Yes, I know this is the Defender forum. But we all pay attention to the vehicles we cross-shopped the Defender against. Lots of good discussions of Grenadiers and GX 550s.

I got an email from Ineos today about their new offroad EV, the "Fusilier."

https://ineosgrenadier.com/en/us/new...ineos-fusilier

Looks a little smaller than the Grenadier (which is significantly larger than my 110 when I parked next to one at the grocery store the other day).

Volkswagen is bringing out the reanimated Scout:

https://www.scoutmotors.com/

The Rivian and Hummer are already on the roads. Jeep is entering the market too: https://electrek.co/2022/09/08/jeep-...-ev-suvs-2025/

My wife's Tesla Model Y works very well for us - about 40% the cost per mile of a gasoline equivalent (I calculated it based on charging in our garage and our real electric bill); zero maintenance to date, and great even on longer highway drives (Philadelphia to Cleveland) where we could hit Superchargers along the way.

Offroad is fundamentally different from highways, but the market and technology are maturing fast. By the time I'm ready to replace my Defender there may be some viable EV options out there. We'll see. I'm watching with interest.

 

I would be all over an EV with the proper articulation and other chops for serious off-roading. There have been a few times where I drained my two 5-gallon Jerry cans into my Wrangler 2-door, but it only holds 16 gallons, iirc, so even with 10 extra gallons it's not like you get a tremendous range out there. If the EV SUV had a 400-ish mile range on road, it would probably give you 250 or so off-road, which is 75 more than the longest day I've ever done off-road and I'm not sure I want to repeat it -- I was beat to hell when we got back at midnight.

In my dream scenario you have 4 independent electric motors, one at each corner. So no driveshaft, transfer case, differential, transmission. The stuff that hangs down low is right at the tires rather than in the middle of the truck collecting rock-strikes all day. And near silence out there in the wind, sun, sand would be such an improvement, even though I like the sound of a good engine more than most and often replace the exhaust for better sound. But the desert is a special place, and one of its great features is the silence.

Hopefully they'll get all-EV Razrs and other side-by-sides and dirt bikes even sooner!