Despite us Aussies being stalwarts of the traditional diesel, and indeed petrol-powered engines, it may well be time we faced up to the fact that electric four-wheel drives are going to be a thing. That is despite a lot of us now understanding how the horse-and-carriage drivers of old must have felt about those new fandangled ‘automobiles’, it seems electric four-wheel drives and vehicles in general aren’t going to just be a fad, or trend. They’re really going to happen.
You may remember a few months ago, we ran a story about the Rivian R1T ute that had been brought to market. A lot of us (the writer included), scoffed at the idea with comments around their range, susceptibility to water damage, lack of places to charge them, and general downright lack of ‘manliness’ you get from the roar of a big angry diesel or petrol-powered V8. It seems, despite our protestations, that electric vehicles in the off-road and four-wheel drive world are full-electrons-ahead.
Rivian have just announced a $700 million investment round, led by no other than online giant Amazon. Where Elon Musk has Tesla, Jeff Bezos (CEO & Founder of Amazon), will have Rivian under his wing. Getting a jump on the competition is the contributing factor to the success of Amazon, so investment into what has come to be the first real off-road EV manufacturer with a lot of promise, seems all too obvious.
Worthy of note is another new four-wheel drive EV, the Atlis XT. It comes from Atlis, another electric vehicle start-up, with the XT ‘pickup’ being based on their electric skateboard platform. All they need do to be able to have it work as a four-wheel drive, is lift the suspension, add a body, and away it goes.
So maybe it’s time to put away our misgivings of electric vehicles? Especially with reported towing capability of over nine tonnes, recharge times of just 15 minutes, a range of over 800km, and more torque then you’ll know what to do with.
87 comments
If they come out at an affordable price, I’m in. Big enough to carry the batteries for the extra range, weight down low, and huge torque for the entire rev range, it’s a set thing!
I would have thought that the electric ute is the ideal place to spread the technology. Utes are big sellers and most of them are used by tradies in urban conditions. For 4WDs, it is already difficult to find fuel in the outback, don’t like the chances of finding a charger. Have to carry a petrol driven generator to charge the batteries.
put solar panels on t he roof ?
Not sure why they don’t do that now – seems a bit of a hurdle as it is not common, even on electric vehicles, so there must be some financial / cost-value thing or maybe even design?
Odd not already done, and I’m not sure even of any RV / Vans that have Solar Panels integrated?
Let’s see how it goes in water me thinks it will stop and short out
Roughly, it’d take 10 or more solar panels 6-8 hours to give the car enough charge for 100km range. So if you were able to mount 3 panels you’d get to travel 100km maybe two or three time a week.
Jaguar Ipace look it up.
The big market is obviously the urban cowboy market , tradies during the week, warriors at weekends, who can charge them at home overnight but don’t forget us rural brigade who have sheds covered in solar panels. The farm Ute, now usually a diesel powered something, will be electric and cost NOTHING to fuel up . Tell the farmers that, and they’ll sell as fast as they can ship them. I wouldn’t drive one to the Cape but that won’t be the target market .
It’s because the roof space available is not enough to recharge the vehicle in an acceptable amount of time (panel efficiency). Consider those 8 panels covering half your house roof. They are likely 1.5kw and produce around 7kWh on average a day. Now compare that to a Tesla Model S 60D that is rated at a combined 32 kWh per 100 miles. That about 5 days charge to drive 100 miles. Now consider you can only fit one panel so time those 5 days by 8. You get the idea.
It would take a lot more than that or you have some huge panels.
Read an article that said the solar panels on the roof of a vehicle would take days to charge the batteries of an electric car. Seems they simply don’t generate enough power.
As long as you sell it before the batteries need replacing it would be okay, buyer two beware….
IP68 rating, like a submersible pump.
When they put charge points in the simmo etc they may have a chance but right now they are a virtue signalling gimmick for leftards.
Hydrogen is the way. We don’t have enough power to run Australia now!! Amsterdam has reversed it decision to only have electric cars due “you guessed it” lack of electrical power!!!
