Is an electric Bronco in the works for the US market?

[ManuelNY]

You’re not driving an electric car on a mule track or a river or in the Amazon on no roads. Exactly my point, thank you.

And your sure as hell not charging an electric car battery on couple jungle solar panels that maintains a single 12v battery unless you plan on staying a week.
you can however pack fuel cans and buy gas from the boathouse if you got down that mule path with a vehicle.

My point is that solar pannel technology will spread much faster in developing countries than the old style wired grid, which has some obvious drawbacks. And with that comes rechargeable batteries, like the Tesla home modules that you can connect in series, and use to charge your lawn mover or your car. It is already happening, just google it.

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[Bronco21Maybe]

Meh, I won't judge people for buying what they want/need/can afford to drive. My Bronco will be mostly commuting miles. It won't ever be "off roaded" for the sake of "off roading", but I understand why people enjoy that immensely. It will spend a few weeks/weekends at the beach per year, some weekends out hunting, and the 2 door is completely impractical for really doing both of those things given the amount of stuff I like to bring. It cannot hold the materials I buy for my woodworking or welding hobbies. But I sure do love driving it around.

When my son takes my truck off to school with him, I'll pick up the towing package and buy or build a small trailer.

But I still want a gas vehicle instead of an electric for all of this. At least for now.

 

[CitrusBronco]

Exactly. I mean, some times i feel like all these car companies take us for a ride. I just installed the procal upgrade on my Bronco, and yes, it looks like I have more power and better fuel (premium) efficiency. But why the heck don´t they offer that as a factory option and why the heck the guarantee is reduced for 1 year when you install it? What kind of marketing is it? I guess I am a part of it.

I’m holding onto my 2002 7.3 f250 xlt , it might be the last generation of Fords built to last. I’ve had very little issues with it since I ordered it new and aftermarket parts support is super high.

I fell the some way about Procal, why was it not installed from the start.

 

[RR25HB]

My point is that solar pannel technology will spread much faster in developing countries than the old style wired grid, which has some obvious drawbacks. And with that comes rechargeable batteries, like the Tesla home modules that you can connect in series, and use to charge your lawn mover or your car. It is already happening, just google it.

For the on road environment, solar, hydrogen, and alternative fuels are absolutely the future. EV is a speed bump fad, IMO, on the way to real (lasting) technical solutions.

For off road, the crystal ball is hazy, right now.

 

[CitrusBronco]

My point is that solar pannel technology will spread much faster in developing countries than the old style wired grid, which has some obvious drawbacks. And with that comes rechargeable batteries, like the Tesla home modules that you can connect in series, and use to charge your lawn mover or your car. It is already happening, just google it.

I think it has the potential as prices are coming down and the technology is so much better than 10 years ago. It makes sense for developing areas.
I am reserved on how fast that will spread in a meaningful to developing nations only because those places are pretty low on cash and costs are higher in those areas.
But I agree the potential is there.

 

[harpo]

There will be a battery breakthrough.

Energy density will increase, weight will decrease, off-road performance will exceed gas engine vehicles. Imagine 4 lightweight in wheel motors with 4 wheel steering. No turbo, no gas engine, no transmission, no drive shafts, no mufflers...

How long will that take? Don't know, but I bet less than 10 years.

That said, I will keep my gas engine bronco for the foreseeable future.

 

[Bronco21Maybe]

I wanted solar on my house badly, but the numbers didn't make sense for us.

 

[DarthLincoln]

I did not do the Rubicon, I did Poison Spider in Moab (about 15 miles) and a couple of others back then (D90 1995), but here are some facts: The Rubicon is 22 miles, it takes about 3 days to do it and the closest gas station is about 20 miles away. That means I could possibly do it in my 2 door Badlands, 2.3 premium gas turbo, without using the jerry can.... Couldn´t an electric Bronco with 250 miles range do it? The answer is I don´t know because it hasn´t been done yet.

Rivian did the 12-mile section of the Rubicon from Loon Lake to Tahoma staging area with their R1S EV. Took 3 days and the battery went from 80% to 10%. I dunno if other EVs have, or attempted the full 22 miles.
https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a44851577/rivian-r1s-rubicon-trail/

Yeah, off-roading significantly reduces mileage, whether it’s an EV or gas/diesel. EV‘s have a lot more weight to get up over obstacles and climb grades which will consume a lot more energy, but can regenerate some energy going down grades instead of wasting it via brakes. It depends on the trail, but I expect an EV typically will suffer a much larger degradation of mileage than a gas vehicle.

 

[ManuelNY]

I think it has the potential as prices are coming down and the technology is so much better than 10 years ago. It makes sense for developing areas.
I am reserved on how fast that will spread in a meaningful to developing nations only because those places are pretty low on cash and costs are higher in those areas.
But I agree the potential is there.

