Hybrid SUVs and 'Real off-road' Compatibility - unlike the Lexus RX400h

That depends on what you mean by off road. THIS is what I call of road!

Or this..

I think that's called, not fit for purpose.

What a waste of a perfectly good Ferrari!

Some people just don't deserve or appreciate what they can afford.

I have driven a Ferrari, and the one thing I gained from the experience was the fact that my driving ability was no-where near the cars ability, so as long as I kept to my limits, No way was I going to stuff the car. This looks like a case of an over inflated ego coupled with an under endowed talent.

This particular car was stolen to boot, if I recall. Made news 'round the world, but I, being beyond the age at which memory functions, have forgotten the details.

I've driven loads of exotics (having made their repair and restoration a business for a while) and I drove them rather gently (not wanting to have to anty up several times the cost of my house to replace one). But then I've owned one or two fast cars that I've driven not so conservatively. Unfortunately, a car that can generate a G or more on a nice clean road has all the cornering ability and brakes of a baby buggy when you put gravel (oils spill, wet leaves, ice) under the tires in the middle of a turn. So, although I haven't stuffed one yet -- boy, have I come close!

Simple,

SUV vehicles are not off-road vehicles. They are just BIG and tall cars. SOme of them will have to be hybrid, or nobody will afford running it with the petroleum skyrocketing...

A family car goes off road, and bogs down in sight of the highway. Better SUVs get further away, so you have a short hike out.

The best get 300 miles into the desert and they never find your body...unless you have a sat phone.

I've been thinking of turning my 1958 Land Rover in to a Hybrid just because it is so easy!

All that is needed is the batteries, controller and motor. the batteries fit under teh vehicle and in the wheel arch boxes while the motor/generator bolts straight onto the PTO (Power Take Off) using the same gear!

I'd imagine some of the workings that make a hybrid a hybrid would not last in off road environments. Such as the regenerative braking and any electronics that aren't completely encapsulated.

There are SUVs that with a few extra inches of lift, some rock protection, locking diffs, and meaty tires could do very well off road. Manufactures don't offer them this way as the street-ability is compromised and impractical for the "masses." It would be contradictory to offer such vehicles in hybrid form anyway as when the factory 27x8.5 tires get replaced with 35-12.5, the gas mileage goes kaput.

I'd imagine Jeep, Land Rover, Toyota probably make the best SUV candidates. However for the best bang for the buck for out of the box off road capability my vote goes to the Toyota Tacoma (not an SUV I know) or the Jeep Wrangler.

...and if your looking for laughs, try and find the videos of offroading H2's. There is one where a guy at a Jeep convention gets his H2 stuck in the parking lot. Another where the H2 breaks his tie rods on a very easy trail.

Hi, thanks for all your comments and pics :)

My initial thought was that of the Toyota Highlander and Range Rover off-road and towing capability. Yes, they do guzzle alot of gas but what if batteries, a motor + other Hybrid gadgets were added, can the vehicles still have the same capability ?? + how??

Well, if you think about only adding an extra power source to the wheels it would work well, except for the weight addition to the vehicle. However, how would you guarantee that your regenerative brakes would perform buried in the mud?

After all, do you see any important energy recover from a vehicle running in a slow trail?

I think its a kind of "for what its worth". Let high efficiency, fast, high milleage per gallon vehicles in well paved roads, to go work everyday. Have a truck or a jeep for the joy of life during the weekend.

One advantage a hybrid will have is zero speed torque using DC battery drive. I am not sure how well a pulse width modulated motor drive can achieve this zero speed torque (which is very useful in mounting obslatcles in a controlled way with no overshoot surges) .Internal combustion engines cannot do this well, having to resort to torque converters or clutch slippage.

The classic and original version of this ability was the Stanley Steamer, with which you could mount a curb via steam control, and stop half way, and back down or go forward.

I believe the Toyota Highlander is available as a hybrid and it's my choice for most usefull all around hybrid SUV.

Laserlover

The original HUMVEE was(is?) a much better machine than the H2. They stripped away all the "offroad useful" equipment (lowering it many many inches with the addition of the regular differential) to render it suit-&-tie-accountant compatible. I'd never waste my money on a H2. I've seen a competition once where the Landrover (even with the much narrower wheel base) came out on top with flying colors....

hey! I could use a good laugh.

Do you have a website where we can view these videos?

This is the broken tie rod vid. I can't find the other one.

I love the reactions, UHHH!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xa_fziuFwA

This is why I love Tacoma's. Their so overbuilt, you can completely thrash them and still plan to make it home.

Here's a good one. It scrubs a little on H1 also. Personally I think the first H1 driver doesn't have a clue. He does lay into it a little toward the end and still gets nowhere so maybe these civilian H1s are stripped of their diff lockers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpxoomyFs_0

When the troops first invaded Afghanistan, apparently they had all kinds of issues with the Humvee in regards to maneuverability in city's and towns plus they weren't fuel efficient traveling in the desert and had very limited distance. The military sent in the Toyota's to help solve these problems.

http://www.brian894x4.com/MilitaryTacoma.html

here you go, check out this website, two almost identical Landrovers, one petrol powered the Hybrid...

http://www.evparts.com/about/index.php?show=roverFaceOff.ihtml

really cool stuff......

I love the Land rover..:)

A Range Rover seen the other day bore the legend, "This vehicle is a vegetarian", as it had been developed to run on biodiesel. Now, add hybrid electric technology to that and away one goes: sustainable off-road transport. It's "round the corner", as they say...

I'm sceptical on any advantages here. 16 Optima yellow tops weighing in at about 60lbs each is just short of 1000lbs. I would guess that the extra energy needed to haul that additional mass over very inconsistent terrain at varying crawl speeds would be far greater then the surplus available to store. Cruising on the highway would be another story.

Not to mention, my diesel F350 weighs in at 6500lbs and will accelerate at 9.822m/s² in the downward direction when placed in mud. Big rubber would be needed to make something this heavy float off-road.

There will always be niche markets for specialised vehicles.

If hybrid technology is not suited to off-road use, then its increasing adoption for on-road vehicles foretells the eventual demise of the SUV: already in the UK the "Chelsea Tractor" is unpopular, being the subject of some urban humour, and some recent moves to increase the rate of taxation upon them have already been reflected in a drop in secondhand values as dealers dump them onto the market to get them off their forecourts.

The UK is leading many other countries in this respect, and understandably, as a typical pump price for unleaded petrol is about £0.87 per litre including taxation; more in many places.

Lets all be honest with ourselves, how many 4 x 4's go off road? Most are used for dropping the kids off at school, the only obstacle being the curb you have to bump up. In this case, dual fuel solutions are a good idea. How far away is a reliable and cheap range of vehicles? Ask the manufacturers. I believe that the message is getting through here in the UK that SUV's are becoming less socially acceptable, as the prices for second hand vehicles has dropped, meaning more choice for the serious enthusiast. Let's get muddy! Woohoo!

Er, placing the wheel of a road vehicle on the pavement is likely to attract the attention of the local police, alledging "obstruction".

You know there's never one when you need one!

Alledgedly those in Suffolk are very ambitious...

Yeah, I see more people agree with the idea that, besides most of the off-road vehicles dont ever go to mud, there is the place where they should be. I cant believe in that guys using lowered hammers with a kind of 67.378 inches wheels and 0,185" heigh tires! The planet is heating up, USA and Europe are the two driving spots of pollution. Come on, we are engineers, let the off road vehicles for the weekend!