All well and good for the areas that have or will have charge stations. Out the bush or on long hauls between cities in Qld and WA you ain’t going to find them in the foreseeable future so generators will have to be used. Fording rivers (not creeks) to my mind also has its problems. So in closing they will be the quint essential city and suburb Taxi out of the price range of any non working grey nomads from the bush.
Here’s the thing. The car market is global and Australia is a tiny, tiny part of it. The internal combustion engine is being legislated out of existence (not that it will be of any use once oil runs out anyway).
Electric vehicles are happening. We will get them whether we want them or not and there won’t be a petrol/diesel alternative. Nobody that matters cares whether a few dozen mullet-headed Aussies want to drive along the Telegraph track each year.
I read yesterday that a Uni in the USA has built clear solar panels. So I hope we see whole roofs and panels which means permanent charging. I love the thought of quietly making my may through the bush. Bound to see more wildlife etc which suites me fine
I want to see one in the wet season up north bonnet deep. If it can do that I’m in.I would rather carry a gennie and fuel than 120lt of diesel, think cost. The problem will be they are to dear to afford
Nup. These things are sealed tighter than a fishes #^%hole. And the build quality is astounding. We’re nearly 2 decades into the 21st century. Seems.your still living in the 1980’s.
Yeah I’m sure they want to appeal to the few whom travel remote….in irrelevant little Oz.
You’ve missed the value of these vehicles and the advancements Rivian bring to the table.
Everyone better get over their fear of Nuclear power because we are gonna need it to power all these EV’s solar panel are just not gonna cut it!!
When I can plug it into the nearest gum tree….
Sounds promising enough, but after all the HYPE when it comes down to
the end of the Battery Cell’s Life, How cumbersome and costly will it be to replace all the
battery Cells in the Vehicle?
…and not to forget, if the 4×4 is doing a river crossing, how well will the seals on the
battery compartment hold out, as electricity and moisture/water aren’t a match made in heaven?!
…time will tell
Couldn’t be too much of an engineering challenge to have a generator running from the rotation of the wheels charging a secondary battery and perhaps a solar charging port for those week long fishing trips. Maybe they already have that but I’ve not read it anywhere.
That said, Norway has introduced a complete ban on sales of vehicles with combustion engines, and this is a country that makes a lot of money on oil production.
Just think of all those electric subs running around. If they can keep those batteries dry, pretty sure they can do it in a car too.
Back to the horse and cart days.
I wonder how many of your grandparents said the same thing about automobiles won’t work because where will you get the fuel from when you go bush or outback in remote areas?
Well how long did it take to have service stations nation wide and you can get fuel almost everywhere.
You can bet your bottom dollar that when there is a need for recharging stations and there is money to be maid, someone will take the opportunity to supply it.
It’s a common misconception to think that a gennie and a jerry can will do the job of charging a battery. They won’t. Think about this. Your 4×4 needs 120L of diesel to travel certain distance because that amount of fuel contains required amount of energy for your 4×4 to travel that distance. If you replace a diesel engine by a battery pack, that won’t affect the amount of energy required to do the same distance. In fact it will be exactly the same. Now imagine that your battery is flat and you need to charge it first. How much fuel do you need to burn in your generator to produce that amount of energy? Well, the answer is no less than 120L. In reality though it will be more because of different losses. So if you are going to do a 2000km outback track and your battery is only good for 800km, be prepared to carry with you enough fuel for the gennie to produce the energy for the remaining 1200km. And that amount of fuel is no less than that required to burn in your regular diesel 4×4 to travel the same 1200km. So whether you like it or not, on longer trips you will need to have as much additional fuel with you as you would have if you were travelling in a typical diesel 4×4. The only difference will be that in one case you burn your fuel in the engine, but in the case of a battery you burn it in the generator. Considering energy losses and the necessity to carry a generator now, you will be better of in a regular diesel 4×4 than an electrical one, because you will need to carry less additional weight. Charging from solar panels is possible but it will take weeks to gather the same amount of energy as contained in 120L of diesel. Unless you can unfold a panel the size of a football field.
I’ll have one please and one time everyone said the internal combustion engine wouldn’t be here for five minutes the horse is much more reliable.
