Tread Electrically!

Negotiating a big rock usually makes Jeepers excited, but this is not the case for every Jeeper. To gain the engine torque while controlling the speed often requires applying both brake and gas pedals (from Teraflex's YouTube video), which is not an easy endeavor.


Such technique that applies the brake and gas pedals at the same time is actually mandatory when the rock is big. Even with a 4:1 transfer case and 5.86:1 ring and pinion gears, the Jeep speed from the engine idle is simply too fast to approach to the rock. The Jeep can be bounced back as soon as the front wheels touch the rock.

On the other hand, the EMVcon electric Jeep does not have to apply both brake and throttle pedals at all. The electric motor allows to control the Jeep from zero to the maximum RPM. There is no idle RPM for the electric motor, or the idle RPM setup can be arbitrary such as a 100 RPM.

If the rock is even bigger and steeper, pushing up the rear wheels becomes more challenging. The vehicle speed should be maintained low enough not to make the tires begin to slip, but the engine torque should be higher. Playing with both brake and gas pedals becomes more tricky.

By contrast, the electric motor produces the full torque from zero RPM. There is absolutely no need to play both brake and throttle pedals. The driver may still want to step on the brake pedal to make the vehicle not roll back when the motor creep torque setup is weak (some drivers prefer to do so), but the brake pedal control in this case is very simple and obvious.

This video shows a common offroad driving. The engine RPM is close to the idle RPM.

The engine under the hood is absolutely operating in a very inefficient region. Hundreds of horses are not doing their job on the offroad trail except for hill climbing and mud bogging.

On the other hand, electric traction motors produce the maximum torque from zero RPM, and the Jeep crawling situation is a perfect match with the torque map of electric motors. This explains why the motor power and torque rating of the electric vehicle conversion should not be simply compared with the donor vehicle engine maximum torque and horsepower described on the vehicle specification sheet.

Climbing up a waterfall?

Torque response is crucial not to lose timing. Electric motors have truly instant torque response unless the motor driver intentionally limits the throttle response. Electric motors do not have severe vibration, and thus no shock absorbing motor mounts are actually needed, which also improves torque response.

Got fresh air on the Jeep trail?

We deserve to breath fresh air on the mountain top. Unfortunately, we suffer from emissions from Jeeps in front of us all day long! Also, the engine noises do not allow us to recognize that pretty birds are singing for us.

"Tread lightly" is not just a buzzword. However, it is actually not easy to tread lightly as long as we have an internal combustion engine under the hood.

The "Trail Access OK" sticker is still just an imagination. However, this is the only way to preserve nature. Zero emission offroad is the way to preserve our Jeep trails to last forever. Let's tread lightly with electric offroad Jeeps.