Sarara sits in the Mathews Range in northern Kenya, deep inside the 850,000-acre Namunyak Community Conservancy. It’s a remote, spectacular stretch of wilderness where elephants, reticulated giraffes, leopards and hundreds of bird species move freely across the valleys and ridges.
When the long rains come, as they do each year, the tracks into camp turn into deep mud, stopping fuel deliveries from getting through. In previous years, parts of the operation have had to slow or even shut down until the place dries out.
This year was different. Three of Sarara’s workhorse old-school Land Rover Defenders were converted from their old diesel lumps to a new electric drop-in powertrain kit supplied by Electrogenic, the Oxford EV-conversion firm.
Sarara and Electrogenic both say the change allowed the lodge, the Sarara Foundation and the Reteti elephant orphanage, to stay fully open through the rains - charging the vehicles from the conservancy’s own solar array rather than waiting on fuel trucks that might not arrive.
Turning grounded Defenders into solar EVs
Electrogenic has fitted two of the Defenders with its E62 kit - a 62kWh battery paired with a 120kW motor - and a third with the larger E93 kit, which carries a 93kWh battery and a 150kW motor.
The company quotes around 120 miles of mixed on-road range or 160-plus miles off-road for the E62, rising to roughly 150 miles on-road and more than 200 miles off-road for the E93. In Sarara’s world, where distances are long and speeds are low, those numbers sit in the realm of “useful”.
The hardware, they say, slots around the existing clunky but rugged drivetrain. The original transfer box remains, along with full-time four-wheel drive, low range and the centre diff lock that makes an old Land Rover an old Land Rover.
Batteries sit under the bonnet on the smaller kit, with extra modules under the boot floor on the larger one, leaving the interior untouched. Electrogenic says the installations are reversible and require no cutting or drilling.
Charging is straightforward - either up to 6.6kW AC, or CCS rapid charging that can bring a 62kWh pack up to full in roughly 50 minutes. Though the key point isn’t charge speed but more self-sufficiency. The trucks now run on the same solar power that already keeps the lodges and workshops supplied, which is helpful when the roads vanish.
The rainy-season test
This year, when rain made the approach roads “unpassable, rutted and muddy”, diesel deliveries stalled as they usually do - but the electric Defenders kept working. Staff charged them from the solar array, kept the camp vehicles moving and avoided the usual cutbacks.
One extra benefit is the vehicle-to-load function. Electrogenic says the Defenders can export 240V AC, and the lodge used that capability to power remote buildings that would normally rely on small generators.
Off-road, Electrogenic points to the familiar EV strengths, with instant torque for climbs and more controlled descents thanks to regenerative braking and configurable hill-descent control.
The wider electric-Defender world
Classic Land Rovers have become unlikely stars of the EV-conversion industry, mainly thanks to their Meccano-style construction, though most efforts are aimed at wealthy customers in Europe and the US.
Everrati, for example, offers electric Defenders from around £185,000, complete with bespoke interiors and road-based performance. Feltten sells a bolt-in Defender conversion designed to be fitted within about 100 hours, aimed at workshops that want predictable build times. Electric Classic Cars converts offers a Tesla-based setup for the Defender 90 with a quoted range of roughly 170 miles.
Electrogenic does the high-profile custom builds - Jason Momoa’s 1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom II and Jimmy Carr’s Aston Martin DB6 no less - but it also produces kits intended for working fleets, including vehicles being trialled by the British Army. The Sarara project sits in that “keep it working” category.
The Sarara Foundation and Reteti
The Sarara Foundation works with Samburu communities on land restoration and conservation-based livelihoods. Reteti Elephant Sanctuary - the first community-owned and run elephant orphanage in Africa - operates within the same conservancy, rescuing and rehabilitating calves affected by drought, conflict and accidents such as open wells.
Reliable transport is central to all of this. Jeremy Bastard, who heads the Sarara Foundation, puts it: “These Defenders really are part of the fabric of Sarara: over the years they’ve built camps, worked in conservation, and crossed flooding rivers - we even learnt to drive in them. They’ve been endlessly loaded with supplies, and served up unforgettable memories for guests on game drives.”
General Manager Robert Lemayian says the switch made sense on several fronts: the Defenders were still structurally strong, repurposing them was “more planet-friendly,” and converting them was cheaper than buying new - freeing up money for community projects.
He also points to quieter running being “less intrusive for wildlife,” letting guests get closer on drives.
Self sufficiency
What’s striking is how very modern hardware can drop into a very old, very analogue Land Rover and simply get on with the job. Mechanical diesel has a long and well-earned reputation for rugged dependability in places like this, but the electric powertrain looks more than capable of doing the same work. Time will tell over more seasons.
What stands out, though, is how a conservancy that’s completely off-grid - and often cut off from the outside world altogether - can now power its own fleet of 4x4s without relying on the weather, a delivery truck or another fuel bill.
That, in the end, is the most interesting part of this story.
