March 28, 2024

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Rover Redo: Kissimmee company turns iconic British vehicles all-electric

Amy Keller | 4/26/2022

KISSIMMEE – For almost a decade, E.C.D. Automotive Design (formerly known as East Coast Defenders) has been rebuilding Land Rover Defenders and Range Rovers with traditional combustion engines. This year, the company unveiled its first fully electric Land Rover Defender 110s — a vehicle that Land Rover doesn’t even offer yet.

Powered by a 450-hp Tesla engine, the SUV flies from zero to 60 mph in five seconds and can reach approximately 220 miles on a five-hour charge. Like other electric vehicles, it delivers as much torque (rotational force from the motor) from a dead stop as it does at high speeds, adding to the fun quotient. Step on the gas, and it sprints out of the gate. Ease up on the accelerator and you’ll discover the EV phenomenon of regenerative braking — a near instant slowing that feeds surplus energy back to the vehicle’s battery, thereby extending its charge.

With its 1,200-pound Tesla battery modules divided between two compartments (one under the front hood and another in the rear cargo area), E.C.D.’s custom-designed electric 110 has a lower center of gravity and more stability than the original. It’s also got a lot more bling. Project Britton, the nickname for one of the first two electric 110s the company made, features a teak wood-finished cargo area, an Evander wood steering wheel, and a luxurious Nappa leather interior with heated and ventilated seats.

Perhaps the most striking feature of the vehicle, however, is its sound — which resembles a jet airplane taking off.

E.C.D. is also taking off. Revenues soared from $240,000 in 2013 to $14 million last year — and the firm recently moved from its old 45,000-sq.-ft. facility into a new 100,000-sq.-ft. digs that will feature its own off-road test track, as well as a Driver’s Club for maintenance needs and client events. Buyers come from all over

The firm’s co-founders are three British expats — Scott Wallace (a longtime venture capitalist and one-time Disney intern), Tom Humble (who had a side hustle selling old Land Rovers before getting into custom assembly) and Elliot Humble (Tom’s younger brother) — who all ended up living in the Orlando area, where they met at a party.

“Tom pulled up in a Defender. We had a beer and we just realized we were three ‘car’ guys and we just shared memories of what our first car was, what we passed our driving test in, what we aspired to,” recalls Wallace. “Half a case of beer later, we convinced ourselves that maybe there an opportunity to take a British farm vehicle and turn it into a custom SUV product. Well, a full case of beer later, we said, ‘We can do this.’”

In the beginning, the trio subcontracted key parts of the process, including painting and engine installation. Eventually, they decided to bring it all in-house for better quality control.

E.C.D.’s ground-up rebuilds take approximately 14 months, beginning with a design phase, where clients handpick every component from the drivetrain to the paint color to the steering wheel to the seat stitching.

“One of the first questions we ask the client, is what are you going to use the vehicle for? Somebody said they wanted to drive it up a mountain at a 40-degree angle at 50 miles per hour and then they wanted to take it to dinner at a high-end restaurant with their wife the same evening,” Wallace says. “We did it.”

E.C.D. then sets about finding the right “donor” vehicles, starting with the import of a “base vehicle” from the U.K. that’s at least 25 years old to comply with import laws.

“It has to be a good, repairable frame. That way you retain the original vehicle and its Defender DNA. Some other people do it and they’ll put in a new frame, so what are you then? What is it when you get to the DMV? Ours are actual Defenders with the original vehicle at the heart of it,” Wallace says.

The company strips down a vehicle to the bare chassis and rebuilds it with roofs, hoods, doors and other parts sourced from E.C.D.'s logistics center in the U.K. Wiring, brakes and other components — notwithstanding the reclaimed Tesla parts — are all new. While the starting prices of E.C.D.’s gas-powered vehicles range from $179,995 to $199,995, its Tesla-powered SUV rings in at around $300,000. Even so, demand is strong — accounting for about 20% of the 60 or so vehicles the firm builds each year.

Despite its new Tesla-fied offering, Wallace doesn’t see E.C.D. as an electric car company. “It’s just a choice. It’s an a la carte menu.”

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