Testing the Limits of an EV Off-Roader in the Colorado Rockies

[@darwinskeeper421]

I'm impressed at what you've been able to accomplish with a 30 KWh battery pack. Heck, I'm impressed at what you've been able to do with a Nissan Leaf motor and battery pack. They certainly didn't design them to do this.

[@EVSwap]

Thanks! It all comes down to the gearing. I'm looking to add a 2nd battery pack next!

[@millibits]

Love it! Amazing what a “little” leaf motor and battery pack can do in such a big vehicle. You had me at the edge of my seat at the end down to 1% - only did that in my Leaf when I was pushing distance from the house and a plug, just to see Turtle mode and how far she would go.

[@EVSwap]

Glad you liked it! I wish mine had a turtle icon pop up haha!

[@Klereue]

This makes me miss my Landcruiser so much. Id love to see this thing in action. I'm in CO and need to join in on one of your adventures!

[@taosmetalalchemy4580]

Thanks for taking us along, great adventure and using everything the curser has to offer, I'd hold the camera for you next time if you take me along ;-)

[@EVSwap]

LMK when you are back in CO!

[@bruceyyyyy]

Good stuff. Like seeing you actually out and using such a contraption!

[@EVSwap]

I always wanted to offroad it, that's why I built it. It's like a big RC offroad truck haha!

[@Jim-xk9gf]

I agree!

[@worshipingIAM]

Love the off roading content! Yeah, when the battery gets too hot it doesn't like to take a charge very well so I suppose the regen is limited.

[@EVSwap]

The battery wasn't actually too hot and it wasn't limiting regen, but it was limiting the amount of power to the motor. Thanks for watching!

[@worshipingIAM]

@@EVSwap thanks for the correction!

[@ianlighting100]

Good to see you pushing it to the limits!

[@EVSwap]

Thanks, it's all part of the process of finding bugs and problems with EV conversions. Also a load of fun!

[@jkinghorn]

Great update! Was the ecoflow outputting 110v or 220V? Wondering if just the 110v if getting another and doing level 2 charging would've got you all the way through ok. Not cheap but great option as a spare 'fuel can' there.

[@EVSwap]

110v only. I am thinking of using a custom battery bank charger system instead that I could run on 240v, the Ecoflows are just expensive. This one I use as a backup in my home as well.

[@kschleic9053]

Does the controller you are using have any capacity to vary the throttle map? It would be cool to have a lever or knob that could restrict the mapping so that instead of varying between 0 and 100KW, it varied between 0 and 20kw. For the off-roading situations where precise low throttle control would be nice.

[@EVSwap]

Currently, no, but that is a good idea I am going to ask the developer for something like that!

[@augsu]

Fantastic! Congratulations on such an achievement. What is your total kWh with the solar charger, and kWh per mile? I wonder if the street pressure in the tires hurt your range, a stiff tire will transfer more movement to the suspension and require more energy to absorb the extra mass.

[@EVSwap]

I am not sure of the total battery capacity, it has degraded since new. I'm guessing 22 ish KWh usable. The solar generator stores 3.6 KWH and the solar panels are 400 watts total. Good point about the suspension vs. tires. I was thinking stiffer tires would be less rolling resistance but maybe you are right and it's offset by the suspension. I should test it out!

[@augsu]

@@EVSwapI didn't notice if you stated overall mileage but it seems you are getting less than 1 mile per kWh. This may just be what a 4x4 EV gets off road, but I bet there's some gains to be made. I ride fatbikes and lower tire pressure is noticeably more efficient over rocks and roots. I am starting a conversion soon using a Smith Newton electric truck as a donor vehicle. The Smiths power steering pump runs all the time which is wasteful and annoying. I am wondering if I can use a pressure switch to have the pump run only when needed, or I may put a switch on the dash as 90% of the time power steering isn't needed.

[@EVSwap]

@@augsu Yeah I think you are right, on some terrain I think I get 1.5 or a little bit more. Partially I think it comes down to my motor running RPM. I am not sure what I run but I think it's 1500-2000 RPM which is actually not that efficient with the LEAF motor, I need to get it above 3000 RPM to get 94%+ efficiency, where I am running it is in the 80% efficiency range. So that's part of it. Also yes it's just a big 5000lbs truck. I think Rivian, Hummer EV, and Cybertruck etc get in the 1.5 mi/kwh range off road also. I am going to try lower tire pressure. On my gas truck I always lower the tires but I thought I was being more efficient not doing it, but I will try and see. Thanks for watching!

[@grunkgrunk]

Do you get regen when you're being towed?

[@EVSwap]

Yes it does! I was able to get it up to 2% or so by the time we stopped. Regen is basically like a Fast Charge :)

[@joanneunderhill7420]

Were you guys driving on public land or private?

[@EVSwap]

Public National Forest land, these are all forest access roads.

[@adampotter9183]

👍⛰🌄👍