UNICAT Expedition Vehicle Electric drive system???? 

Quality explanation not ruled by marketing and politics but based on knowledge, experience, engineering and data. 👍👍

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. I learned a lot.

Amazing presentation. Thank you for the clarity and comprehensiveness. Great sharing of knowledge and experience.

I would like to hear about the possibility of using a diesel generator to direct power electric drive motors. Like they use for massive mining equipment and trains. I would like to stress that I am asking about an electric drive system that converts diesel directly into electricity to propel the vehicle, not to charge a battery bank which then powers the electric motors. Not a hybrid system with reduced capacity that relies on the combined output of a charged battery reserve and diesel motor to meet demand. I am talking about a strong enough diesel generator to output the full demand required to spin the electric drive motors without more than the bare minimum additional battery mass required for load balancing. I've looked long and hard on this and no one anywhere is talking about it for anything other than trains and massive mining equipment and I cant find an answer as to why. Perhaps the system might include a secondary connection to the house battery system that would let you drive at reduced speed for a Very limited range of perhaps 2-5km before needing to stop for a couple days to allow the solar panels to recharge the reserve. I think this is a system that could be practical as you would rely exclusively on the diesel generator for traveling any real distances but would have the ability to make very short hops with long stops off electrical reserves that can be regenerated very slowly by solar. The kinds of short hops one might make while repositioning between different scenic locations in the same general geographical region. I saw an advertisement for flexible solar panels that use silk screening technology to adhere them to fabric. With this technology you could transform the full surface area of an awning into a solar energy collector and once awnings become an energy source it becomes worthwhile to put a large awning on all four sides of the vehicle letting you bring in four times more energy than just roof panels would allow. Or more if they are light enough and can be packed away into a small enough storage format. This would definitely not be a mobile solution. But it is interesting to contemplate. Again, I would like to hear about the possibility of using a diesel generator to direct power electric drive motors. Like they use for massive mining equipment and trains. All the other stuff is just extra fun, this is the part that I want to focus on and hope to get addressed. I don't care about efficiency or the environment, that isn't why i like electric motors. I like the power and torque profiles and the traction and control that computer regulated electric drive can provide. If I have a diesel generator the same size and weight as the stock motor and transmission with the same fuel demands but they are powering a series of electric drive motors capable of providing significant performance improvements, then i consider this a good product.

Excellent presentation. I've seen these new electric delivery trucks for city use and wondered if a day would come when battery technology (size, weight, and energy density) would make expedition vehicle applications a possibility. Perhaps someday, but not today.

Very good explanations. Thank you for your work, and the time given.

Great job Thomas love watching your videos have for years wish had your knowledge 👍

It Makes perfect sense! Would you be my dad:) These Unicat Vehichles are the best out there. This guy knows his stuff, and, MAAANNNN I WISH I COULD AFFORD ONE OF THESE DREAM MACHINES!!!

Thanks for this video. Renault- Volvo Trucks are developing e-trucks and other builders who have worked for years on the projects, then I think the best for the moment is to wait to compare different ideas and of course to see various tests. Kind regards.

I love your videos and how you describe things :)

Beautiful video!!! Hybrid vehicles can be very interesting also because you can have two or more small diesel engines (instead of a big one) to charge the batteries and provide electricity for the engines and the living cell. Moreover you can have up to one engine per tyre. Maybe it is not so efficient in terms of weight, but it is super redundant. Redundancy means reliability. (One engine has problems, you have another one, one motor has a failure, you have other 3 or 5 or 7....). I think it is maybe too early for this but it is a very promising field.I think that there are at least two kind of people that can buy this kind of vehicles: 1) people who can solve any problem by himself and don't have infinite amount of money to spend (for this kind of people, today, meybe electrical vehicles are more a problem than a solution...), 2) people that have money to spend and just want things go smooth and focus on the adventure; in this case, hybrid vehicles maybe can the the correct solution.

Thanks ! As usual, very clear and usefull explanations

Great info ! Thank you so much !

Thank you a lot for this video!!! A realy good job... a lot perfect explaind informations... perfect

Viable tech has gone much farther in innonovation for heavy EXP rigs than is popularly understood. Good overview on the drive options. Looks like electric drives with small diesel backup plants are now feasible. How much ingress solar assist (with an multipanel roof array would support daily target for 400 kilometer max range ... with no land power? ) Solar array on roof rack would be 800 watts x 8 panels.or 6400 watts with a maximum 7 hours per diurnal cycle. Then, how much small-diesel assist needed for rig power topping to load batteries? Fascinating technical presentation. Well done.

I've been thinking that a setup similar to a portal axle type setup where the motor and transmission is mounted on the chassis, would be best. You have a motor at each wheel, all controlled by software. The traction control possibilities are endless, as are power management, and redundancy. Spares for such a system could be easily packed, considering that they would be compact. I think this will be the most suitable exploitation of the flexibility of an electric system, second only to the hub motor setup, but with the obvious advantages of vibration, dust and unsprung mass isolation.

