{"id":77075,"date":"2024-12-31T07:29:47","date_gmt":"2024-12-30T21:59:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=77075"},"modified":"2024-12-31T07:45:16","modified_gmt":"2024-12-30T22:15:16","slug":"off-road-ev","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/off-road-ev\/","title":{"rendered":"Tiny EV Beats Legendary Landcruiser in Off-Road Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-77078 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/sandy-side.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/sandy-side.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/sandy-side-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/sandy-side-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/sandy-side-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><br \/>\nThe petrol proponents and diesel diehards reckon you can&#8217;t take EVs off-road. SolarQuotes has news for them.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>With a full battery and all expenses spared, I loaded up and took <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/australia-cheapest-electric-car-2\/\">the cheapest EV in Australia<\/a> to our secret off-road test facility. The results couldn&#8217;t have been clearer.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s been a long time since I updated the chronicles of super-budget EV motoring, but with new and exciting upcoming episodes, we&#8217;d better get on with the most entertaining one I&#8217;ve had in a while.<\/p>\n<h2>First, We Need Some Contrast<\/h2>\n<p>Consultancy Strategic Vision surveyed over 250,000 pickup truck owners in the United States. I found the results quite interesting:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>75% never use their truck<sup class='endnote'><a href='https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/off-road-ev\/#en-77075-1' id='enref-77075-1' onclick='return hhEndnotes_show(77075)'>1<\/a><\/sup> to tow something.<\/li>\n<li>70% never go off-road.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>These are the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2023\/01\/23\/pickup-trucks-f150-size-weight-safety\">numbers<\/a> owners anonymously admitted to.<\/p>\n<p>Knowing many of these dual cab off-road tough trucks are in fact mainly used for getting groceries and doing the school run, I thought I&#8217;d better get my tiny electric Japanese kei car and do some decent off-roading to compensate for&#8230; something.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Fun Fact: Incentivised by tax breaks, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kei_car\">Kei cars are a class of their own<\/a> in Japan. Even though the incentives have been wound back they still represent 30 or 40% of the Japanese domestic market.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>When you think about it, the war on the weekend never really stood a chance against the marketing hyperbole car makers use to entice people into totally inappropriate suburban transport.<\/p>\n<p>There still begs a question in my mind though, just like the chicken or egg, is it the Ranger? or is it the type who&#8217;s likely to buy one?<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A Ford ute driver has ended up with a face full of airbags after he rammed a Jaguar in a road rage incident on a busy West Terrace street.<\/p>\n<p>The impatient driver nudged the Jaguar with his front bumper just around 2pm yesterday, before ramming the front car again with greater\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ePsDsOAhUt\">pic.twitter.com\/ePsDsOAhUt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; 10 News First Adelaide (@10NewsFirstAdl) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/10NewsFirstAdl\/status\/1648937490013888512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 20, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Sitting outside a pizza place for tea last night, it&#8217;s no wonder that I overheard a young bloke complaining about paying $530\/month for insurance on his Ranger. I have about 11 special interest wheels insured for less money.<\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s priceless was his girlfriend&#8217;s reaction to our little Kei van as we pulled away. Her smiles said it was so cute she would have killed for a ride in this car, his look could have killed me.<\/p>\n<h2>Ram, Rogue, Gladiator, Raptor, Warrior&#8230; iMiev?<\/h2>\n<p>You couldn&#8217;t tell from the name, but I&#8217;ll admit that I&#8217;m the odd one out there because my choice of svelte SUV manliness is only two-wheel drive, no lockers, no limited slip. I mean, other than the 47 kW of raw power\u2014that&#8217;s a limit, I guess.<\/p>\n<p>You might think this would render a bloke pretty impotent in deep soft sand, but here&#8217;s proof that low morals and low tyre pressure will get you a lot further than you think.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-88622\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/imiev-off-road.gif\" alt=\"off road ev\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" \/><\/p>\n<h5>Serene mode engaged, Irene floats effortlessly over the soft sand.<\/h5>\n<h2>Legendary Landcruiser; Lols..!<\/h2>\n<p>Camped nearby, we heard the drone of a hard-working diesel being ground to a halt. I swear this was not in any way set up. You&#8217;d see by the &#8220;put that camera away&#8221; facial expressions if I had dared zoom in.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_88578\" style=\"width: 910px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-88578\" class=\"wp-image-88578 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/put-that-camera-away.jpg\" alt=\"Car bogged in sand\" width=\"900\" height=\"613\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/put-that-camera-away.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/put-that-camera-away-300x204.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/put-that-camera-away-768x523.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-88578\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">What&#8217;re you doing with that camera?<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Knowing the terrain, our very experienced farm hand engaged four-wheel drive, picked up some pace, and made a couple of valiant attempts at this very same sandhill on the very same day.<\/p>\n<p>Hilarity ensued.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_88579\" style=\"width: 910px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-88579\" class=\"wp-image-88579 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bogged-shovel.jpg\" alt=\"Landcruiser bogged in sand\" width=\"900\" height=\"516\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bogged-shovel.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bogged-shovel-300x172.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bogged-shovel-768x440.