Aussie girls take lead on classic Range Rover EV project

In Bendigo sits a pristine rolling chassis of a 1970s Range Rover three-door, with a difference: This one is a year into its transformation and features new mounts for its incoming electric motor and Tesla-powered lithium-ion batteries.

Launched at Melbourne Design Week in 2021, the electric car project is the brainchild of project director Graeme Wiggins of Bendigo Tech School, whose vision commenced by spruiking the benefits of such an initiative at school assemblies in the Bendigo area in regional Victoria.

Well worth the stand-up routine, what transpired was 26 girls from a variety of local schools “working up a storm with power tools”, Wiggins told carsales.

“It’s actually kind of funny because when we visualised this project, it was three years ago and you know, really there has been a quantum shift in attitudes towards electrification transport in that time,” he said.

“And so our vision was really to have a project which would allow us to have a discussion with the community about the future of transport.”

With a clear focus on the circular economy, future transport, sustainability and STEAM skills, the all-female cohort of students aged from 14-20 are transforming the Range Rover into a Tesla-powered battery-electric vehicle while gaining hands-on skills experience.

Girls are involved of every aspect of project management, with an ambitious plan comprising body restoration, chassis modification, EV conversion, a 12-volt system and engineering certification.

The program relies heavily on community partnerships, in line with Regional Development Victoria’s 2019 Regional Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing Roadmap that works to address the perception of the industry while helping to develop a highly skilled workforce, strengthen ties between education and industry and grow leadership capacity.

“It [Bendigo] is a real hot spot of automotive innovation and we have so many resources and people here who want to work with us,” said Wiggins.

“Bendigo is the only place in Australia where we design and build cars and motor vehicles at the moment,” he added, referencing the Thales Hawkei and Bushmaster Protective Mobility Vehicles, and Safescape’s locally-built Bortana EV that aims to transform the mining industry’s approach to sustainability and emissions reductions.

Timing of this vision coincided with Wiggins being introduced to Dave Budge and Marteen Burger from Jaunt Motors, who focus on converting iconic 4x4s into electric vehicles.

Jaunt harnesses Aussie drivers’ desire for road trip adventures and combines it with upcycling vehicles through electric conversions and a focus on more sustainable mobility.

Jaunt is a key project partner and an integral part of the conversion project, some of which has taken place at Jaunt’s Williamstown workshop.

With a cash injection a necessity, the project was largely made possible thanks to a $200,000 philanthropic donation from Agnico Eagle’s Community Partnership Program, along with the support of several industry partners and sponsors including Kirkland Lake Gold, Jaunt Motors, Thales Australia, Kangan TAFE/ACE, Discovery Science and Technology Centre, RACV Solar, JET Charge, Chargefox, Custom and Restoration Services, Bendigo Retro Muscle Cars, Hattam Street Tyre and Automotive, O’Brien Electrical Bendigo and Famous Four.

It’s what Doug Peters did, however, that really got this project rolling, so to speak.

An avid car collector, Peters donated the Range Rover to Bendigo Tech School to get the project underway.

With a healthy collection of project cars and several Land Rovers ripe for restoration and potential conversion, Peters steered the team towards the classic Rangie for this project.

“Doug said to take a Range Rover because they were delivered to Australia flat pack, which makes them a lot easier to work on … and that means our conversion is a lot easier than the Land Rovers because we just have a lot more space under the car and in the bonnet to put things in,” said Wiggins.

“Even though the interior is a bit more complicated and the wiring is more complicated, overall he [Peters] felt that was a better way to go.

“And because the other great advantage with Land Rovers and Range Rovers is you can still buy almost any part you need. Can’t say that about a lot of a lot of classic cars.”

Two years on, a pristine rolling chassis awaits.

“We’ve effectively finished the pre-restoration work, now everything is about re-assembly,” said Wiggins.

“So I think that’s a really exciting thing because there’s been a lot of dirty work.”

He’s talking about stripping the frame bare, sanding, scrubbing, scraping and welding in preparation for the vehicle’s incoming electrification kit that comprises 16 5.3kWh Tesla modules.

Wiggins expects the vehicle’s overall power output to sit around 85kW, with a driving range of up to 400km from a full charge.

A new AC destination charger also now resides at Bendigo’s Discovery Science and Technology Centre, where the EV will call home once completed. Project partner JET Charge donated the charger, Cola Solar installed it and Chargefox is providing free membership on its network.

“Because we’re doing it ourselves, we can actually put in our own inverter charger technology. So most cars can only charge on … between 6.7-11kW via AC, but ours will be able to charge at 22kW,” Wiggins explained.

The installation of the battery technology is just one part of the complex conversion works, however. Complete re-engineering and the task of digitising other aspects of the vehicle remain.

“Obviously we have to re-engineer heating, power steering, braking and acceleration so that they’re electric rather than analogue,” said Wiggins.

Front and centre for every part of this restoration, the students are gaining real-world job experience.

And according to Wiggins, those skills have not gone unnoticed by the local business community. He said business owners are “circling”, keen to offer jobs to the participating students at the end of their studies.

The project will culminate in the electric 4x4 being available for community hire, seeing the project ambition come full circle with future profits from car hire reinvested in youth-driven community projects.

“And all that money we make goes back into young people and young people’s enterprise projects, so supporting young people to come up with their own ideas and entrepreneurial skills, that really was the concept,” said Wiggins.

He also said it would be most satisfying to see the kids who worked on the project be able to sit for their learner driver’s test in the car as well.

“How great would that be!” he enthused.

To learn more about this project and stay up to date with progress reports, visit Bendigo Tech School’s project page here.

Related: Girls and STEM: Driving education decisions

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