Just as we have been the last country in the world to pick up city vehicles we will be the last to pick up electric 4×4’s. Range, durability, expense will slow their acceptance to a trickle. City buyers of SUV’s will go to hybrids, but not electric. Whilst Aussies are fast to pick up new technology, we are also clever enough to understand its limitations.
Unfortunately laws of physics apply to Perpetual Motion, a generator would not generate enough power to cover the power required to drive the motor/s let alone have some power left over to charge the batteries,due to energy losses via friction, heat, etc. Good thought, but impractical & impossible. Solar charge port would help, but forget 15 minute charges.
Electric sounds great, we deck our rigs out now with solar panels and carrier generators when camping, you can do the same with the car. I would love to taken one out for a week and see how they go.
Electric vehicles seem like a good idea. I am looking forward to when there are enough charging stations to make them viable. When that happens I would certainly consider buying one, depending on price and maintenance costs.
However, I have a couple of questions.
1) Where will all the electricity come from to charge a couple of million vehicles, when everyone owns an EV , as we are constantly told will happen? Especially when we are shutting down power stations and refusing nuclear and the sun doesn’t shine at night. Maybe technology will evolve. Maybe?
2) Filling a petrol tank takes a couple of minutes, charging a battery takes at least 15 minutes (lets have faith in what they say) and more likely several hours. There will be a big line-up at the charging stations while EVs are charging. Maybe they can throw in free movies to entertain us while we wait.
Can someone please enlighten me?
Good luck with service and repairs in the Bush.
Electric 4×4 gives a new meaning to range anxiety,imagine connecting your solar panel to your 4×4 and waiting for a full charge.People who would call themselves intelligent think it would be a good idea if all vehicles were electric.If that ever came to be,what happens when everyone comes home at night and plugs in their car and the wind doesn’t blow because the sun don’t shine at night?They all end up with flat batteries,that’s what.Unless we have those dirty coal powered power stations with all that steam coming out of their cooling towers.Hybrid electric vehicles are a different story,at least you’ve got a combustion engine as a backup.
Another “claim” of rapid charging and extravagant range. Do the science. 50 kWhr of battery (at least this amount to get this range) to charge and even with a house roof full of solar panels(5kw) it will take 10hrs of full sun (assuming 100% efficiency which never happens).
How about some proper investigative journalism rather than regurgitating company spin
Electric vehicles will need to come with battery cartridges so to speak, you can have one on charge at home while you’re out utilizing your solar power during daylight hours.
Service stations could stock charged cartridges like a swap and go gas bottle.
Not a perfect system but would be pretty good. Imagine no engine noise on busy roads.
There seems to be a lot of confusion around charging these vehicles, energy consumption, time of day etc.
Not saying this is the answer but wouldn’t service stations just evolve to have pre charged battery cassettes that can be like a swap and go gas bottle system.
Owners can have 1 or more spare cassettes at home on trickle charge ready to swap over or load into the boot to go on long range trips.
Mercedes Benz (MB) with their top of the line luxury sedans announced that they had changed the air-conditioning units from running off a belt drive on the motor to run purely on battery power and the electricity for the battery is mostly generated by cabin roof top solar panels. This started about 10 years ago. The idea was that the air con would run on low all the time the vehicle was parked in the sun and when the driver returned to the vehicle, it would not be stinking hot inside ! I have not checked up how far down the model range MB have progressed with this idea !
Come on people, really? Can we turn our passionate negativity into some positive solutions.
Problem #1: Water tightness.
Solution: Yep Boris & Tex, IP68=Tighterthanafishes. Can basically drive underwater. Plus no exhaust and no fugly snorkel on the front of my rig.
Problem #2: Fuel. Remote Outback Fuel Station
Solution#1: Solar/ battery storage. No ships + massive fuel truck slogging fuel to remote areas. Little traffic means all the more energy for you. Card payment or automatic cash payment. One person required for occasional maintenance.
Solution#2: Battery cassettes. No more explanation needed.
Solution#3: Gen set. There is far less energy expended & wasted by using an electric 4WD & charging batteries with a gen set than there is by using an ICE. Hybrids anybody??
