Electric vs. "fossil fuel"- how will electric vehicles affect off-roading?

[YouKnowWho]

I think the title covers the subject well. As time goes on more & more vehicles are "going electric". How is this going to interact with the off-road & rock crawler communities and locations? My concern is charging. I don't know about you, but what good is a truck if it "runs out of fuel" and the closest place to fuel it is over a hundred miles away? I'd likely drag a generator along, just in case. What do you guys think?

 

[Pike2350]

Personally, I like the idea of electric vehicles for daily use....however to me the sweet spot is a plug in hybrid. Something you can travel an "average" day on electric, but you don't have range anxiety. I can see this in the off-road world the easiest. You can still run around and use gas (likely smaller, weaker engines) but you aren't as limited.

 

[Spork]

Just think how relaxing it will be to drive out to the middle of nowhere and listen to a generator run all night charging your truck I think that will be more of an issue with the expo crowd than someone that is down in Moab. Most trails in Moab are under 50 miles, slow speed, and probably something an electric vehicle would work great for. If you want to know if electric vehicles have really been accepted in the off-road world you're going to need to look at the side by side crowd. They don't have the government mpg standards, they just need to conform to off-highway rules, California may be trying to kill their fun and telling them they cause cancer but that's just California trying to kill the fun. On the side by side world I think an electric motor would be great for noise reduction, get rid of the cvt belt, and be closer to driving a golf cart for noise/convenience.
I think electrical fire would be concerning in an accident/rollover the little fire extinguisher isn't going to be enough. It's a different fire and short of pushing it into the lake it will burn until all the batteries are gone.

 

[Kevin B.]

It's all about range, and probably swappable batteries. As battery (or hydrogen, or something else we don't know about?) tech gets better, you'll see more electric rigs in the backcountry for sure. Right now, most guys don't spend more than a day or two running around even with jerry cans until they duck out to pavement to find a gas station and whatnot anyway, so what you need is a 500-600 mile range, and electric charging stations close enough to where you want to go to let you get in and out on that charge. As the range of vehicles gets better and infrastructure to support them gets better, they'll be more viable as a "expedition" rig. And who knows, maybe there will be some breakthrough in solar tech that makes backcountry charging viable, even if it were just on an emergency basis to get you back to pavement.

Obviously they're not really appropriate for long range backcountry shenanigans yet. And packing a generator and fuel around defeats the purpose in a comically absurd way, it's fun to make fun of but I don't think you're gonna see very many people do that. But I'm looking forward to the benefits of an electric drivetrain back there (never mind the quiet, have you seen the Rivian's tank turn???), and as the tech and infrastructure mature I will definitely make the switch at some point.

 

[Herzog]

I'll switch over when the electric car isn't dependent upon any kind of scarcity model or grid.

Nuclear steam truck for the win!

 

[N-Smooth]

I spent a couple days with my BIL wheeling his Rivian in Moab and it worked really well. It was quiet, turned sharp and always seemed to find grip- although sometimes the limited slip action let it slip more than I would prefer.

Electric is coming to competition rock crawling for sure, it's bound to happen. I think it will be really boring not having engine noises at competitions but that doesn't mean the sport should be held back if it's clearly superior.

I want to say electric sxs' would be great because they'd be quiet... but you know all those dbags have giant speakers blasting their favorite 5 finger death punch album 24/7 so losing the obnoxious motor drone and belt noise wouldn't solve all the problems.

 

[Cody]

Totally 5fdp. Maybe some disturbed or system of the down. Ugh. So bad, so much befazzlement and vape.

I agree that time will make technology more reliable, more efficient, and the charging grid more available. Who knows if that's 5-10-50 years, but the idea of cruising around in a built crawler and it's quiet and peaceful sounds awesome.... But I also enjoy the sound of a healthy motor revving up an obstacle.

I guess I see Botha sides, but I'm not afraid of change so it'll be fun to watch technology advance in the next couple decades.

 

[Gawynz]

I do think an electric buggy would be very interesting with the approach of how much could you scale it to an RC car. RC cars do silly things relatively speaking size.

 

[glockman]

We ran metal masher with the jeep 4xE a couple years ago. Talking to the jeep engineer changed my mind. That little 4 banger has more hp and torque than my F350 diesel. Hybrids are the future. No range anxiety and you can have mega torque and fuel economy. I will be in line for a hybrid 1 ton tow rig with a 3 liter diesel and 1k ft lbs of torque that gets 30mpg.

