A team of engineers turned a Toyota Land Cruiser into an EV and drove it underwater for 4 miles

The 1978 Toyota was turned into an EV for the stunt in Darwin, Australia.

Bridgit Phillips

• A group of Australian engineers drove a Toyota Land Cruiser underwater for 4 miles last month. 
• It took them a year of planning and testing the vehicle before they made their attempt.
• They drove it across the Darwin Harbor in murky water and had to watch out for crocodiles. 

A team of engineers and divers in Australia converted a Toyota Land Cruiser into an EV and drove it underwater for more than four miles. 

The 1978 model was driven for 4.3 miles across Darwin Harbor at a depth of about 100 feet last month. The journey in the capital of the Northern Territory ended up taking more than 12 hours.

One of the engineers, Glen Summers, told Insider they replaced the drive train with an electric motor.

A team of 30 divers was needed to get the Land Cruiser across the bottom of Darwin harbor.

Maddy Stenmark

Summers said it was "quite nerve-racking" to make it across the harbor as the water was very murky and they had to be on the lookout for crocodiles, as well as avoid a gas pipeline.

The pressure at that depth meant it could only be driven underwater by the divers for 15 minutes at a time, Summers said, so it took a team of 30 to get across the harbor.

At one point the Land Cruiser got stuck in mud and sand and had to be lifted out before continuing, adding about five hours to the journey.

The drivers had to be on the lookout for crocodiles.

Bridgitt Phillips

The volunteers bought the orange Land Cruiser for just over $3,000 in Brisbane. They had it transported to Darwin and spent six months on the conversion so it could withstand the pressure at that depth.

The engineers claim to have set a world record for the longest distance driven underwater at that depth, according to the motoring magazine and TV show "Top Gear." When the team reached the other side of the harbor, locals gathered to celebrate the team's achievement.

The celebrations after the team made it across Darwin Harbor.

Maddy Stenmark

A similar journey was attempted in Darwin in 1983, but was abandoned after about two miles when the vehicle's starter motor ran out of air.

The team plan to release a documentary on the stunt soon on their website Cult Cars.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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