Solution#4: Powered caravan site. Pull up for the night, charge your vehicle and go the next morning. Whether you have to pay for the site or the site + power consumed, it will always be cheaper than fueling up you’re fuel guzzling ICE.
Problem#3: Battery Recycling and Waste.
Question#1: How much oil based fuel is recycled? ?? ???
Answer: 0.000000000%
Question#2: How much oil based fuel waste is contained? ?????
Answer: Very little via the catalytic converter.
Solution#1: If all the $$ put into crude oil research was put into new battery technology there would be a solution by the end of the year. As it is batteries are already recycled.
Problem#4: Available charging stations. WA for example.
Solution#1: You can already get from Perth to Albany to Margs to Esperance and back with the current existing Recharge stations. Not sure about the rest of the state as I haven’t travelled there but it won’t be long, if not already there.
Problem#4: Constant electricity supply form Renewables.
Solution#1: Batteries
Solution#2: Pumped Hydro which is currently being built in QLD with proposals for SA, Snowy Mountain & Tassie with the potential for other sites like Collie WA.
Solution#3: Wind Turbines and geared Flywheel Wind Turbines. There is suitable wind in most parts of Oz, most of the time.
Solution#4: Tidal/Wave Energy. We’re on an island surrounded by ocean. The potential is massive.
Problem#5: Solar on the roof of your rig.
Solution#1: High efficiency Sunpower® panels which will only get better in time. And basically just chill out for a days. Better than being stuck out Back of Burke with no fuel.
Any more questions??
Interested!
I think the big change to come in transport will go hand in hand with battery storage systems in the home. problem solved and plenty of power left over for the house. I hear in Europe they are even selling ‘power walls’ in stores like IKEA. This revolution has wings. There is an unbelievable amount of investment going on around the world in battery production and improvements. Just because this country is ‘backward thinking’ (at the moment) don’t be fooled.
Thourhly agree with you not only power supply but also getting rid Of The batteries when there life has finished
They really aren’t as clean as people make them out to be the production of batteries has a massive impact on the environment along with disposal of dead batteries not to mention recharging them 85% of electricity is made by burning coal and gas so unless they are going to fit solar panels and wind turbines to the car is it really cleaner then running a modern fuel efficient combustion engine
Electric subs have a high diesal generator in them
I would imagine that the batteries are very expensive & heavy, The life of the batteries is another question, as I think they work of the number of cycles (i.e. fully charged- fully discharged= 1cycle). Does the 800 km range include towing a 3 tonne caravan? What happens if you wish to a trip over the Simpson? Perhaps if NPWS allowed the use of generators the batteries could be charged by that.
My other concern is the need to recycle these batteries at the end of their life. One or two lead acid batteries per vehicle is one thing, but many (?) Li-ion batteries after 10 years per vehicle is a totally different problem.
You would need a fork lift to carry these cassettes, a Tesla weighs close to 3 tonnes and alot of that is battery.My comment about connecting your 12v solar to the vehicle was tongue in cheek, even with a gennie it would probably take 8 hours.
You would need a fork lift to carry these cassettes, a Tesla weighs close to 3 tonnes and alot of that is battery.My comment about connecting your 12v solar to the vehicle was tongue in cheek, even with a gennie it would probably take 8 hours.As someone posted earlier,if you want a dedicated electric vehicle,hydrogen is the answer,but then you need an infrasructure similar to the fuel infrastructure we have now and a tank in your car at minus god knows what.
In response to Andrew’s comment on interchangeable batteries, yes that would be the ultimate solution. Like everything, it comes down to standards. We have all seen it before with VHS and Beta and so on. There is also the case of vehicle design. To meet Australian design standards, it would be difficult to make a simple removable battery storage unit. Australian standards dictate that the battery storage unit must be able to withstand a 20G collision. This is partly why batteries are stored between the chassis rails or part of the vehicles sub-frame to be able to meet those requirements.
