfortable in any Defender is still a bit of an undertaking. Even after Twisted’s cabin modifications and with its sports seats, you’re seated with limited space at the controls, tight near the driver’s door. It’s nothing Defender enthusiasts won’t be used to, but it’s also your first clue that an electric drivetrain doesn’t turn this old, updated version into something like any other vehicle. electric that you could have driven, whether in town or out of town. , or anywhere else it is able to go.
Driving the EV Defender is less physically taxing, in some ways, than a traditional Landy. However, the steering is still heavy and sluggish (despite working through a smaller rim than most Defenders); the turning radius, even in the short wheelbase version, remains mediocre during manoeuvres; low-speed driving is often harsh and clumsy; and at higher speeds, despite Twisted’s best efforts to improve cabin sealing, the car is a feast of wind noise and road roar. Instead of really creating a more refined car, removing Defender’s combustion engine just makes you realize how many other sources of noise and fuss there have always been in one. Not that, if you like these cars, you’ll probably mind a lot.
Is it fast? Honestly not as fast as you might expect from something with a claimed 885 lb-ft engine (which anyway I can’t believe you can go through the drivetrain of a regular Defender without it becoming an inadvertent exponent of automobile pole vaulting). In Eco driving mode, torque is metered and managed for a smooth and pleasant start. Use Sport mode instead and the car can get in motion more briskly, and up to the national speed limit about as quickly as a lower-order hot sedan. But in Sport mode, you have to put up with a bit of transmission shunt and a slightly sensitive accelerator pedal (a bigger bugbear than you’d think in a car that’s always busy on its springs). When warming up, the handling is usually lively and rough; still involving if you like to make a living behind the wheel, but not like you’ll find in any modern off-roader or SUV. Faster cornering is best viewed with a great deal of caution, but no more so than you’d reserve for any other Defender.
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Source: www.autocar.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-04-17 23:01:23