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-88579\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">It takes surprisingly little to stop a car in soft sand<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Being used to a modern four-wheel drive (one that doesn&#8217;t have buggy springs), they forgot the front hubs don&#8217;t engage automatically, so this was effectively rear-wheel drive ute&#8230; just like Irene the iMiev.<\/p>\n<p>At least it wasn&#8217;t bogged to the axles when we turned up with some long-handled spades.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_88580\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-88580\" class=\"wp-image-88580 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/uynder-way-again.jpg\" alt=\"Landcruiser driving on sand\" width=\"600\" height=\"749\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/uynder-way-again.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/uynder-way-again-240x300.jpg 240w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-88580\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Note the dust raised by all four wheels now digging in the sand<\/p><\/div>\n<p>So despite the big diesel power, big ground clearance, and the big tyres, this rig couldn&#8217;t make it up the incline.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe more speed, less tyre pressure, or more aggressive tyres would have helped. In the end, there was shovelling involved to get the show back on the road.<\/p>\n<h2>Standby For More<\/h2>\n<p>I have decided a <del>recovery point<\/del> towbar is the next improvement my little off-roader needs! Though I&#8217;m not sure about a roof rack, mud tyres, and a lift kit. Maybe something wider than a 145 tyre on the front would be good anyway.<\/p>\n<p>Irene certainly doesn&#8217;t need a winch, though; the supermarket isn&#8217;t that hard to access.<\/p>\n<p>Still, a bigger battery would be handy. It certainly hasn&#8217;t failed, but the range has shrunk to around 75km.<\/p>\n<p>After 15 years of development, battery technology is available now, which means you can pack more than twice the range into the same space.<\/p>\n<p>Roughly speaking, it&#8217;s costing me $1.17 per hundred kilometres, so I&#8217;d love to get $2.80 into it.<\/p>\n<h2>Modesty Is A Virtue<\/h2>\n<p>The mind boggles as to how much people spend on four-wheel drives and accessories to trick them up.<\/p>\n<p>With car-crushing &#8220;hooning&#8221; laws and a lack of off-street venues, young blokes are now lifting their rides instead of lowering them, so they can go bush bashing instead of street racing.<\/p>\n<p>Having seen first-hand where they leave rubbish, cut fences, and dump sump oil straight onto the ground doing an oil change, it does erode your faith in humanity.<\/p>\n<p>Hopefully, the move to electrification will help people realise you can get a long way without all the toys. And with V2L-capable vehicles, there&#8217;s no need to take a noisy generator with you either.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The petrol proponents and diesel diehards reckon you can&#8217;t take EVs off-road. SolarQuotes has news for them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":77077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[684],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-electric-vehicles","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tiny EV Beats Legendary Landcruiser in Off-Road Challenge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Think a $10,000 electric car can\u2019t compete off-road? Think again! This budget EV outperformed a Landcruiser in an off-road showdown.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/off-road-ev\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tiny EV Beats Legendary Landcruiser in Off-Road Challenge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Think a $10,000 electric car can\u2019t compete off-road? Think again! This budget EV outperformed a Landcruiser in an off-road showdown.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/off-road-ev\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SolarQuotes Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-30T21:59:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-30T22:15:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/sandy-wheel.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anthony Bennett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@solar_quotes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@solar_quotes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/off-road-ev\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/off-road-ev\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Anthony Bennett\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eda68c24a3d87f41fa51e57c03d2ac2d\"},\"headline\":\"Tiny EV Beats Legendary Landcruiser in Off-Road Challenge\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-30T21:59:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-30T22:15:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/off-road-ev\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":937,\"commentCount\":56,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/off-road-ev\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/07\\\/sandy-wheel.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Electric Vehicles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/off-road-ev\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/off-road-ev\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/off-road-ev\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tiny EV Beats Legendary Landcruiser in Off-Road Challenge\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/off-road-ev\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/off-road-ev\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/07\\\/sandy-wheel.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-30T21:59:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-30T22:15:16+00:00\",\"description\":\"Think a $10,000 electric car can\u2019t compete off-road? Think again! This budget EV outperformed a Landcruiser in an off-road showdown.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/off-road-ev\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/off-road-ev\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/off-road-ev\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/07\\\/sandy-wheel.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/07\\\/sandy-wheel.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/off-road-ev\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Electric Vehicles\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/category\\\/electric-vehicles\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Tiny EV Beats Legendary Landcruiser in Off-Road Challenge\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"SolarQuotes Blog\",\"description\":\"An independent reckoning of the Aussie solar scene\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"SolarQuotes\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/solarquotes-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/solarquotes-logo.png\",\"width\":592,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"SolarQuotes\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/SolarQuotes\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/solar_quotes\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/solarquotes\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/au.