Around the World in an Electric 1955 Land Rover
There are easier ways to travel around the world.
For a start, you could fly. You could take a modern 4x4 with air conditioning, a roof rack full of jerry cans and all the electronic assistance you could possibly need. Or, if you really wanted to make life difficult, you could take a 1955 Series I Land Rover.
And then convert it to electric power.
That’s exactly what Dr Ed Barsley plans to do when he sets off from the Royal Automobile Club on Pall Mall on 22 March 2027, attempting to become the first person to circumnavigate the globe in an electric classic car.
His vehicle is ‘Evie’, an 86” 1955 Series 1 Land Rover that has been in the Barsley family for more than 35 years. It was also his late father John’s long-held ambition to drive the Land Rover around the world.
Now Ed intends to finish what they started.
The Electric Overland will cover more than 18,000 driving miles through 20 countries and six continents, using a fully electric powertrain while retaining the original chassis, body and much of the character that makes a Series 1 Land Rover what it is.
And that’s rather more interesting than simply bolting a battery into an old Landy and heading off.
Meet Evie – a 1955 Series I Land Rover with a very different powertrain
Evie was built in 1955, the same year as the two Series 1 Land Rovers used for the famous Oxford and Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition – the vehicles later celebrated as the First Overland.
So there is already a bit of history in the old girl.
She has been part of the Barsley family for more than three decades, and Ed and his father John had been restoring her together from the ground up. Sadly, John died from non-smokers’ lung cancer in late 2024 before they could complete the project.
Ed is now finishing the restoration and taking Evie on the journey in his father’s memory.
But this isn't simply a sentimental trip in an old Land Rover.
Evie has been converted to electric power using two Fellten 55kWh UBP-55E battery packs and a Tesla Model 3 motor. The conversion is fully reversible, while the original chassis, body and patina have been retained.
The electric powertrain provides 7kW AC charging and up to 70kW DC fast charging, along with vehicle-to-load capability. Under suitable conditions, the projected range is up to 375 miles.
That last figure is particularly impressive when you remember we're talking about a 1955 Land Rover.
18,000 miles, six continents and plenty that could go wrong
The electric conversion might change what powers Evie, but it doesn't make a global expedition any easier.
In fact, there are plenty of opportunities for things to go spectacularly wrong.
Over the course of the journey, Evie will have to deal with long-distance driving, remote roads, mountains, dust, extreme heat and cold, and all the other punishment that comes with crossing some pretty inhospitable parts of the planet.
Then there’s the small matter of keeping an electric vehicle charged.
Different countries use different charging standards, electricity supplies can be unpredictable in remote areas and the expedition will also have to deal with ports, customs, visas, border crossings and shipping schedules.
A mechanical or electrical failure in the wrong place could be serious. So could a closed border, a missed sailing or simply finding yourself several hundred miles from the nearest suitable source of electricity.
The planned route starts in England before heading through France and Spain to Morocco, then across to Brazil and south through Argentina and Chile.
From there, Evie heads north through the United States before crossing to New Zealand and Australia.
The expedition then continues through Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and India before heading back towards Europe through Turkey, Serbia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia and Italy.
Obviously, Evie isn't going to drive across the oceans.
Sea freight will connect the sections that can't be driven, including Morocco to Brazil, Chile to the United States, the United States to New Zealand, New Zealand to Australia, Australia to Singapore, Thailand to India and India to Turkey.
Even so, that's one hell of a road trip.
It's about more than just an old Land Rover
There is another side to The Electric Overland.
Ed has spent two decades working in climate adaptation, and the expedition will be used to look at how communities, infrastructure and landscapes are responding to climate change.
His previous work includes co-designing the Flood Re Flood Resilient Garden at the 2024 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, writing the RIBA-published Retrofitting for Flood Resilience: A Guide to Building & Community Design, creating Flo – a fully electric VW ID. Buzz Climate Camper – and founding the Hazard + Hope initiative and Climate Creatives Challenge.
His PhD at the University of Cambridge examined climate-resilient environments and risk communication.
The idea behind the expedition, therefore, isn't simply that electric is good and old Land Rovers are bad.
Quite the opposite.
It's about asking whether some of the things we already have can be adapted rather than simply discarded and replaced.
As Ed puts it, the expedition is intended to tell a wider story about resilience – adapting what we have for the future rather than automatically throwing it away.
And there's something rather appropriate about using a vehicle that's more than 70 years old to explore that idea.
A world record attempt
The Electric Overland is also aiming for a world first: the first circumnavigation of the globe in an electric classic car.
To meet recognised circumnavigation benchmarks, the expedition will involve at least 18,000 miles driven under Evie's own electric power, travel in one continuous general direction, crossings of the Equator and every meridian of longitude, a pair of points on opposite sides of the Earth and, ultimately, a return to London.
The sea journeys connecting continents won't count towards the driven mileage.
GPS data, charging records, mileage information, shipping records and filmed evidence will all be used to document the journey, with the world-record claim dependent on the expedition being completed and subsequently verified.
See Evie before she heads off
Before the big trip, Evie will make her first public appearances.
She'll be at Everything Electric Greater London in Twickenham on 11–12 September, followed by Goodwood Revival from 18–20 September.
That puts the Land Rover in front of two rather different audiences – the EV crowd and the classic car community – while also giving journalists the chance to have a proper look at the conversion and expedition equipment. It's an interesting combination.
There will undoubtedly be some classic Land Rover purists who won't be entirely convinced by replacing the old engine with batteries and a Tesla motor. But the fact that the conversion is reversible and the original body, chassis and patina have been retained should at least give the project something to talk about.
And frankly, we'd rather see an old Series I being driven around the world than sitting in a museum gathering dust.
Follow the Electric Overland
The expedition is being supported by DRIVEN, the automotive culture and media platform co-founded by 10-time X Games medallist Tanner Foust and record-breaking car builder and producer Emelia Hartford.
A planned four-part documentary will follow Evie's transformation and the expedition, with the series intended for the DRIVEN platform and wider broadcast and streaming opportunities being explored.
For updates, live tracking and behind-the-scenes coverage of the build and journey, follow The Electric Overland via its website and Instagram.
The big question is whether a 1955 Land Rover, even one with a very modern electric heart, can really make it around the world.
We're rather hoping it does.
Because 18,000 miles in a Series 1 sounds like the sort of adventure that could produce a few stories along the way.
Website: www.theelectricoverland.com
Instagram: @theelectricoverland / @edbarsley