How long will it be until we're all driving electric 4x4s?

Without a doubt, the most common question I get asked by people when they find out what I do for a living is, “When are we going to see 4x4 EVs?”

This is often followed by, “How much longer will I be able to buy diesel fuel?”
These questions really show how much misinformation there is out there regarding EVs and their emergence on the market.

Yes, EV passenger cars are coming in big time, but it will be some time yet before we are using an EV for the sort of long-distance and off-road touring that we do. And if you’re driving a diesel-fuelled 4x4 now you’ll be able to buy fuel for it for the life of that vehicle.

Despite the rapid growth in sales of EV cars, they still don’t have the range required for touring long distances and the charging infrastructure isn’t up to the standard we expect when travelling in our diesel- and petrol-fuelled 4x4s. Also, there are very few EVs available now that offer proper 4x4 off-road ability.

So we were keen to jump behind the wheel of the Ford Lightning EV when we were offered the chance from AUSEV. Yes, this truck was imported and converted to right hand drive by a private company, and Ford Australia tells us it has no plans to bring the Lightning in as part of its F-150 truck program, but it is an off-road capable EV that you can buy now.

It looks like the BYD Shark will be the first midsize 4x4 ute to arrive as an EV, and as an all-new player in the market it will need to prove itself to be capable and viable. Other than that there are not a lot of EV 4x4s coming soon… but they will be here soon enough.

Whether you will be able to actually take them anywhere interesting is another thing.