In part, this is the reason why I have been developing a new charging system that will increase the range of vehicles like this, to over 1000 kms on the current battery pack. A Toyota Hilux is in the process of being converted to electric, with testing of the charging system scheduled to take place later this year. Although this will not give the immediate option to have interchangeable batteries at the local servo, if this option is successfully implemented, then you may just be able to complete your journey without having to charge anywhere except at home. Of course that is assuming you only do a day trip. If you intend to do a lap of OZ, or tackle Cape York, then yes you will still need to visit civilisation now and again to charge the vehicle. No different than now, when we have to stop and fill the long range fuel tanks we all have.
An 800 kilometre range is not that good. If one really goes bush, away from civilisation, I feel that spare batteries may be too heavy to carry. How many charging points will be available on the Gunbarrel Highway?
In a few years to do a coast to coast trip you’ll likely only need 1 charge and that will include powering all auxillary equipment such as lights, cooking and dare I say it: A/C for your tent!
Think about what you could do with a 1000kwh of storage?
Rightards have no idea on conversion from fossil fuel to electric. We converted from horse to car and petrol stations popped up across the nation. What will be the difference with liquid fuel to electric conversion ? Please explain….
Ahh – the sun? Camp fir a couple days and your tank is full
I read a great deal of negativity. Whilst I understand there are considerable cons there are also many pros. I have been anticipating this for many years as one of my biggest reasons for going ‘bush’ is get away from the rat race and enjoy nature. I do hard core stuff but sometimes I don’t want to hear the noisy truck but the sounds made by nature as I role along with my windows open going places not many others can go.
There are many smart minds out there so I hope that this becomes a sustainable reality. As many people have pointed out there are always limitations to all new technology. This should only make us work harder to find a better solution.
On demand electricity able to supply even when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing will come from a number of storage sources including pumped hydro, compressed air in caverns, molten salt, large scale and small scale batteries and hydrogen.
The electricity powering all of these storage methods will be from primarily wind and solar farms as the two cheapest forms of energy production available today, but will also include hydro and possibly wave power, as well as some gas in the medium term.
There may be a market in recycling used batteries. However, my money is on the replacement of more expensive/toxic/environmentally destructive components with alternatives (e.g. work being done at present on developing sodium based instead of lithium based batteries).
How do propose to lift your ‘cassette’ in and out of the vehicle, I’d imagine they would weigh a minimum of 100kg+
My 6.6kW of panels in Alice Springs typically generates between 35-40kWh/day and covers about 36 square metres of roof. So to fully charge a Tesla battery might take two days even with an array of that size.
That’s why it’s unusual to see solar panels on EVs (although there was one released in Germany a few months ago that I think got about an extra 14 miles of range out of them on a sunny day).
Seems strange that everyone fails to be aware hat he first vehicle to break the the 60 mph mark way back in 1910. So now, over a hundred years later, we’re back to electric vehicles, if they’re affordable, I’m in!
I recall a battery and solar powered Suzuki crossing the Simpson a few years back. Progress, you can’t hold it back!
Here, here!
I wish i could get 800k range out of my MU-X!
Its already being used in EV vehicles, its called regenerative braking. It wont provide enough charge to replenish the batteries but its a start
I can’t help but feel we are being led down the garden path with electric vehicles. It is estimated that just the production of the battery generates the equivalent of 8 years worth of fossil fuel emissions. And the battery won’t last 8 years! Not to mention that all comparisons between cars that show a positive to electric vehicles seem to be limited to the vehicle travelling 150k km in its life which is probably not realistic and I can help but feel it is to prevent the impact of a replacement battery being factored in. Just another case of clever marketing that has built the perception that they are better for the environment and therefore allows us to feel like we are doing something Positive which is probably not true. Mr 4×4 – would you guys consider doing a detailed report into the truth here? I reckon a lot of people would be keen to read a solid piece on the realities here!
Farmers drive their utes during the day and how do you charge the ute with moon light with solar panels.
I believe that while rare earth metals are used in the battery making process, going electric is a waste of hard to find resources that cannot be replaced. Once new technologies such as sodium-ion batteries are developed for mass use and we have figured out how to water proof the entire system so it is reliable regardless of vibrations (Anne Beadell hwy) it should be considered for those of us who go remote.
