Electric 4WD ....... sooner than you think

I believe it is still only a show concept car - while it may go into production I doesn't exist as yet - except for the concept car.

Why is it that when I look at the design of it I always think (Early Australian) Skoda and to keep well away.

Gday
Thats a damn long lead cord 634 km and then you have to rewind it to plug in again
thats like from my place to Wentworth

At the right price I'd have an electric car for round town use tomorrow...! And I'm sure in time prices will be accessible to most.

Solar panels on the roof, charge vehicle, reduce vehicle operating costs in an instant, who wouldn't do it...?

Cheers, Baz - The Landy

"Despite claiming to be a little over a year away from production, Rivian says it does not know how much driving range is lost when towing or carrying a heavy load."

Statements like that make me question if they're really a year or so away from production!

"...but Australian utes typically can carry up to 1000kg, which in most cases is more than their larger US counterparts which have suspension that prioritises passenger-car comfort over load-carrying ability."

There are zillions of different packages, configurations, and trim levels of full-size pickups in the US. Even F-150's can be configured to carry more than 1000kg, LOL.

2019 F-150 brochure

There's at least four things stopping the full EV revolution arriving overnight.

One is, the enormous demand for lithium batteries, if the majority of vehicles became EV's - which just cannot be met, by current production facilities.
It takes years to plan and build and put into production, giga-factories with the ability to churn out the quantity of batteries needed.

These batteries are complex, require top-level QC, and constant build system tests and checks - and they take extended time to construct.
There's no rapid-fire, 1000-a-minute, mass-production levels for these things.

Two is, there's a need to improve battery energy density. Lithium battery energy density is good enough to start the EV revolution, but they still lag badly in energy density compared to fossil fuels.

Three is, the charging network is not in place. It's bad enough queuing up for petrol on Cheap Mondays, and waiting for 10-15 mins to reach a bowser - but can you imagine the queues when everyone has an EV with a flat battery, and it takes 30-45 mins to recharge it??

It will need service stations to enter into arrangements with shopper carparks, to utilise large available shopper parking areas, to install a charger in each bay.
No current fossil fuel servo will have enough area available to be able to recharge any more than a couple of dozen vehicles.

Yes, you can recharge at home - but that limits your travel movements to a relatively small radius from your home.
Publically-accessible chargers will be needed - everywhere. The idea the English inventor came up with, a charger in every street light pole, has merit.

These charger arrangements will still need addressing as regards planning, cost structures, and installation.
I see nothing currently being done in these areas - this country-wide charging network arrangement will suddenly fall from the sky onto councils and other planning bodies, and companies and retailers - and they will be scurrying to try and adopt the huge changes needed, and determine the costs and cost recoveries.

Four is, hybrids are going to play a very large fill-in role, in the vehicle mix, in the next 10-15 years.
There is no way that full EV's will have the capability to meet long-distance touring, and heavy towing requirements, with current technology.
But the current hybrids are very good, and can only get better.

I can see there will be a huge divide in the vehicle market in 10-15 years - the cities will become the home of EV's, with hardly a fossil-fuel vehicle to be seen, and the country areas will still be home to the "outdated, obsolete" fossil-fuel vehicles, which will still be necessary for most country travel tasks.

By far the greatest hurdle that current EV's must overcome, is the simple economics of current EV offerings.
Paying double to acquire an EV, just to save $1500-2000 a year on fossil-fuel purchases, still makes no sense.

Cheers, Ron.

Good to see how future travel is advancing people will be able to use them for weekend camping trips at this stage. But I wonder if you will have the power supply to reinflate 4 tyres and drive home after a day or 2 camping on a beach something else to be concious of or experiment with before heading out.

I'll be there waiting with my diesel and a snatch strap to tow you home for a fee lol sorry couldn't help myself.