Tesla LandRover vs Diesel off road test

[goingbush]

Ive had a mindset that a Tesla converted Landy would be useless off road because they are all about speed & wheelspin.

By "Tesla converted" I mean a Tesla LDU (Large drive unit) which is normally transverse mounted across the rear of a Tesla , has been longitudinally mounted in the centre of a Land Rover chassis with each 'axle' connected to a diff . The gears in the LDU have been replaced with a high gear reduction to account for the further 3.54 diff ratio.

As such there in no Centre diff , just a Quaife LSD .

NO low / high range just a single fixed gear ratio.

This is the first proper off road test / comparison I've seen. I don't particularly like the bloke so skipped past the talking & just watched the comparisons over the gnarly bits. The video has changed my mind a little bit , I'd still prefer Hi-Lo range & a proper CDL.

( PS would do a lot better with skinny tyres too, I see those fat tyres a distinct disadvantage off road)


https://youtu.be/lNqJyQ4zt5A

[SimonS3]

Agree this was an interesting look at how the telsa converted LR works off road... however their off road is a little bit soft compared to the Aussie outback off road or a sand track!

I've been looking at the 3 (or 4) ways to convert my S3, with pros/cons of each:
1. basically mate EV motor direct to clutch/gearbox. The most 'pure' conversion. (The way Jaunt/Felten have done it, at least in the past.)
2. replace drivetrain at the gearbox - leaving transfer case there.
3. tesla replacement at the transfer case (like ECC do it)
(4. something I only discovered recently - there's a 'ev motor on live axle' that's being used in some light trucks... not sure if this really is an option though.)

The things that are being weighed up as pro/con:
- overall efficiency (not to the 0.1% but every component in the drivetrain will lower overall efficiency, thus drive down range)
- lowering maintenance by removing more oily bits (eg gearbox, transfer case still require regular maintenance)
- cost - both capital and operational costs (some of which is in the previous point on lowering maintenance)

Now looking at the off road ability of the converted vehicle, if all the torque is available at effectively zero RPM then if it's deliverable to the wheels in an effective manner (i.e. not jerky) then I can't see how the EV wouldn't be better than the ICE, for sheer ability. (Other things like range will come into it.. but then the EV will typically use a lot less off road than the ICE, because if it's not moving it's not using, and it doesn't need to rev to deliver the required torque.)

I'm also still researching the whole AWD vs 4x4 with locking diffs thing... personally I've used enough AWD on road and an old (FJ62 previously) 4x4 for offroad... but not tried an AWD setup off road. I'd be happy to hear from anyone that can debate where the 3x LSD in the Tesla only setup would be 'worse' (and how) than a 4x4, and/or 4x4 with lockers.

Obviously context will be a lot... if you're off road racing or rock crawling, then your use case will be different to mine... which will be probably 80% running around the city and some longer trips, 10% towing trailers (~1000kg) and 10% off road on dirt and on sand (like K'gari). I'd love to be in the position where it's 50% driving on islands and in the bush... but sadly I need to work, too!