Battery lives on electric vehicles far exceed 8 years. Although perhaps a vehicle battery below 80% capacity needs replacing, these batteries find a second life in utility/home battery use cases, where size isn’t an issue.
Before you ask for the facts, make sure you’re open to both sides of the argument!
Does anyone know what volume of additional minerals, such as copper, nickel, cobalt, Rare Earth Elements (especially neodymium) etc are required for the electric motors/magnets and wiring required over and above a standard petroleum based vehicle? How much of these minerals are required for the Toyota Hilux that is being converted?
Of course, additional minerals are also required for batteries required for these vehicles and include lithium, nickel, cobalt, cadmium, manganese, phosphorous and possibly zinc.
My concern is that there has been no consideration for the volume of resources required to move away the current hydrocarbon based motor vehicle industry to this so-called environmentally friendly electric technology given the number of vehicles on the road today, let alone in 20 years time. Copper, cobalt and nickel in particular have limited resources at current price levels. Exploration and mining costs associated with discovery and then extraction of much deeper deposits will escalate mineral prices significantly.
I am also under the impression that the current electrical grid may not be capable of enabling too many homes in a street to recharge vehicle batteries at home at the same time and will therefore require significant upgrades to implement electric vehicles across the board.
Meanwhile, many people in third world countries still do not have clean drinking water and rely on burning wood or manure to cook their meals and lighting. They do not have access to electricity, let alone cheap electricity for their basic needs. How do we expect them to recharge their vehicle batteries?
Exactly. I agree 100%. I for one am excited at the prospect of owning an electric 4×4 and sedan car. Technology in this field is progressing at a rapid rate and most of our major concerns will be addressed in due coarse. I don’t know why there are so many pessimistic negative people out there. Ignorance I guess.
Crikey. They said that about electric fuel pumps, engine computers, automatic transmissions, etc………….
I think they even said it about those infernal combustion engines! “Anyone can shoe a horse, but you’ll never……..”
Just amazing how the world moves on.
Steller. You are missing some key points. Firstly, why would you need a generator? Firstly, like using fuel, you plan your trip. You can already drive right around Australia in an electric car, and down through the middle. Been done many times already. Why would you need “fuel” for your whole trip when you leave? I never do in my diesel fuelled vehicle – the amount required would exceed GVM! Secondly, you do not have to use just dedicated vehicle charging points. Any powerpoint will charge a car, it is just a matter of speed. Almost all of Australia is electrified, and I have noticed more motels, for example, installing powerpoints in their car parks in regional areas. Thirdly, you do not need a full charge to travel, you can partly recharge to get you to the next charging point or opportunity. A solar panel could provide a top up in an emergency.
There are many misconceptions about EVs. Yes, currently it is not achievable to do a trip like the Gunbarrel in any practical way, but who does that anyway – only a tiny minority of the travelling public, Out on the road, most people I meet including most grey nomads, are going on well travelled paths, with regular towns and not travelling many kms per day. Just like most urban dwellers could readily cover the daily trips in an EV, conveniently, even if they don’t believe it now.
Err, why not just plug it into a power point or even use solar panels?
What percentage of people travelling in this country cross the Simpson, down the Gunbarrel etc
Answer: A very tiny percentage. Most people on travel on bitumen the vast amount of th etime and don’t stray that far from towns ie electricity.
Problem solved already, except for the tiny number of people who have special requirements.
Given that we can readily water/dustproof many different products to military standards, including for extreme environments from the arctics to deserts, jungles and remote mines(I have been involved with some of these), why on earth would it be a problem. There are heaps of vehicles running around with high levels of protection for electronics and other components already.
Have you any real world evidence of problems achieving this?
probably cheaper to throw away the flat car and buy a new one
Yes a lot less maintenance on an electric car. But oh the gentle throng of generators around camp sites on a windless night.
Mate, can I borrow some petrol for me genny, need to head home tomorrow morning early?
