I noticed that Polaris makes a couple electric ATV/UTVs, but curious if anyone else does. A quick googles and a check at Alibaba turned up very little other than kids toys.
Long story - I keep a Honda 4-trax at camp. It's handy for dragging a deer, strapping on the chainsaw to open a road/path, general tomhooniganry. What I don't like is the fact that every time I want to venture into the woods, I'm firing up a 400cc air cooled single cylinder clattertrap that sounds louder than a single-engine aircraft. Every time I go into the woods with some binoculars to do some bird watching, I shut the machine down, and I might as well read a few chapters of a novel waiting for the birds to come back.
Anyone make a good E-ATV? I don't need a side-by-side, I just need a plain old ATV. 4 driven tires, a seat, goes, stops.
Found a list of all the credible options here:
https://www.webbikeworld.com/best-electric-atvs/
It looks like the only sanely priced model on the market is the Eco-Rider Explorer GT:
https://eco-rider.co.uk/explorer-gt/
It depends alot on dealer support.
I work at a golf car dealership not a polaris dealer, but we get alot of broken electric vehicles, from electric scooters, lawn mowers, utvs, electric things with wheels smaller than a car, and larger than a powerwheels.
With Polaris in particular support is almost nonexistent. If your not a dealer, wiring diagrams and diagnostic tools are very hard to come by. The customer tech line is a joke. Alot of the polaris powersport dealers wont work on the electric utvs, it seems around here.
The problems I usually see in the utvs are individual battery failures and controller faults.
Batteries last 4 to 6 years, and should not be replaced individually. In my opinion lithium is in its infancy and not to yet be trusted.
mtn
MegaDork
5/16/23 10:38 p.m.
In reply to Folgers :
My first thought was golf cart. Get a greens keepers cart with the bed on the back.
They're only 2wd, but I've seen them take on some surprising terrain. While I doubt it would be sufficient for an outright replacement, it could be a solid option in tandem with the Honda.
No Time
UltraDork
5/17/23 12:01 a.m.
Maybe a timing chain and valve adjustment, along with repacking/replacing the muffler might help?
Still won't be electric levels of quiet, but maybe take the edge off?
Greenworks commercial has several electric utv's. Bigger than what you want, but not too bad overall.
mtn said:
In reply to Folgers :
My first thought was golf cart. Get a greens keepers cart with the bed on the back.
They're only 2wd, but I've seen them take on some surprising terrain. While I doubt it would be sufficient for an outright replacement, it could be a solid option in tandem with the Honda.
Much of this terrain is tough for a 4-wheeler. I'm also trying to avoid anything that wide. This is WV old-growth forest, so sometimes getting from A to B is not possible in a side-by-side. I have a Polaris Ranger 6x6 for the more navigable trails. Also loud.
No Time said:
Maybe a timing chain and valve adjustment, along with repacking/replacing the muffler might help?
Still won't be electric levels of quiet, but maybe take the edge off?
That's a possibility, but I think it will be like turning the volume knob from 10 to 9.5.
Folgers said:
It depends alot on dealer support.
I work at a golf car dealership not a polaris dealer, but we get alot of broken electric vehicles, from electric scooters, lawn mowers, utvs, electric things with wheels smaller than a car, and larger than a powerwheels.
With Polaris in particular support is almost nonexistent. If your not a dealer, wiring diagrams and diagnostic tools are very hard to come by. The customer tech line is a joke. Alot of the polaris powersport dealers wont work on the electric utvs, it seems around here.
The problems I usually see in the utvs are individual battery failures and controller faults.
Batteries last 4 to 6 years, and should not be replaced individually. In my opinion lithium is in its infancy and not to yet be trusted.
That's good input.
I did find one (I think it was eco charger) that offers some lead-acid options that are the same weight and power as their Lithium offerings, but you just get 45 mile range instead of 60.
Only problem is that they're blisteringly expensive. Hard to justify spending $27,000. I wouldn't spend that much on a car. The last car I bought was $200 and the one before that was $6500
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
That is the problem. Today range and cost are not competitive.
Most that I saw were in the 15K range for a 4X4 with a 40-50 mile range.
I think the answer here is the best muffler you can get to tame what you have.
Range is a non-issue for me. I probably don't put 100 miles on it in a year. It's slow, technical stuff, not miles and miles of trails.
A muffler won't do a thing. It's not the exhaust, it's the fact that I have a completely exposed engine making loud booms 1500 times per minute. If you think about one of the loudest ICEs on the planet... outboard engines.... that exhaust is a foot under water. It's the engine itself making all the racket.
mtn
MegaDork
5/18/23 12:49 a.m.
Knowing nothing of how these are constructed... how hard would it be to put an electric motor to the non drive wheels of a 4x2 Atv?
Seems like you could get away with a 40v or 80v mower motor. Then you'd have a plug in hybrid, of sorts.