 

[anderson750]

As electric vehicles grow as a percentage of vehicles on the road, one thing that will eventually become more of a discussion is fire.......especially when looking at crash outcomes. My friend is a fire chief, and right now said the protocol for fighting an electric car fire is to build a barrier around it and drown the car in 6000 gallons of water. While there are plenty of gas vehicle fires, what it takes to put them out is nothing compared to a lithium battery fire. In the back country a fire extinguisher will put out most gas vehicle fires, that will not be the case with an electric vehicle.

 

[Kevin B.]

I'll switch over when the electric car isn't dependent upon any kind of scarcity model or grid.

Nuclear steam truck for the win!

You're in Utah, nerd, there's no uranium. Coal gassifier or GTFO.

 

[jeeper]

EV ATV battery fire at SEMA 😳 That could have been way worse. Quick thinking to get it out of there. 📽 Jalopy Jeff | By Street FX Motorsport & Graphics | Facebook

2.9M views, 9.4K likes, 151 loves, 8.6K comments, 24K shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Street FX Motorsport & Graphics: EV ATV battery fire at SEMA 😳 That could have been way worse. Quick thinking...

fb.watch

EV UTV fire and sema. I’m assuming it was just sitting at the time it started.

 

[Tonkaman]

EV ATV battery fire at SEMA 😳 That could have been way worse. Quick thinking to get it out of there. 📽 Jalopy Jeff | By Street FX Motorsport & Graphics | Facebook

2.9M views, 9.4K likes, 151 loves, 8.6K comments, 24K shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Street FX Motorsport & Graphics: EV ATV battery fire at SEMA 😳 That could have been way worse. Quick thinking...

fb.watch

EV UTV fire and sema. I’m assuming it was just sitting at the time it started.

That’s not the exposure they were hoping for 😬

 

[N-Smooth]

That’s a pretty 🔥 entrance into the market

 

[Vonski]

Regardless of any EV’s “pros” and even if they have superior capabilities in any way, the underlying (and far broader) issue for many will be the soulless, disconnected driving experience. The sounds, smells, and feel associated with modern and vintage 4x4s (having conventional power/drivetrains) is an important part of the appeal, although kind of taken for granted. I don’t think many have given this aspect much thought, but once realized, I believe there will be more pushback. The off-road adventures I remember most involve the smell of hot tires on slickrock, burning off oil after a rollover, or an ATF soaked t-shirt used to fix a tranny line. I could go on and on sounding like the 50 year old I am, but you get the point. Sure, much of this is generational, and younger folks will be more accepting of EV’s for use off-road, and probably won’t have a choice. For now, rigs hitting obstacles while bouncing off the rev limiter is priceless and no EV can make it any less cool.

 

[jeeper]

I think though for every guy saying what Von said, there is a wife saying she hates the loud noise and smell of gas. She’d be much more willing to go along if the ride was a little more peaceful and pleasant. Just a thought though.

 

[Vonski]

I think though for every guy saying what Von said, there is a wife saying she hates the load noise and smell of gas. She’d be much more willing to go along if the ride was a little more peaceful and pleasant. Just a thought though.

You’re definitely a better man than I. 😂 I’m motivated to fab/weld, turn wrenches, and wheel for me (and my trips have become far and few between). It’s also a lifestyle that pre-dates them. If a girlfriend/spouse/kids wanna come, I’m super accommodating and will make it happen to almost any extent. However, EV is my personal “bridge too far”. 🤷‍♂️

 

[RustEoldtrux]

But I'll miss laying in the mud underneath my old Scout tapping on the starter while shorting across the solenoid with a screwdriver to get it started on a sidehill.

 

[jeeper]

You’re definitely a better man than I.

No no.. I have raised my kids with ‘anything electric does half the job as gas powered’ when buying toys, yard tools, etc.. so I am not an EV fan.

But the SxS world exploded because a credit card or loan payment got people into a sport that guys used to spend their entire life building. Im simply suggesting that an EV version SXS will also have a large appeal to the less enthusiast types that don’t like to get their hands involved.

 

[Vonski]

No no.. I have raised my kids with ‘anything electric does half the job as gas powered’ when buying toys, yard tools, etc.. so I am not an EV fan.

But the SxS world exploded because a credit card or loan payment got people into a sport that guys used to spend their entire life building. Im simply suggesting that an EV version SXS will also have a large appeal to the less enthusiast types that don’t like to get their hands involved.

Makes more sense for electric sxs’ to be embraced by the masses (although I’ll be as opposed to them as automotive-based 4x4s). They’ll most likely attract new buyers adding to an already massive (and often problematic) user group, but that’s a different conversation.