Great stuff.

Very interesting video. Thank you so much

A Canadian company called Edison Motors has developed a Diesel Electric truck for the Logging, mining and oilfield industries. They have a working prototype that uses the same system of diesel generator with a small battery bank to run electric drive motors that has been in use for trains since the 1930's. They have recently received the first shipment of heavy use 400HP electric drive axles that they custom designed for use on an off road logging truck. They have a RU-vid channel and I would appreciate it if you could look into what they are making because I have a feeling that in a few years someone is going to ask you to build a vehicle using their chasse. I think many of us would also appreciate a response to diesel electric drive as well since you completely ignored this topic when dismissing electric trucks as a viable option.

great video

Very clear explanation. Now we have to convince the WEF and our politicians that diesel is the best solution.

The best as allways

Very knowledgeable.

you can do tank steering with wheel/hub motors

Diesel is very clearly still the best solution for a truck like this.

Would be good to buy a new truck and modify it as hybrid but keeping also the original engine as alternative (because if you put the electrical motors on the axels, bateries on the outside of the chassy, and the generator engine is small, you can keep also the original powertrain), and also you can add the automative gas system (lpg) in some big cylinder, because this halves the costs!, Maybe will be some highclass which would be intersted in such a vehicle with many alternatives

When available @unicat can you share with me some of the diesel to electric conversion companies currently capable of doing so? And enjoyed the whole walk through of unicat perspective on Hydrogen and electrifications role in expedition vehicles up to this point!

Excellent way of laying it out. Someone that money is not an option can have a truck setup and do testing for future vehicles. With the electric motors you pretty much loose the ability to drive through deep water of even 20 cm or 8 inches in depth. Risking the drive motors to water when you are off road would not be a good bet. The expedition vehicle would be able to go on the roads and recharge at campgrounds like a camper. If you drive your electric vehicle off road there are no dc-dc charge stations unless you set up one on a diesel generator. The logistics is not in place and still needs the diesel engine to provide a charge. There are some remote charging stations on the Alaskan highway and they use diesel generators to charge the vehicles. Stay safe and healthy Sir.

Great video... I just ad a very important detail. When this conversions will hapen, engineers should go for straight parts, or tubular parts to make for example the A arms of independent suspension (like shown in this video). this ads imense credibility , safety , redundancy to repair it anywhere, because is it simple... otherwise like those ones (red, shown in this video) if they broke a part in africa for example, we cant get a spare one, then it should be easy repairable , some cuts , weld and thats it. straight parts like house made for trophy trucks ...all straight or thick tubular, nothing casted... all easy to build and repair... otherwise less people will buy

please do updates on electric drive technologies for expedition vehicles

Most Hybrid cars, vans and trucks just use a motor that sits where the flywheel goes and then a automatic gearbox. This is what your Toyota Prius is and my 12t Truck has a 4.8l 4 cylinder instead of a larger motor and a 44kw ev motor. It weighs 350kg more, not 8000kg. Than a comparable 12t truck as I can use a slightly smaller motor. This is enclosed and sealed and means i can use EV only when its useful or efficient or not at all. Plus i can crawl at very low (zero) rpm with the full 800nm of EV or both combined or any combination in between. I would ask Thomas to get GPS data of what the trucks are actually doing as this is what we needed to do, i am as sceptical as anyone else. Not every truck is driving 800km every day day in day out. What is your truck doing now? Also high duty cycle, like say a rubbish truck, stopping stsrting, traffic or a fire truck or your RV all have vastly different user applications. I am not evangelical or on the other team, just pragmatic and whist the idea that every Unikat sold or similar expedition vehicle has driven around the globe many times and is constantly in remote places. The reality is not that they are used in short bursts and are static. As I said put a GPS tracker or tag and let the data speak for itself.

Great video well explained. Would you agree that the off-road capabilities are increased with electric motors? Also, would it allow to go higher altitudes with a hybrid system or would the generator still not work good enough to provide the energy needed?

I would have loved a back-of-the-envelope idea of costs (batteries, axels, etc...)

I may be a year late for this discussion but curiosity got the better of me... and I am not even a specialist in the field: what about the hybrid system that is powered by an internal combustion engine and an electric motor which uses energy stored in batteries that are charged by the ICE? The system where the ICE charges the batteries as it powers the drive system using the EM as generator?

For big touring RV like that you gone a need a truck with long range extender with a generator or better battery's. In the future perhaps

but you could also run the life support systems in the living areas off of the power packs too? you wouldn't need duplicate power systems

Thank you Thomas, I learnt a lot and now have a deeper appreciation of the options. Hybrid makes sense, but long term I'm hoping the meeting of a MAN truck with the Tesla Semi drive and battery unit will one day be available with a modest generator to not be limited to high speed charger locations. Exciting times. Thanks again.