Sure, money is a limitation of course. But it is also a motivator. I am familiar with some regions where the government does not reach and the cheaper option for people is this. In some cities you could see them buying smallish electric cars much more than gas, just because of the cost of fuel and maintenance. They are not huge cars, but they get the job done, and are cheap, very cheap. No sure how durable they are, but they are spreading.

 

[ManuelNY]

Rivian did the 12-mile section of the Rubicon from Loon Lake to Tahoma staging area with their R1S EV. Took 3 days and the battery went from 80% to 10%. I dunno if other EVs have, or attempted the full 22 miles.
https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a44851577/rivian-r1s-rubicon-trail/

Yeah, off-roading significantly reduces mileage, whether it’s an EV or gas/diesel. EV‘s have a lot more weight to get up over obstacles and climb grades which will consume a lot more energy, but can regenerate some energy going down grades instead of wasting it via brakes. It depends on the trail, but I expect an EV typically will suffer a much larger degradation of mileage than a gas vehicle.

Thanks. Very informative. I would expect weight to eat up on the efficiency factor. The Scout has that gas extender which gives him a good edge, but at 6,000 lbs is also a liability.

 

[ManuelNY]

I wanted solar on my house badly, but the numbers didn't make sense for us.

That has happened to me for years, and then messing up with the roof. But i am almost to the point that it makes a lot of sense, because of the cost of electricity and heating. My plan is to leave my gas boiler in place to use it to heat up the house up to 60-62 degrees and then use split electric units to heat up individual rooms as needed. If solar panels come down a bit more, I am there.

 

[ManuelNY]

There will be a battery breakthrough.

Energy density will increase, weight will decrease, off-road performance will exceed gas engine vehicles. Imagine 4 lightweight in wheel motors with 4 wheel steering. No turbo, no gas engine, no transmission, no drive shafts, no mufflers...

How long will that take? Don't know, but I bet less than 10 years.

That said, I will keep my gas engine bronco for the foreseeable future.

I agree. And then there is the wear and tear, maintenance side of it. If they perfect these, there is no competition. I think that what will kill the cars is the driverless option though and that is sad. At that point, we may as well fly a drone, no Suv can offroad like one. In the meantime I do like my 2.3 Turbo Badlands 2 doors, specially after the expensive procal update.

 

[ManuelNY]

What does "range" even mean, off road? ... In a rugged boulder-infested desert environment? With hills, marsh, rivers, etc?

i.e , How do you even measure, calculate, or guesstimate energy expenditure rates for such situations? This is all mumbo jumbo pie-in-the-sky stuff, until empirical data exists and is analyzed.

We know what a fuel/diesel powered ICE does. Everything else is speculation.

Well yes, and then the fact that 95% of Bronco owners do not ever see a dirt trail. That is a reality and so there is that market. I used to hit the trail years ago, but I don´t do it anymore. I had a 95 D90 that I bought for $45k with 5,000 mi on it and put thousands of dollars more into upgrades for overlanding (starting with a 4.6 Engine, etc) . I am not doing that anymore, it is an expensive hobby, and life has changed. But I do have my Bronco and like it.

 

[Bronco21Maybe]

That has happened to me for years, and then messing up with the roof. But i am almost to the point that it makes a lot of sense, because of the cost of electricity and heating. My plan is to leave my gas boiler in place to use it to heat up the house up to 60-62 degrees and then use split electric units to heat up individual rooms as needed. If solar panels come down a bit more, I am there.

Yeah, i wanted the solar shingles. Of course, those carried a massive premium. I did not want the panels because of the insurance issues it causes here. We just built our house 2 years ago and it has so much insulation our electric bills are pretty low. And even though the panels have gotten more affordable, an installed solar system seems to keep creeping up in price anyways. It's a racket as the industry stands right now. They of course need to know how much electricity your system uses to calculate the size system you need, but at the same time, they use that information to figure out how much to charge you for the system. It's a turn off.

 

[ManuelNY]

Surprise-Surprise. A secret not so secret. Secret Ford project dubbed "Skunk Works". It is not for an EV Bronco, but for an EV Truck, priced at $30,000. Maybe the platform for others, I guess. So yeah, the EV error has been reconsidered all this time... At the end of the day this innovations don´t come to market because they are right or wrong, a symbol of energy independence or environmental awareness, or because they please off roaders or mall shoppers, but rather because they make economic sense. It´s just all about the bottom line. This is directly from Ford and the attached photo is from today´s Wall Street Journal: https://www.fromtheroad.ford.com/us...ueprint-future-ford-electric-vehicle-platform

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