Electric Side by Side's

[Thread Savage]

Wondering if anyone has taken the plunge on electric UTV's yet.
The Polaris Kinetic is "first to market" as far as I'm concerned, being that I'm not counting Chinese stuff or like 48V upgraded golf carts. But Polaris Kinetics are like $30K for the base model.

I have no info on if/when Kubota will release one, but I'd trust my $30K to them more than I would to Polaris.

 

[wytx]

How do those batteries hold up in extreme cold temps?

 

[MuleyFever]

For use on smaller ranches/farms and whitetail hunting they would be great but you could probably get an electric golf cart for less. For long trail rides, carry a generator I guess.

 

[BluMtn]

Just as a correction Can-am has had an electric SxS since 2013.

2013 can-am electric SxS - Search Videos

www.bing.com

 

[passinggas33]

We’ve had an electric Polaris Ranger on our ranch of about 7k acres for a few years. It is eerie how quiet it is. You truly only hear the tires on the trails. No other noise. As for the battery, when we put about 50-60 miles a day on it, it’s about dead by the time we get back. But that is up and down big hills all day. Nothing flat here. But overall we’ve really liked it. With that being said it’s a little older and on the original batteries. So no clue how the new ones would do.

 

[Weldor]

We had abunch of fools diving around in the Tractor supply offroad golf cart last Elk season. Would drive to or as close as they could get to a waterhole at prime time. They left after more than a few hunters visited their camp. They said " well the Elk can't hear it" . Gotta love the modern road hunters.

 

[Speaks]

Bad fit for my most common use cases

1. Heading into the back country and camping out of it - no access to charging
2. Long trail rides - Insufficient range without access to charging and even if there were dont want to sit for a few hours
3. Hunting use - would be at least concerned about colds impact on battery life
4. Chores around the cabin and rides into town - likely fine for this though certainly no more convenient than my gas model and likely not cheaper to operate

Some day I am sure they will be there, I used to swear I would never use a battery chain saw but own 3 of them now.

 

[Thread Savage]

I’m definitely going to buy one at some point, if for no other purpose than simply going out to my deer stand during the hunting season. I don’t want to spend money on an E-bike for this when I know I’ll end up with an electric side by side eventually anyway.

For those asking about battery life in the cold, YES that is a major concern. Lithiums definitely lose performance in cold weather. I’m not worried about a battery dying on a long voyage because I’m not planning to drive one of these more than a mile or two at a time.

Here are my personal concerns, and if anyone can speak on these issues, please do:
>I plan on taking it out before daylight with a full charge, parking it, and letting it sit all day in sub-freezing temps while I hunt. Is there any risk at all that the battery could die just sitting there in the cold?

>Since my main application would be quiet trips to and from hunting spots, I would take care of this thing and not put it through much else during the offseason. This limited use would make a diesel last forever, but typically you want batteries to cycle, not just sit there. Would you want to keep a trickle charger on it all year? Or is it important that you run it every now and then, even when you don’t need to? I’m worried that this limited usage could actually hurt the battery life.

>When/if EV Jeep Wranglers become common, will there ever be good used electric jeeps in the marketplace? Or will this be more like once it’s dead it’s truly dead? Because again, for the price of a $30K+ Polaris Kinetic, I’m wondering why I wouldn’t just by a damn jeep.

 

[Thread Savage]

For use on smaller ranches/farms and whitetail hunting they would be great but you could probably get an electric golf cart for less. For long trail rides, carry a generator I guess.

If an electric golf cart could make it up the hills and across the creek bottoms where I’m at, I’d definitely consider this option. I don’t need it to go fast, I don’t need it to run all day long, I just need a quiet, reliable ride up to the back 80 about 20 times per year.

 

[omicron1792]

If an electric golf cart could make it up the hills and across the creek bottoms where I’m at, I’d definitely consider this option. I don’t need it to go fast, I don’t need it to run all day long, I just need a quiet, reliable ride up to the back 80 about 20 times per year.

They will do that easily.

 

[Thread Savage]

They will do that easily.

Any particular brand or specs you’d recommend?

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Here are my personal concerns, and if anyone can speak on these issues, please do:
>I plan on taking it out before daylight with a full charge, parking it, and letting it sit all day in sub-freezing temps while I hunt. Is there any risk at all that the battery could die just sitting there in the cold?

My ebike battery pack has low temp protection so yes if its too old out you have no power until it warms up. I presume a larger cart would use LiFePO (not lithium ion) and one with quality components in it (not all are) the bms would have low temp discharge and charge protection. Below ~32F you can't charge them but they can discharge down to ~-4F typically. You can wire up heaters to keep them warmed if needed, not that most "heated" ones require an outside source of power to heat, it just directs that power to heating itself to warm up before it allows charging. So if it was really cold you could keep the batteries warmed but gotta keep in mind that is using up capacity at the same time.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

>When/if EV Jeep Wranglers become common, will there ever be good used electric jeeps in the marketplace? Or will this be more like once it’s dead it’s truly dead? Because again, for the price of a $30K+ Polaris Kinetic, I’m wondering why I wouldn’t just by a damn jeep.

Battery packs aren't cheap but they're getting cheaper all the time. Many already have 8-10yr warranties on them from the factory. What the market for replacements looks like a decade from now who knows.

 

[omicron1792]

Any particular brand or specs you’d recommend?

So forever most of my friends used one of the major golf cart brands. Ezgo. Club cart, and Yamaha. But I’ve had some friends get off brands lately that did really well. There are really only two working parts. The batteries and the electric motor.

I have an electric farm bike made by Volcon that I use. It’s a game changer for getting to stands quietly.

 

[SandyCreek]

We have (3) Polaris electrics, in the process of getting rid of them. They’re a lot of battery maintenance and they just don’t get used a lot plus in the cold/snow they’re almost useless. The gas rangers are more practical imo and we just get way more use out of them.