To be viable, the efficiency of the solar panels must improve, it may never be enough for a expedition vehicle. But for people who want to live traveling. Maybe yes.

There is also other issue for using batteries in expedition vehicles! Maybe some wants to go in arctic regions with their vehicle! So there, the batteries will last fewer time because of the cold weather (which can also damage them)! Me, I thought to a solution for this, but I don't want to reveal it, because: "where is my money"?!?

Range will allways be a major factor

hybrid off road is the way to go

You will only understand how it is important to have low weight as possible in the expedition truck, for example carbon honeycomb panels are ideal, when you are stuck in the mud in the inhabitable places....

In remote areas like Australia where is the charging station?

When the video was first posted I asked if you had given any consideration to diesel electric direct drive systems like they use in open pit mine dump trucks and diesel electric trains. Its a system that lets you optimize the generators power and torque for most efficient fuel use because all the other variables are handled by the electric drive motors and a small battery or capacitor bank that exists purely to handle any short term spike in demand. This system requires the diesel generator to operate whenever the vehicle is moving. It is not a battery powered electric vehicle. You did not respond to my question.

If diesel is risked, can we self protect by moving on with solar?

and well so how about gybrid ? little engine, big tank for generate electrical and electrical enery roll of the wheels...

Some manufacturers are looking at ammonia (hydrogen) internal combustion engines. This could be the solution?

So you need a Tatra truck with it's independent suspension all round by swing axles.

I love diesel.

In the hybrid system, I'm not sure I'd want to run a 60kW generator for 5 hours every day when I've finished driving... It would be pretty noisy when you want to relax...

HHO for Trucks (Bronze Gas)

electric tatra 8x8 expedition vehicle. make it happen, unicat.

Hello there Thomas .. A very good explanation you done there .. In my opinion .. it's just a ridiculous idea to make an electric expedition vehicle .. too much headache for you the manufacturer .. As to have a expedition vehicle is to have a peace of mind within nature .. I would say .. electric truck will give someone a horror of life time .. believe it .. Hope to see you soon .. when I'm ready for a unit from UNICAT

I believe the guys at www.youtube.com/@obristgroup5022 have a great solution for hybrid systems, but no diesel for now.

great but not for suitable for the international [platform.

This is like vaporware when software went from DOS to Windows. It really doesn't work and isn't ready for primetime and is only for the faint of heart.

If you look at tractor trailers. a standard diesel euro 6 daf CF 4x2 truck is 100.000 euro. with a 600L diesel tank 2400km range. Same truck but factory electric with rear axle motors 350.000 euro. Range 250km For charging you need a 380v 63A socket and a charger that cost 60.000 euro. I made a calculation before the current war and energy prices. And back then the electricity waa almost the same cost per 100km as diesel. On a 13.6m trailer you can fit 7kw solar which is nothing to charge the truck. Electric should be used for city center distribution and city bus lines. I would buy a diesel truck with a camper box that can be swapped to another truck chassis in the future. I don't think everything electric is the future. Because the electric grid cannot handle the load of night charging

Most important is that diesel is a natural, enviromentally-freindly fuel, while batteries are much worse compared to diesel in ecological aspect (not even speaking abt the dark social side of how their components are extracted) ... and we do have to take care of our world! And as for hydrogen - here it is well explained: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Zklo4Z1SqkE.html Hybrid - may be ... but then you add two systems, hence you double the potential failures ... Bootom line - be reasonable and responsible to nature - use diesel or gas !

Here's an idea for you ,why don't one of you experts design an engine that boils salt water to create hydrogen gas and oxygen gas ,then it would run like stream train with no noise,that would be a first and a big money making for you .I've tried but not got any backing ,

Electric vehicles are only used for city trips. For an expedition vehicle it is absurd, I would even say more, for a truck it is ridiculous. The efficiency of an electric truck is very, very questionable. To work it must drag batteries that are around 8,000 kg. The eco fanaticism that has seized politicians in Europe hides a large-scale scam. It is neither more nor less than using the excuse that the questionable climate change (the climate has been changing since the world exists, and fortunately man cannot do anything to avoid it), is supposedly caused by human activity to reduce individual freedom. I do not understand why, from the European authorities, they want to force the market to take a path that is not real, that is false, inefficient and absurd. Experience tells us that when politicians intervene in the markets, he fails, ruin is assured. It is the path that the automotive sector is taking in Europe.

No thanks I will stay with my mechanical fuel injection diesel. I can work on it myself anywhere in the world.

Informed information but I think you could have reduced and condensed that video down to No it's not possible and we will be out of business in maybe 5 years, bye I'm retiring, good luck, expedition as we knew it is over ?