Sounds like the whole package it would be fantastic to travel
Thanks for the update. Very informative. My impression is that a lot of these alternatives are still a long way off and have yet to be developed commercially let alone economically. I still wonder whether all these possible solutions will provide enough power to charge up the millions of vehicles that we are told we will all be driving. I believe in the ingenuity of the human race to come up with some solutions, I just haven’t seen where we are heading. I’m not sure that electric vehicles on a large scale is the answer.
Whatever happened to the Hydrogen solution for powering vehicles? It appears to me that it is a clean solution. H20 can be split into hydrogen and oxygen and then recombined into H2O again,ie water. I know that there are problems with storage cells and the power to create hydrogen but surely these are not insurmountable if we really try.
Including the cost of fuel transport for your internal combustion engine. From refinery, to servos etc. pretty big carbon footprint there.
Electric will be awesome. Max power from zero revs, more torque than we can comprehend.
Everything is corrupted by greed.
Modern diesels in Australia don’t need to be restricted with all the emissions crap making them more fragile and short lived. We have few built up cities and they could have electric car insentives for cities. Diesel insentives for rural areas as there’s less people to kill with diesel fumes and its watered down to nothing anyway. We should have no diesel restrictions here, let them breathe. But have electric car insentives for suburban use.
Electric will be better in the bush, for a plethora of reasons from environmental(not trashing tracks as much) to massive performance gains, not just huge torque and from zero revs, or less gears, but more room for longer front suspension arms like a desert buggy.
Its one issue to talk about electric vehicles BUT a lot of the average people in Australia are having trouble paying their power Bills now and the second issue being that the clowns upstairs cannot decide how they are going to keep the country going with affordable power and now the powers to be ie global warming are trying to push electric vehicles wake up people
MMM a coal powered Car just what I need
Barry, you use the solar panels on the shed to charge the storage batteries in the shed during the daylight hours, when you park the vehicle after dark you plug it into be charged from the stored electricity, but sadly farming is not just a “9:00 to 5:00” job so that is a problem they will have to address, ie being able to access an energised vehicle at any time of the night or day.
Yeah but the energy in the grid is coming more and more from renewables. Most states are moving toward renewable base load energy, so in about 10 years it will be alot greener than 85%. Also, if you were serious about clean energy you would already install PV and storage in your home…But the biggest issue is not even the energy. The big issue is that Australia do not manufacture cars anymore, so we only get vehicles that are available in other markets. Im pretty sure that by 2030 China is banning the sale of ICE vehicles, and Europe is heading in the same direction. So the big question is, “If you were a car manaufacturer, why would you stay with ICE when your biggest markets are gearing up to phase out ICE vehicles?” So whether we like it or not we will be forced to purchase electric vehicles in the future because no manufacturer could possibly make a business case to engineer specific vehicles for such a small market. (Looking at you GM) This is why vehicles exclusive to Australia (and NZ) no longer exist. For me, I would love to have a tow vehicle that isn’t the size of a bus. Have an inerently heavy car, but with a small foot print sounds ideal to me.
Long range fuel tank. My Hyundai Terracan gets approx. 1100km to a tank.
When I started installing PV Solar 10 years ago, 21 panels would only provide 1.5kW. Now only 4 panels will provide the same and it’s just been announced that there has been a massive leap in technology which would mean even less panels would be required. 10 years ago a 5kW Solar system would cost $27,000 and now costs $3,500. Currently a Gel Deep Cycle battery with 80Ah useable capacity weighs 72kg and it’s massive. The equivalent Lithium battery weighs only 13kg and it’s tiny. For many decades millions of dollars and research has been poured into the fuel tank of the ICE. Imagine the outcome if all this wealth and input is transferred to electric vehicles.
Of course no mention of cost…..not the overhead cost to set up charging stations all over the country. Don’t think I’ll live long enough to see it happen.
i think electric cars r the absolute worst type of cars in the world and u need a diesel that rolls coal cause that is the best. i will never ever get a retarded electric car
electric cars suck so bad and i will never ever get 1 also diesel cars that rolls coal r epic and who cares about harming the environment and whoever does care about the environment r weirdos in my opinion. also petrol cars can still be faster and who the hell wants to wait 45mins for ur car to charge