I've always wanted to build a hybrid electric mobility scooter out of a 2 wheel drive youth 4 wheeler by attaching electric motor wheel drive hubs onto the front suspension. I could then drive through 36" doors, drive to Walmart with gas power, switch to electric motor outside the doors and drive through Walmart under electric power, and then drive home with gas.
How about replacing the engine of a 4x4 with an electric motor (golf cart or fork lift)? Maybe haul the batteries in a small utility trailer behind the 4 wheeler?
For a project find an inexpensive scooter and use the drive train for a conversion. I found one similar to this at the side of the road with a free sign on it. My buddy got it running and uses the Bumblbea to get around town 6 months of the year.
that one is $900C and is marked down 100 after a week
Christini is supposed to have some hybrid or electric ATVs, plus a 2WD 'Fat Cat' motorcycle, coming out sometime in 2023.
There is a factory "series hybrid" (ha! it carries a standard gas powered generator) pseudo-Rokon style 2WD electric motorcycle, Robo Systems "2x2 Ultra Bike". Almost unbelievably cheap (top-of-the-line version is like $4k incl shipping???). Website says they have some in stock but I have found zero reviews by people who own one, and all the press about 'em is a year old. Supposedly the company started in RU and more recently moved to Dubai... might be a factor. The bondage-strap style of 'tires' show up on other Russian low-ground-pressure vehicles.
IDK if a Rokon type 2-wheeler is even an option. Not going to carry a passenger like a quad ATV, OTOH if it happened to be 1/2 the cost of a quad, why not get two?
Even if it is a possible solution, right now you are going to have to DIY something at some level: either convert an actual Rokon w/ mechanical 2WD to electric, or add electronics so that a dual hub motor e-bike or e-motorcycle won't suck in serious off-road terrain.
[This becomes my rant about using hub motors/ in-wheel motors off-road.]
People keep saying how great individual wheel motors would be b/c of no driveshafts. This is true, BUT: if you watch vids of the 'Ultra bike' or Ubco 2WD 2-wheeler (or a motor-on-axle RC crawler like the Danchee Ridgerock) you quickly see the problem off-road. In a simple/cheap setup, throttle position is the only control signal, and it is sent directly to independent motor controllers. The motor controllers are sending the SAME open-loop torque command to ALL of the motors. Therefore, it is (obviously) not possible to have any torque biasing. The wheel with least traction spins before the others. This is not as bad as axles with open diffs, but it is certainly not ideal. There has to be a control system with RPM feedback and linking between the wheels. In other words, the electronic equivalent to traction control. You'll also want input from steering angle, and may as well add HMI input for overdrive/ underdrive/ 'center diff lock'. Also, *each* hub motor needs to be as powerful as a comparable single central motor would be for mechanical drive.
Ezgo Express 4x4 is an option. Around 14K new. It has alot of dna from badboy buggies. Ive only seen one in person, and it was about as good as it gets from what I have seen from electric 4x4's.
None of them are great. Individual motors on the wheels never pull with exactly the same power. This leads to significant torque steer, and strange behaviors when stuck, crab walking and wheel spin.
Even cars that have two motors, one powering the front and one powering the rear, have alot of the same problems. They have two controllers, and it always feels like you have 4:10's in the front and 3.21's in the rear.
The best that I have seen it done was one very large motor in the rear and a driveshaft to a front diff. You do loose a bunch of ground clearance but it seems to works the best.
Its all been done and tried. Most of the companys trying new things have died, and left no support for alot of the custom parts required to keep them running. Alot take an existing golf car architecture and add custom front suspension and diff parts. When they go under, you cant get that ball joint, control arm, or the small volume diff that they had made in house. Older Huntves, Stealth, Imaginative engineering, Bad boy buggies before ezgo bought them out. All E36 M3 out of luck for most parts.
Take a look at the Express 4x4. I'm not vouching for them, but it looks promising. Also new Huntve's although pricey they seem to have some sticking power in the industry. I would not buy anything like this used. Its probably been someone elses problem, and they have a very good reason to be selling it.
You need a kei truck. Quieter than you'd think, only 5 inches wider than your quad.
In reply to Steve_Jones :
That is actually the best option TBH. They are super handy to have around. Shoot, this is a dump truck, high lift, and 4x4 all in one.
98 Suzuki Carry
They run 55" wide where the smallest RZR is 50" with the monster ones being 74"
In reply to bmw88rider :
You can get really cool accessories as well
https://mini4x4.ca/store/en/suzuki-carry/4s-track-kit-suzuki-carry-1990-to-2011-p167/
In reply to bmw88rider :
Well aware how handy they are :)
No Time
UltraDork
5/19/23 10:07 p.m.
The left field option is an argo and electric conversion. Not necessarily an easy thing, but probably easier than trying to convert a 4 wheeler to EV.
