Land

E.C.D. Automotive Design Gives Old Land Rover Defenders A Modern Makeover

By Betty C. Morrow 2 months ago

In 2013, the founders of E.C.D. Automotive Design, Scott Wallace, Tom Humble and Elliot Humble were catching up over a few beers one night and discussing what their next business ventures would be.

Playing the game of hypotheticals, an idea was thrown out – almost as a joke – to customize vintage Land Rover Defenders.

The next day, Wallace placed a plan behind that joke.

In less than a decade E.C.D. Automotive Design went from a single garage operation to a multimillion dollar operation, buying out their garage neighbors.

Growing up on a farm in the UK, the Humble brothers have been Land Rover lovers for as long as they could remember. Choosing to work with Defenders was not a hard choice, but the execution had a few obstacles.

1 of 2

Tesla Powered Land Rover Defender 110
Project Britton rides on painted Kahn Mondial wheels wrapped in BF Goodrich Rugged Trail T/A tires.
E.C.D. Automotive
… Read More

Tesla builds 1st store on tribal land to dodge New Mexico car law

By Betty C. Morrow 8 months ago

NAMBÉ, N.M. – Carmaker Tesla has opened a store and repair shop on Native American land for the first time, marking a new approach to its yearslong fight to sell cars directly to consumers and cut car dealerships out of the process.

The white-walled, silver-lettered Tesla store, which opened last week, sits in Nambé Pueblo, north of Santa Fe, on tribal land that’s not subject to state laws.

The electric car company can only sell and service its vehicles freely in about a dozen states, while it faces restrictions in others. Some, like New Mexico, ban Tesla from offering sales or repairs without going through a dealership. In January, the company struck a deal with Michigan to resolve a 2016 lawsuit, a symbolic victory that allowed it to sell in the backyard of the nation’s largest carmakers.

Supporters of Tesla say the shop in New Mexico marks the first time

… Read More

Jaguar Land Rover’s car range to be fully electric by 2030

By Betty C. Morrow 1 year ago

FoxNews.com Automotive Editor Gary Gastelu on General Motors launching electric vehicles and their competition.

Jaguar Land Rover’s car range will be fully electric by 2030 as the carmaker joins a global race to develop zero-emission models to get ahead of looming bans on sales of new fossil-fuel vehicles.

JLR, owned by India’s Tata Motors, said on Monday the Jaguar brand will lead the way with a fully-electric model range built on a brand-new electric platform by 2025.

Land Rover will launch six pure electric models in the next five years with the first one coming in 2024, JLR added.

FORD HAS THIS BILLION-DOLLAR ADVANTAGE OVER TESLA’S AND GM’S ELECTRIC CARS

JLR said that as it electrifies its model range, it will keep all three of its British plants open.

But Thierry Bollore, who took over as chief executive in September, said the carmaker’s Castle Bromwich plant in central England would

… Read More

Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos mulls making Land Rover rival in France

By Jaime E. Love 2 years ago
Ineos Grenadier - MAGROUND GmbH
Ineos Grenadier – MAGROUND GmbH

Sir Jim Ratcliffe may abandon his plan to build a new off-road vehicle in the UK, ending the dream of a new British car manufacturing business before it begins.

His company, Ineos Automotive, is in talks with Daimler about buying its car plant in Hambach, France, to make the Grenadier.

Sir Jim has previously spoken of his desire to make the new car – which has been billed as the spiritual successor to the original Land Rover Defender and was unveiled last week – in the UK.

In September Ineos – which has put almost £1bn into developing the Grenadier – unveiled plans to build a factory to produce the vehicle in Bridgend, south Wales that would eventually employ about 500 people.

Work with the Welsh government had already begun on clearing the site in preparation for construction.

Similar activity had begun at a sub-assembly

… Read More