Land Rover is to unveil a fleet of electric Defender models at the Geneva Motor Show, which aim to add environmental credentials to the ultimate off-roader.

The seven 110 Defenders share the same 94bhp electric motor and single-speed gearbox linked to the conventional model's well-known and peerless four-wheel drive system including differential lock. Stored on board are enough batteries to give up to eight hours of low-speed zero-emission off-roading, according to Land Rover, or about 50 miles on-road.

These concepts, in pick-up, hard-top and station wagon body styles, will be a much more welcome prospect to many Defender enthusiasts than the controversial style-focused DC100 concepts.

Rechargeable in four hours with a 7kW fast-charger or 10 hours using a 3kW portable charger, the electric Defenders weigh around 100kg more than a standard diesel version. All the electric components are air-cooled instead of water-colled, which saves weight and `adds robustness' in the firm's words, which simply means there's less to break.

It is claimed that they can traverse any terrain that the diesel versions can, and use a modified version of the Terrain Response system Land Rover uses on all its models. The vehicles are capable of wading up to 800mm and as part of their trails even pulled a 12-tonne `road train' up a 13% gradient.

Specifically tuned energy recovery technology allows the Defender EV to reclaim a vast amount of energy, with the motor able to push 30kW of electricity back into the battery. The batteries are a type that can withstand very fast charging rates without damaging the cells, so the Defender can use all descents to top up its energy reserves.

Land Rover claims that up to 80% of the kinetic energy of the vehicle can be reclaimed using this method, potentially making the electric Defender one of the most efficient means of transport in the world.

The firm says there are no plans to put the new off-roader into production, but is set to start`specialist' real-world trials across the globe later this year.