Summit:
Out of curiosity what are you running in your Volvo and Mercedes trucks? Road rangers, autos...? And what are they doing for work? Interstate, quarry..?
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Summit:
Out of curiosity what are you running in your Volvo and Mercedes trucks? Road rangers, autos...? And what are they doing for work? Interstate, quarry..?
Sent from my SM-G925I using AULRO mobile app
All are running truck and dog local work, The Volvo is @480hp- 13sp syncro volvo box and the Merc is a 16speed semi auto Mercedes box@440hp. Both American trucks are running 18sp road Rangers @550 and 575hp. Your 100% correct in regard to truck and dog work.. It's so hard on equipment, due to the relatively short runs and stop start driving
well its new,,
and its a defender,,
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...016/07/482.jpg
I think I spotted a new Defender being road tested in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. It was in disguise of course, the Range Rover Sport badging, grille and bonnet vents fooled me for just a few moments...
:Rolling::BigThumb:Quote:
Originally Posted by tact
So. How many of the electric sceptics from 2015 are still holding their opinion?Quote:
Originally Posted by Beery
The specs in my post above are several years old now, so the possibilities should be even greater now.
It's interesting to point out that in 2015 , Protean Electric formed a joint venture with Mahle Powertrain.
Who's Mahle Powertrain? They're a driveline component manufacturer and they work very closely with...you guessed it, Land Rover!
Reading between the lines here, but what other reason could cause such a huge delay in developing what should be a fairly simple utility vehicle other than they are working on something truly groundbreaking here?
Surely if was just a bastardised version of a D4 or D5 powertrain and chassis they could have had it slapped together and earning squillions long ago. Wouldn't a profit obsessed company do that if it could?
If they want to flog their "midget-on-cocaine" ingenium engine, it would be great for running a generator or alternator in a diesel electric setup. But a pure battery system would be better than compromising with a heavy, clumsy hybrid system.
Honestly, I'm of the opinion now that 'small' diesel engines are so smothered in emissions control crap, so undersized, overstressed, short lived and so prone to expensive failures (warranty claims) that I would say "why bother?".
I do think I read somewhere LR saying there would be a hybrid version of all its vehicles in the future, so you may be right.
I'd say the delay is that the profit makers go to the front of the queue, Range Rover, RRS, Discovery Sport, Velar, D5, probable an updated Evoke next maybe another new soft road model.. then there might be time to squeeze a Defender in before the range needs a refresh. The Defender is a heritage model not a hero model IMO so there is no rush for a new one.Quote:
Originally Posted by Beery
As for electric... As fun as hub motors and full torque from zero RPM is, there will always be the energy storage issue. If I cant drive 500km in one go then drive another 500 after a 30min refuel/recharge/rewhatever stop then forget it.
Range extenders aren't the answer either. Any efficiency gains by running an ICE at a set RPM to a generator are outweighed by the extra hardware needed for the setup.
Electric cars will replace city runabouts but I think they will develop synthetic carbon neutral fuels that fit existing infrastructure before their adoption even reaches 20%.
There will always be need for energy dense fuels for long haul trucks, ships, plant equipment and heavy industry so something will always be available for cars.
I think I went off on a bit of a tangent there but I think the Defender is definitely not going to be a ground breaking vehicle. Personally I just hope it is more of a reasonably priced G Wagen type of thing rather than re-dressed model like the FJ cruiser was.
Yep, which takes me back to what I said at the very start of this conversation...Quote:
Originally Posted by Beery
If there is going to be a new one, then I don't think we'll see it much before the end of this decade. I believe the delay has more to do with the massive challenges faced by new vehicle designers now and the escalating and massive costs involved in designing and building an all new vehicle. Things have changed dramatically in just the last two or three years in this regard.
A lot more is going to change in the next decade and any vehicle being designed now is going to be different to what we are used to or even expecting.
Diesel, thanks in part to VW, is now a dirty word and there are car companies saying their ongoing development is a dead end, and that they will be concentrating on electric and small capacity turbo charged petrol engines and eventually just electric engines.
So while Land Rover could fit a diesel to an all new Defender, the big question is how obsolete will it be if it's not fully or partially electric drive?
There is a massive push by most car makers to bring electric vehicles to market. VW is revamping it's entire business model and has announced that it wants 30 EVs on the market by 2025.
MB are saying similar things. This technology is going to accelerate very rapidly (pardon the pun). We ain't seen nothing yet and what we have seen recently is pretty damn amazing.
Then we have autonomous vehicles. Countries are putting legislation in place to deal with them now. Car makers are buying up ride sharing companies like Uber so they can partly control their autonomous vehicle markets. This is another technology that is here right now. Google is buying into and investing heavily in autonomous vehicles. Autonomous cars are going to be here tomorrow.
Much the same is happening with safety and connectivity tech, especially connectivity.
What car maker is going to start with a clean sheet design and not feature these new technologies and directions? If they don't the new vehicle will be obsolete before it hits the market.
So by default, I am sure the days of simple, hose out, commercial style 4X4s are all but over and any new Defender isn't going to go there, simply because it won't be possible. Well you might be able to hose it out but it will be far from being a simple vehicle.
A few years ago JLR probably had the new Defender project on the board and ready to go. Nothing too major, nothing too difficult. But it's changed in the last few years and now they have no choice but to build something that is seriously cutting edge so that it is future proof. They are now creating this new vehicle at a time when the industry is on the cusp of massive change.
The next Defender, if it happens, could quite possibly be the most amazing 4X4 we've yet seen. I seriously doubt it will be anything remotely like the Defender we've known. That's not a JLR or rich man's conspiracy, it's just the evolution of the MV and the cycle is quickly gaining momentum.