Last edited: 23/05/2023
May 23
Are vehicles in the British Army going electric?
In times gone past, electric vehicles wouldn’t have even been considered for the Army. The common misconceptions about their unreliability have meant that EVs have often been overlooked, until now!
The British Army is conducting a new experiment involving swapping some military-grade vehicles’ diesel engines with electric conversion kits. The list of vehicles includes four Land Rovers, two protected vehicles and two general service vehicles.
Let’s get plugged in…
Who’s involved?
This exciting project has some important companies working together to make the idea a reality, here are just a few of the people getting involved.
A sector of the Army which oversees all experimentation and trial activity called the Experimental and Trials Group (ETG), commands five trial units, one of which is the ATDU. The ATDU’s purpose within the ETG is experimentation and trials on Vehicle Systems, Lethality, Survivability and Communications. In essence, their speciality is fighting vehicles and, therefore, this unit will be trusted with the assessment of the vehicles.
The EVs will be evaluated in military scenarios; testing their endurance and capabilities out in the field and determining whether electric vehicles are a viable option for the Army!
This company is passionate about turning classic cars into electric vehicles, keeping their timeless looks whilst creating green, sustainable vehicles. Electrogenic’s work expands further than just classic cars: modifying Land Rovers, farm vehicles and local jobs such as The Village Refill van.
With all this conversion experience, Electrogenic is the perfect company to aid the ATDU, offering an EV drop-in kit for the Land Rover Defender and their expertise in instalments.
The Ministry of Defence has partnered with Babcock International, an international defence company with an understanding of technology integration and engineering. Their role in this innovative project is to aid the British Army in their research by exploring the limitations of service vehicles going electric.
Babcock has pledged to reduce their emissions to net zero by 2024, something they have named ‘Plan Zero 40’. This involves extensive decarbonisation programmes and reduction in their overall carbon baseline across their operations!
This blog will be updated as and when we receive further information on the project!
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