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/solarquotes\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/SolarQuotesAustralia\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eda68c24a3d87f41fa51e57c03d2ac2d\",\"name\":\"Anthony Bennett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/da02d496ba89ce6576480e42da6ad36ea79ea5c1c51d5f7ce5a07774d06a1fb7?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/da02d496ba89ce6576480e42da6ad36ea79ea5c1c51d5f7ce5a07774d06a1fb7?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/da02d496ba89ce6576480e42da6ad36ea79ea5c1c51d5f7ce5a07774d06a1fb7?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Anthony Bennett\"},\"description\":\"Anthony joined the SolarQuotes team in 2022. He\u2019s a licensed electrician, builder, roofer and solar installer who for 14 years did jobs all over SA - residential, commercial, on-grid and off-grid. A true enthusiast with a skillset the typical solar installer might not have, his blogs are typically deep dives that draw on his decades of experience in the industry to educate and entertain. Read Anthony's full bio.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/anthony\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tiny EV Beats Legendary Landcruiser in Off-Road Challenge","description":"Think a $10,000 electric car can\u2019t compete off-road? Think again! This budget EV outperformed a Landcruiser in an off-road showdown.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/off-road-ev\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tiny EV Beats Legendary Landcruiser in Off-Road Challenge","og_description":"Think a $10,000 electric car can\u2019t compete off-road? Think again! This budget EV outperformed a Landcruiser in an off-road showdown.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/off-road-ev\/","og_site_name":"SolarQuotes Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/","article_published_time":"2024-12-30T21:59:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-12-30T22:15:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/sandy-wheel.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Anthony Bennett","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@solar_quotes","twitter_site":"@solar_quotes","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/off-road-ev\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/off-road-ev\/"},"author":{"name":"Anthony Bennett","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/eda68c24a3d87f41fa51e57c03d2ac2d"},"headline":"Tiny EV Beats Legendary Landcruiser in Off-Road Challenge","datePublished":"2024-12-30T21:59:47+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-30T22:15:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/off-road-ev\/"},"wordCount":937,"commentCount":56,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/off-road-ev\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/sandy-wheel.jpg","articleSection":["Electric Vehicles"],"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/off-road-ev\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/off-road-ev\/","url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/off-road-ev\/","name":"Tiny EV Beats Legendary Landcruiser in Off-Road Challenge","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/off-road-ev\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/off-road-ev\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/sandy-wheel.jpg","datePublished":"2024-12-30T21:59:47+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-30T22:15:16+00:00","description":"Think a $10,000 electric car can\u2019t compete off-road? Think again! This budget EV outperformed a Landcruiser in an off-road showdown.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/off-road-ev\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/off-road-ev\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/off-road-ev\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/sandy-wheel.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/sandy-wheel.jpg","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/off-road-ev\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Electric Vehicles","item":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/electric-vehicles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Tiny EV Beats Legendary Landcruiser in Off-Road Challenge"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/","name":"SolarQuotes Blog","description":"An independent reckoning of the Aussie solar scene","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization","name":"SolarQuotes","url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/solarquotes-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/solarquotes-logo.png","width":592,"height":600,"caption":"SolarQuotes"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/","https:\/\/x.com\/solar_quotes","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/solarquotes\/","https:\/\/au.linkedin.com\/company\/solarquotes","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SolarQuotesAustralia"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/eda68c24a3d87f41fa51e57c03d2ac2d","name":"Anthony Bennett","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/da02d496ba89ce6576480e42da6ad36ea79ea5c1c51d5f7ce5a07774d06a1fb7?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/da02d496ba89ce6576480e42da6ad36ea79ea5c1c51d5f7ce5a07774d06a1fb7?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/da02d496ba89ce6576480e42da6ad36ea79ea5c1c51d5f7ce5a07774d06a1fb7?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r","caption":"Anthony Bennett"},"description":"Anthony joined the SolarQuotes team in 2022. He\u2019s a licensed electrician, builder, roofer and solar installer who for 14 years did jobs all over SA - residential, commercial, on-grid and off-grid. A true enthusiast with a skillset the typical solar installer might not have, his blogs are typically deep dives that draw on his decades of experience in the industry to educate and entertain. Read Anthony's full bio.","url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/author\/anthony\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/sandy-wheel.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2FF2s-k39","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":47085,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/ev-poll-victoria-mb1861\/","url_meta":{"origin":77075,"position":0},"title":"Electric Vehicle Opinions Victoria Poll Results","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"February 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Recent polling finds many Victorians would prefer an electric car for their next vehicle purchase, but taxes on EVs could have an impact on uptake. A survey of more than 2,000 voters carried out in six key electorates (Richmond, Albert Park, Oakleigh, Eltham, Bentleigh and Mordialloc) by Redbridge for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"EV opinions survey - Victoria","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/electric-car-survey.