Here's a vehicle we never thought we'd drive on electric power—Land Rover's tough-as-nails, old-as-dirt Defender—a vehicle whose whole reason to be is the freedom to roam far and wide over the worst terrain imaginable.

Once you've recalibrated your brain, understand the heart of this Electric Defender conversion is the mating of the new and old.

The new is a 27-kilowatt-hour, 300-volt lithium-ion battery pack linked to a 70-kilowatt experimental motor with a single-speed transmission, which replaces the rugged 2.2-liter diesel and six-speed manual. The old is the Defender's traditional beam-axle four-wheel-drive system with a low-high ratio transfer box.

Factory-engineered, this is one of seven trial vehicles that Land Rover has spun off of a project by a South African game reserve looking for a green and stealthy method of stalking wildlife.

Of course, Defenders are not about outright performance, so our suspicions that a battery-powered version might be surprisingly effective were quickly confirmed. The powertrain delivers plenty of urge, and off the line the Electric Defender feels as rapid as a conventionally powered version. But the experience is smoother, because the labored gear changes that lend the conventional Defender much of its earthy character are replaced by a seamless flow of electric power.

Conversely, there's still plenty of refinement work to be done. The example we drove was equipped with a noisy electric motor, although further development is expected to hush its whine to a whisper.

While we didn't get a chance to take the Electric Defender into water, Land Rover says all the high-voltage electrics are fully waterproof, which raises the wading depth to more than 2.5 feet, nearly twice that of a conventional Defender.

Instead, we piloted an urban off-road course that showed the huge potential of the Electric Defender, which remained stout uphill, downhill and over obstacles. The electric motor could be finely modulated on the throttle, allowing precise positioning. And without the need to coordinate a clutch, there was more time to concentrate on the delicate business of balance and control, prerequisites for off-road.

The energy recuperation system also delivered enough off-throttle braking to retard progress downhill without the brakes. In fact, Land Rover has optimized the motor to deliver as much as 30 kilowatts downhill, which explains why the Electric Defender is said to be capable of up to eight hours driving off-road, or 50 miles of conventional driving.

With a range like that, an Electric Defender clearly isn't going to be crossing continents any time soon. There are no plans to sells the EVs to the general public, but as an exercise in applying fresh thinking to a very traditionally engineered vehicle, it points to a rugged future for battery-electric vehicles far away from their more usual home of slick urban roads.

This article originally appeared in the April 29, 2013 issue of Autoweek. Click here to get Autoweek delivered to your door biweekly.

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