A brand new electric Land Rover arrived at Londolozi over Christmas. Courtesy of Barker Performance Products and Land Rover, the electric vehicle was sent here to be put through a rigorous and rough field test owing to the success and pioneering development of Londolozi’s first three prototype electric Land Rovers. Having unveiled this new product at South Africa’s Tourism Indaba in May, Land Rover and Barkers Performance product have created a hugely impressive vehicle and when it arrived on our doorstep just before Christmas, we simply had to put it to the test!
Putting the Electric Land Rover to the test - Rich Laburn
Although we are testing the vehicle over a number of weeks, we decided to examine the performance through a few different disciplines: Acceleration & Speed; Gradient; Silence and Sand.
The Electric Landrover runs off an Air cooled AC Induction Motor with 330Nm of Torque and 59kW of Motor Power. The batter is comprised of Air cooled Lithium Phosphate and has a voltage of 300V. Ranging from 80km per battery on the open road and +20km through a game reserve, the vehicle is able to offer a game drive of approximately 8 hours. The gear stick features Drive, Neutral and Reverse with 4WD and Low Range.
Land Rover's Electric Game Viewer
Londolozi has been at the forefront of pioneering the first ever Zero Emissions Safari Vehicle. The vision for this vehicle is to run purely on battery power which in turn is charged by solar panels. The carbon output would thus be zero, except for that used during the manufacturing of the vehicle. Since 2009, when we unveiled our first prototype electric Landrover, the journey has been extremely fun yet also challenging. Our second prototype burnt down soon after completion, owing to an electric failure. Yet with the help of Anton Komar and Sid from Green Rover we managed to achieve a reasonable level of success with our prototype number 3.
The Electric Land Rover going through Water - Rich Laburn
Our intention at Londolozi is to continue to be a leader towards a truly Zero Emissions Safari Vehicle and change our entire fleet to electric vehicles as soon as the opportunity presents itself. This initiative, in particular, forms part of our broader goal to dramatically minimize our carbon footprint on the environment.
Written & Filmed & Photographed by: Rich Laburn
Great video Adam and Rich! Can’t wait to come back to Londolozi and ride in the new Land Rover!
Thanks Jenifer, look forward to having you back here soon. Thanks for posting the album on Facebook, will be sure to share both of them on our wall. Great pics!! rich
Awesome stuff! Wonderful in fact!
Continue best with the Electric Land Rover testing and the switch over. You all are the best!
We had a chance to BRIEFLY ride in this. Impressive. However…. We’d like to know which Ranger was responsible for the 6″ rip in the roof canvas over the right front passenger seat! 🙂 No excuses. Come Clean. Who is going to take ownership over this mishap??
Haha, I am not one to point fingers but I saw Adam do it on a low hanging gardenia branch just before we filmed the ‘Gradient’ segment of the video. Bad luck Ad, nothing a bit of stitching won’t fix up. Rich
I admit it was me. All in the name of quality testing. Who needs a roof anyway? 🙂
Oh Good. Was just making sure that David wasn’t passing the buck. Congrats on taking the drives to the next level. It’s just one more reason that Londolozi is no doubt “The Best”.
Great idea…hope the top is ‘convertible’…love riding in the open air with nothing over me but the sky.
Yes it is Judy. Like all open game viewers, the whole roof frame can be removed if need be. rich
Hi Rich I agree with Judy those canopies really spoil the bush experience especially for birding…. We spoke about electric Landies when we were there and here it is!!
Best wishes
Hi Rich
How are the animals reacting to the silence of the new Electric?
Cheers
Andrew
Adam Badger you’ve changed! No course records in that!
Great vehicle, great video. Due to the background music I could not get a real idea of how quiet it actually is. Looking forward to see it and try it out one day. Well done again Londolozi, you are the true safari pioneers! Onne from Wild Wings Safaris
Hi Onne, if you can imagine what a golf cart sounds like when you drive it, the Electric Land Rover is very similar in sound output. Thank you for your kind words, rich
A low CO2 emmission vehicle is not only good for the vegetation and the mysterious animals that unremittingly draw us to the wild year on year, but a necessity for the preservation of our beautiful planet. I am just wondering how the dramatic elephants are responding to this astounding and prudent addition to their environment. Congratulations, would like to take a ride soon!
Looks great, but I agree with Adam: who needs a roof, anyway?
Haha too true!
Hi,
how does it manage driving through bush over dead branches, hollows, rocks etc? Get Sandros to test that!
Regards
Julie
We’ll put him in the seat to give it a test run, but so far it has performed great over pretty much all terrain. The power in the vehicle is fantastic and works perfectly for the tough terrain out here. rich
Aqesome vehicle! Leave it to Londolozi to be on the cutting edge!
Do you know how it performs with 6 guests with cameras and a tracker, at full load?
We have taken a few test game drives with the seats full up and the vehicle continues to perform exceptionally well. As I have mentioned above, the power of the vehicle is phenomenal and is more than capable of taking a full load of guests, tracker and camera equipment. rich
WOW . As usual the camp has initiative and needless to say eco conscious .Cant wait to return
Gabby / Philip
Well done Londolozi, love it!! Can’t wait to get back there and go for a game drive in this vehicle!!
So fantastic to see you guys paving the way for “no more guilt trips” game driving fun! I look forward to my next visit already!
Look out James May!! Adam very fine job, keep the day one tho.
Congratulations all! Definitely the way to go! Now all we need is an affordable, covered & comfortable vehicle to get us from the airport to camp….? Any plans by Landrover or any others? Well done & cheers! Clive
Hi Clive, as mentioned in the post our intention is to eventually have an entire fleet of Land Rovers which are electric. We wish to conduct all our game drives and eventually our operations with a carbon footprint of as close to zero as possible. Thanks for your kind comment and yes I agree with you on the covered and comfortable vehicle to get you from the airport to camp. Rich
Vow it is great I have been in Londolozi before,now I have to come back and ride the Electric Land Rovers. My family is in the the electric cars. How many kilometers can you ride with full charge?
It is tough to give you an exact amount Baroness, as the distance you can cover on dirt and tar is very different. Suffice to say the vehicle can run for a number of hours and successfully complete a full game drive before it needs to be charged. As mentioned in the post, this is the very forefront of the Zero Emissions Safari Experience and hopefully this technology will only continue to improve and reduce carbon footprints even further. I look forward to taking you for a ride in the vehicle when you next return to Londolozi. rich
Seems like you all at Londo’z are always taking active steps to pioneer conservation efforts, and this is a wonderful addition! Seems very capable, and it also seems to provide some great improvements for the experience of both the guests and the guide (and i’m assuming the animals too) on game drives 🙂 But if a Bushveld Gardenia managed to turn it into a convertible, watch out for the Zebrawood thorns Adam 😉
The conservation and environmental benefits of this vehicle are undeniable. So too is the wilderness experience of moving through the bush in silence. Most animals have responded to the vehicle well, however the odd animal gets caught by surprise when we come around the corner.
Hello, nice project, the parc is wonderful, why didn’t you ask for a solar roof on top of the Land Rover ?
Hi JB, great idea and certainly one that we looked at. Currently it takes around 6 hours to fully charge the batteries for the vehicle. With solar panels the duration takes longer and although feasible when parked, the technology is not yet here for use on the roof of the vehicle. Watch this space, however, as there will almost certainly be a variety of innovations in the coming years.
Wonderful review – but why must all car reviews include rock guitar? I can’t hear the birds and the hum of the 4×4 because of the inane riffs.