We have seen that quite a few classic cars are modified to run on batteries with electric motors, but Toyota has done something different. On Friday, the Australian Toyota Motor Corporation announced a Land Cruiser 70 equipped with an electric drive system for local small-scale operational testing. The company wants to know how this sturdy SUV performs in Australian mines without an internal combustion engine.
This Land Cruiser is different from what you can buy from Toyota dealers in the United States. The history of “70″ can be traced back to 1984, and the Japanese car manufacturer still sells the product in certain countries, including Australia. For this test, it decided to cancel the diesel powertrain and discard certain modern technologies. Underground mining operations will be conducted exclusively at the BHP Nickel West mine in Western Australia, where the automaker plans to study the feasibility of these vehicles to reduce local emissions.
Unfortunately, the automaker did not provide any details on how to modify the Land Cruiser or what kind of powertrain was specifically installed under the metal. However, as the experiment progresses, more details will emerge in the coming months.