Thread: Goodnight Diesel. ...Land Rover get your EV skates on!

Originally Posted by Zeros

So who's planning to convert their Defender to be an EV? ...I reckon within 5 years the whole country will be networked with fast chargers and all new domestic vehicles will be electric, with diesel being phased out much faster than we think.

That is true for the Rest of the World, Australia will be a few years behind . Since we have no Automotive Manufacturing here we might still be getting the ICE rubbish that no one else wants for a few years more. Then it will be pretty much all EV a few years later.

Diesel should come down in price during the transition as there will be a glut. After that if you want to keep driving your Defender your going to be looking at EV conversions , by which time there will be a nice little market in Used Nissan Leaf motors & batteries.

Im thinking about setting up an EV Conversion business , either Drive in Drive out or selling DIY Kits but Defender people being what they are I'm not sure many are going to want to shell out 25K on a conversion that will keep their vehicle on the road ad-infinitum.

I'm confident EVs will take off more rapidly than many expect, but I still think ICE vehicles will be around for quite a while, as will petrol and diesel.
Servos will have to install banks of chargers to entice EV owners in to lunch while their vehicles charge.

Agree GB, it is a very good business opportunity (maybe we should join forces I actually think that many would pay $20-25K for a well designed conversion, especially because most new EV’s will be expensive for some time. I reckon Defender owners will be very keen because the new Defender will be $80K+ Is really a D4 and there’s such a strong history of modifying real Defenders.

...as long as it doesn’t go the way of gas conversions...but that’s less likely as EV will be mainstream.

But I think you’re right Mick, it will happen here a lot faster than we can imagine. You only have to look at the rapid take-up of all other tech here in oz. ...the market will grow very fast when ICE’s are no longer available new.

People pay over $20k just to fix the rear suspension on their Toyota 70 series, so a whole Defender EV conversion for similar money is in the ball park.

Exactly. And people pay over $20K to accessorise their vehicles too.

..if a vehicle that is fully accessorised already can be renewed as an EV for a fraction of a new EV price, it will be very popular.

Originally Posted by Zeros

Exactly. And people pay over $20K to accessorise their vehicles too.

..if a vehicle that is fully accessorised already can be renewed as an EV for a fraction of a new EV price, it will be very popular.

Some people do. Most people I know do not spend $20k on their car - a lot more cars are bought second hand than new. (And no, this is not a conundrum - most cars are in the second hand market several times, but sell new once.)

I would certainly be interested in an electric conversion of my County, and my 2a for that matter. And if it can be done for under $20k I would possibly be able to find the funds. But I seriously doubt that this will be possible within ten years, at least to provide adequate range and towing ability.


While I agree that EVs are coming to mainstream use within five years, I am very dubious about predictions of diesel becoming unavailable in the foreseeable future. I don't see, for example, electric tractors capable of running non-stop for eighteen hours a day after it rains (and producing 200 drawbar HP), or headers capable of running 24 hours with only stops to change drivers. As pointed out, as EVs become popular, diesel (and petrol) should decline in price as usage decreases, which may decrease the rate of takeup for EVs.

All good points JD, especially in terms of affordability for the majority. Although I’m concerned that this is rarely taken into account by authorities who seem to think everyone earns $100K per year! Power, water, gas, rates, land tax, phone, internet, not to mention the cost of other private essential services such as food, mechanics, trades, etc which all seem to be increasing in price exponentially.

Despite our mind bogglingly high cost of living, the economy here seems to keep growing.

I’m no economist, but think the opposite might happen in terms of diesel prices. As EVs become the norm, petroleum products will become more expensive due to less demand and higher production cost ratios.

But I agree it will be many years before there’s no diesel, supply will continue. The bigger issue may be legislation against diesel vehicles due to environmental, political and public pressure imperatives.

Very interesting discussion

If there is a shift to EVs making us less reliant on petroleum fuels we will not need to import as much fuel so that will reduce our import bill and improve the balance of payments.
I see there is a proposal to manufacture lithium batteries in Australia so that would be good too. We have the raw materials and the skills, so we should do it, I think, instead of taking the short-sighted way of importing everything.