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I'm into off roading as well, my weapon of choice was a Cherokee 4.5" lift on 32" tires. Lots of time in the woods. Built it up myself. I'm super excited for e

I'm into off roading as well, my weapon of choice was a Cherokee 4.5" lift on 32" tires. Lots of time in the woods. Built it up myself. I'm super excited for electric off road vehicles, but when you're way out there you really still need a gasoline engine. It's just too convenient to store 100+ miles of fuel in ~60lbs strapped to the back of your truck, your friends truck, and every other person's truck who you meet on the trail. On a longer trip it's easy to be a day or more from fuel (because the roads are bad, and average speed is very low) Torque from 0 and independent control of each motor is going to be a game changer. Add in new suspension possibilities when you don't have differentials and axles (hub motors?) and next-gen trucks could be extremely capable. If we can figure out the range/refueling problem (...and I don't think we can for 10+ more years for this use-case) I think folks are getting confused about 'off road' in the comments here. Image search '4x4 rock climbing' - that's the stuff many trails have short (or long) sections of. Add in the isolation, constant use of aircon or heat (or both), high power demands to go very short distances, and electric just won't do it right now. We need better batteries or some way of producing electricity from liquid fuels.

radium3d 6y ago
The Tesla Cybertruck with 500+ miles range, plus the solar tonneau vault door that generates 40+ miles a day might be pretty good though. Super excited to see the production model with all the improvements Elon has been mentioning from his recent visit to the design center in the past week. I can't believe it's already been in manufacturing design for a year next month!
fredophile 6y ago
For energy density it's pretty hard to beat things like gas or diesel. Do you see any practical reason you couldn't carry liquid fuel and a generator for offroading? It would take longer to recharge than just dumping fuel into the tank but I'm not convinced that would be a dealbreaker.
- adrianN 6y ago
  What's the efficiency of such generators? Surely you lose 70% of the energy?
  - freeone3000 6y ago
    Generator->electric->drive gives a longer range per gallon of gas than ICE->drive, since the generator is always in its optimal power band.
  - fredophile 6y ago
    Even if the generator is less efficient than a truck with an ICE engine I think it would be a net win. You would only be using the generator on long off road trips where you're isolated and don't have an alternative way to charge the vehicle. If having the generator means the EV is a viable choice then you would still get the environmental benefits of someone using an EV instead of ICE for 95% of their driving.

radium3d 6y ago

The Tesla Cybertruck with 500+ miles range, plus the solar tonneau vault door that generates 40+ miles a day might be pretty good though. Super excited to see the production model with all the improvements Elon has been mentioning from his recent visit to the design center in the past week. I can't believe it's already been in manufacturing design for a year next month!

fredophile 6y ago

For energy density it's pretty hard to beat things like gas or diesel. Do you see any practical reason you couldn't carry liquid fuel and a generator for offroading? It would take longer to recharge than just dumping fuel into the tank but I'm not convinced that would be a dealbreaker.

adrianN 6y ago
What's the efficiency of such generators? Surely you lose 70% of the energy?
- freeone3000 6y ago
  Generator->electric->drive gives a longer range per gallon of gas than ICE->drive, since the generator is always in its optimal power band.
- fredophile 6y ago
  Even if the generator is less efficient than a truck with an ICE engine I think it would be a net win. You would only be using the generator on long off road trips where you're isolated and don't have an alternative way to charge the vehicle. If having the generator means the EV is a viable choice then you would still get the environmental benefits of someone using an EV instead of ICE for 95% of their driving.