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/electric-car-survey.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/electric-car-survey.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/electric-car-survey.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/electric-car-survey.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61407,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/electrify-road-transport-australia\/","url_meta":{"origin":77075,"position":1},"title":"To Electrify Road Transport Australia Will Need 46% More Generation","author":"Ronald Brakels","date":"May 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Australia has more than 20 million vehicles, including 2 million heavy trucks. To electrify them all would require an increase in on-grid electricity generation of approximately 46%.\u00a0 This size of this increase raises the question:\u00a0 Is it possible for Australia to generate enough electricity to enable a rapid transition to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Electric Vehicles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Electric Vehicles","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/electric-vehicles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"traffic near perth","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/traffic-perth.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/traffic-perth.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/traffic-perth.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/traffic-perth.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/traffic-perth.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":89483,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/ev-road-user-charges-mb3115\/","url_meta":{"origin":77075,"position":2},"title":"EV Road User Charges Back In The Spotlight","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"February 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The debate over road-user charges (RUC) for electric vehicles has been reignited courtesy of interpretation of comments reportedly made recently by Treasurer Jim Chalmers. There have been several attempts at introducing an EV road user \"tax\" on a state-level basis. Back in 2020 in South Australia, the then-Marshall Government intended\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Electric vehicle road user charges","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ev-charges-tax.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ev-charges-tax.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ev-charges-tax.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ev-charges-tax.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ev-charges-tax.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":94389,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/ev-ruc-australia-mb3264\/","url_meta":{"origin":77075,"position":3},"title":"Another Step Towards An EV Road User Charge In Australia","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"September 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers met with his state\/territory counterparts on Friday to discuss (among other things) a potential road user charge (RUC) for electric vehicles. What Was The Outcome Of The Meeting? An options paper was put together for the meeting, a goal of which was for state and territory\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Electric Vehicles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Electric Vehicles","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/electric-vehicles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Electric vehicle road user charge","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/chalmers-ev-ruc.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/chalmers-ev-ruc.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/chalmers-ev-ruc.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/chalmers-ev-ruc.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/chalmers-ev-ruc.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":93829,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/ev-road-charges-mb3246\/","url_meta":{"origin":77075,"position":4},"title":"EV Road User Charge Discussions Accelerate","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"August 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A road user charge for electric vehicle use in Australia seems not a matter of if, more a question of when. But should common sense prevail, it won't just apply to EVs. Early this year, Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers was said to have floated the idea at a private dinner\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Electric Vehicles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Electric Vehicles","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/electric-vehicles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Driving an EV","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ev-road-charges.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ev-road-charges.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ev-road-charges.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ev-road-charges.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ev-road-charges.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":71067,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/sa-ev-tax-abolished-mb2826\/","url_meta":{"origin":77075,"position":5},"title":"South Australia&#8217;s EV Tax Officially Ditched","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"February 13, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"There wasn't a great deal of fanfare, but legislation to repeal SA's electric vehicle taxed passed the Upper House last week. Back in 2020, then-SA Treasurer Rob Lucas revealed the Marshall Government's intention of introducing a road user charge for plug-in electric and other zero emission vehicles. Initially, it was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"South Australia electric vehicle tax","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/sa-ev-tax.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/sa-ev-tax.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/sa-ev-tax.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/sa-ev-tax.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/sa-ev-tax.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77075"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77075\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88624,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77075\/revisions\/88624"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}