Speaking of EVs...

Anyone know anything 'bout these?? I don't see myself as ever owning an ev, but lots of you guys have gold carts. 'Just wondering.



>>>American Bulldog

And anyone want to venture a guess on how many $? I'm assuming an amount that'll make you choke.

Ugly little spud.

Looks stuck in the video at the pond. Nothing but a still shot, doesn't showing it getting out on its own.

Problem with EV’s is limited range and the fact that even the best of batteries have a limited lifespan relative to the expected life of the vehicle. They are in a state of degradation from day one. Phone batteries are a great example of this. My phone is 2 years old and can only hold a charge of 80% capacity.

Instead of going electric I would try to find an alternative fuel source that’s readily available. Propane or butane would have been my go-to.

I’d like an electric for driving around the lease as long as it doesn’t have the whine of a typical electric automobile.

I’d love it for stealth. We have a lot of steep hills and not sure the range would work for us. Do they make an EV that will solar charge as a supplement?

My BIL has converted a few Rangers to EV with solar on the roofs. However, it takes a few days of full sunlight to recharge the batteries completely. It’s not a problem if you leave them outdoors between weekend hunting use.

FYI they are not as quiet as people believe. Not as loud as a traditional gas UTV but you do hear the tires rolling over rocks. Buddy Bought a few Polaris EV’s back in the day. I could hear him driving down the caliche road when the wind was in my favor for over a mile. They are quiet but not silent in all terrains. Soft Dirt they are pretty quiet, just a slight high pitched whine.

A half ton truck with a real quiet muffler is still one of the quietest vehicles

Canoo makes that. They are a fairly new EV startup. Not much info out about that specific model the Bulldog. As far as EV's go, IMO they are a double-edged sword. Press releases/published data is always for the vehicle in its lightest configuration over flat ground in optimal operating temperatures and conditions. So........what you think you are getting will never measure up to that published data. My friend's father has a ranch in Northeastern New Mexico around 8-9,000 ft elevation. The property is basically a long narrow canyon that runs up to the canyon rim on each side. The cabin sits at the upper end of the canyon and all of their hunting locations run away from the cabin down the canyon. Their road system runs midway up both sides of the canyon walls. The gas powered UTVs simply are so loud it blows out all of the game in that canyon when commuting back and forth to the hunting locations. They purchased an EV UTV this past summer and used it this fall. Definitely saw a drastic increase in game due to its stealthy quiet demeanor. However, after using it to transport a downed elk from the far end of the property........they realized the added weight, altitude, rough rugged uphill terrain, etc etc..... drastically and quickly drains those batteries in a hurry. They didn't make it back. Just like all of the photos you see on social media of a truck with a generator stopped on the side of the highway recharging an EV, that's what they had to do to get it back home.

They are going to upgrade to lithium batteries, at a considerable expense, which will give it more range. They may have a place if the added expense and lack of battery longevity isn't an economical deterrent to the owner. However, IMO, they are more purposed built for flat, low elevation, light work ranches such as would be found in many parts of Texas. Any mountainous or hilly ranch, or a ranch with intended heavy use might not be the best environment for them.

Got that right.

It’s hard to beat keeping it simple. I know a cart’s suspension is not the greatest thing out there but this thing is a simple, quiet workhorse.

I never said they were a hover craft. Any object in contact with the ground will make noise, especially if your load isn't secured. I've been in some EV's and the amount of game seen is >. My 1/2 ton 4wd truck makes noise, my UTV makes more and the single cylinder ATV was the noisiest of all. I still would not take it close to my stand, but it would be nice to close the distance some to cut down on my hike in. I rode my neighbors E Bike, impressive. If I were to do anything different over my Ranger that would likely be my best option. Just take it to/from stand and charge after each trip. Our lease is huge with soft dirt, bladed roads. Camp is not central and you're looking at a 6 mile drive to some set ups from camp. We have a lot of elevation change and that's the main negative on EV's. An off road golf cart was tried in the past as a test, and hell yes, the stealth factor paid off.

Love it. That would be a killing machine on our place. We need one just like it, and it would work as long as one of us was available to give it a tow back to camp when we wore it out on the back side of our lease. 16k acres, we'd be on the back side right about the time it went down, but so what? As long it ran out of power where we had cell service, which is sometimes an issue as well, no big deal.

A battery percentage meter is on the dash so running out of juice is never a surprise.

I wouldn't mind running it down to zero as long as that was part of the plan. Hunt as much of the place as we want, run it down and call one of our hunting partners for a tow.

A stock motor, which I have, typically gets about 20-25 miles on a charge in hilly terrain so I’ve never ran it down.

Thanks for the info, wouldn't work.

That whine is mandated by law so blind people can hear you coming.

I don't know about all electric cars, but on my Hyundai Kona Electric they call it the Virtual Engine Sound System (VESS), it's just a speaker under the hood you can unplug and it's dam near silent on the pavement.

The whine on an off road EV is from an AC motor or a high output DC motor.

This is my EV. Polaris ranger. Thought about lithium just couldn’t justify the cost. I put 8 Trojan 12 volt batteries in august. I use it for hog hunting at night monitoring 6 cell phone cameras. When the hogs show up at the feeders we drive to the blinds. Most of my blinds are 120-130 yards from feeders. My lease is all sand so it’s silent rolling after I changed tires to all terrain instead of the big knobby mud tires that were on it when I bought it. It does have a slight motor whine but not noticeable at slow speed. I love the full cab and golf cart heater. This thing saves a ton of walking which I am unable to do with bad knees.

I forgot to mention the distance I get on a charge. My lease is flat no hills but lots of sand. From my camper to back of lease is 2.5 miles. Best I can tell EV will go 12-15 miles on a charge. In a night we can do about 3 runs the shoot hogs. By that time it’s after midnight so we are done so it works out.