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Comment by chrisseaton | Hacker News Reader

Electric is great for off-road - all that torque at low speeds! And you can recharge from anything you can get power from - not dependent on only diesel.

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Off road implies not near the grid.. though if you are going to play you are fine, but some people get far enough out that they pack extra fuel.

> if you are going to play you are fine

I manage a fleet of off-road vehicles at work, and just came back from a camp location we were operating out of a wood clearing with no mains. We pack in our own generators and fuel for these periods where we can't access the grid, which could be used for charging.

It would be cool if they built a car with a generator in it so you wouldn't need to fill up the generator and then the generator charges the car. You could just put gas in the car!

That’s actually already how the diesel-electric drive-train of a railway locomotive works - and coupled with a battery it would give the best of all combinations. Only downside is permanently lugging around the generator. This is what they’re looking at for some military vehicles.

If you're hauling around a fossil fuel generator to plug charge your EV, that kind of defeats the purpose :) That's like using a giant fan to move the clouds so your solar panels work.

> If you're hauling around a fossil fuel generator to plug charge your EV, that kind of defeats the purpose :)

How does diesel get to where you need it to refuel except for being hauled around?

With electric you have options. Charge off mains at home base 90% of the time. Then maybe you go to a camp and run off a generator for a couple of days a month.

If only they made some sort of hybrid.

Charging an EV with a generator is actually a more efficient way of using liquid fuel than exploding it in an engine.

The generator runs at its peak efficiency RPM at all times, car engines do not. Combine that with the 90%+ efficiency of an electric motor and you're good.

I regret to inform you that plugging your EV into a tree to charge only works in cartoons.

I don't get why you're being sarcastic to me?

You can recharge from mains, or a diesel generator, or a gas generator. Maybe put a big diesel field generator and tank static in a temporary camp location and then work out of that location charging each night.

Because out in the bush there is no mains, no diesel generators, and no gas generators, so they probably regards comment as worse than useless, at a guess.

There's no diesel in the bush either. So how do you refuel a diesel vehicle? You haul it in. How do you think a diesel generator would get into the bush? Haul it in with the diesel. An off-road tanker can carry 40 tonnes of diesel into a camp. A generator doesn't add much to that.

Have you got much experience running an off-road operation at distance?

A tanker, even empty, cannot get into the bush. Even an unprepared 4WD is often unwise to take into the bush. A few jerry cans of gas in the bed are no bother at all.

> A tanker, even empty, cannot get into the bush.

I’ve literally personally driven a diesel tanker off-road through the Kenyan bush.

I was just thinking about the water trucks in Nepal. They go anywhere, it's impressive.

You probably know things that the person you are replying to doesn't and arguing is futile.

Nonetheless, electric isn't so great if you have to pack generators to make it work. It defeats the purpose, right?

My comment up there was from the perspective of a long distance motorcycle traveler. When I look around, I see cars that are already packed: children on parents' knees, one child in the back, and luggage on top. A generator and fuel wouldn't be trivial to add to this.

Above all, it means that fueling up becomes something you can only do where you stop. It's no longer a five minute break, but a constant logistical issue.

I'm not saying that it's impossible, but it's a tough sell. Have you seen The Long Way Up? They attempt a Pan-American trip with electric bikes, and boy what a headache.

And I've forded rivers that would swallow your tanker truck. Just because you have done some basic bitch off roading doesn't mean you know the bush.

If the river swallows your tanker truck, how do you answer his first question:

> There's no diesel in the bush either. So how do you refuel a diesel vehicle?

Ridiculous. Then what's happening in the bush except for being a rich person's safari playground?

This person is single-handedly driving all resources into all remote locations, in the bed of their truck. No other transport allowed.

Many people that do multi day car/RV camping, bring a generator.

People are building their own #vanlife vans nowadays with full electric systems using panels on the roof and maybe a few they can spread around on longer stays.

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