this post was submitted on 25 Feb 2024
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Futurology
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I want an electric Subaru Outback or Forester. Something that can be driven off road to a campground, pull a trailer if needed, and has enough range to get me from Ann Arbor to the upper peninsula with minimal charging. Seats and trunk that I can hose out after a muddy dog park excursion would be great too.
It's going to be a little while before we get realistic options for outdoorsy uses of BEVs. If you want the range to get there AND get back (or even just to a charger) then they're too dang heavy for offroad use. If you want to pull a camper, then the range absolutely tanks.
Airstream is trying to address this by making a $120,000 (lol) camper that has its own battery and traction motors to assist the pulling vehicle. I think its a pretty good idea but of course they're going to lock it down in patents for 20 years and prevent anyone from offering something affordable.
Maybe we'll get lucky an a revolutionary battery technology like those frequently talked about glass batteries will come out and just outperform the status quo by every metric.
Thank you for the informative comment, much appreciated!
Aren't there already electric SUVs that would do all of that?
Not for the cost of a Subaru Outback, i think.
Cost didn't seem to be mentioned as a factor.
Subaru is launching the hybrid Forester this year. Might be something to consider.
Do a search for "unexpected acceleration", there are some serious surprises in the gas/hybrid vehicles in both drive and reverse.
Edit: This is not to imply all gas/hybrid cars are vulnerable, but it may be well-worth the time to check the vehicle brand/model/year of interest. A more specific search term is: brand model year "sudden unexpected acceleration"