Intimidator EV

[Ducks]

All,

Have been looking into going the electric route.  Currently have Deere and Kawasaki UTV's we use at our duck club. We've been thinking about going electric due to noticeable disturbance to the birds caused by engine noise. Anyway, it seems that the forums are somewhat devoid of Intimidator discussions regarding the good, bad and the ugly.  Wanted to put this out there.  I have also looked into the Polaris EV and have located one here in Missouri.  

Just an open question.  I'd love to hear about anyone's experience with the electric Intimidator or the Polaris for that matter.

[EVSupport]

I am in the UK and only see these vehicles as real working vehicles, we dont have the leisure market here. My interest, is that I build  and install Li ion conversions to Polaris Ranger EVs and Hisun E1.

The Ranger (current model not the forthcoming re launch / Li ion / Expensive version) is a well established and fairly robust vehicle, but has wet lead acid batteries that need to be regularly watered. WIth all lead  you get around 500 charge cycles. My commercial / landowners that equates to less than 2 years of ownership.  If you dont maintain the batteries  properly they might only last 6 months. With the Hisun, they have a slightly smaller motor power and a smaller sealed GEL  battery pack. The Gel batteries must be treated gently for around the first 20 charges. or they fail very quickly. These too are then lasting under two years of hard usage.  If you are considering long term ownership, and use such a vehicle  hard then consider Li ion when the battery pack needs replacing. Its cost effective over longer and harder usage. Hard to justify when used occasionally as a leisure vehicle . Conversion does allow you to spread the capital cost, rather than the really high initial cost of a Li ion from new.  Although Hisun have now launched their own Li ion vehicle, but at a much higher cost. They also have a higher power faster vehicle (demo vehicles only here in the UK so far)

You need a decent power supply and dont even consider running off long extension leads. Do it properly.

With all UTV maintenance is important, and keeping the suspension clean and greased is vital for long life.  Hisun has a slightly complex drive shaft with a number of bearings requiring grease. With both consider dropping the belly pans / lifting the drive tunnel to clear out the crud every 6 months. Its staggering just how much can get under the floors and never cleaned out. Worst is long grass with rangers, as  the plastic belly pan has holes in it and acts like a cheese grater on grass.

For ride quality, I am staggered by the Hisun E1, they have used (at least in the UK market) some expensive coil overs with gas reservoirs, and the ride is brilliant. I think overall build quality of the Ranger is higher, but here they are almost twice the cost of the Hisun E1.

Just dont expect a set of lead Acid or GEL to last more than two years (may be less) if you are using such a vehicle on a regular/ hard use basis (Ie charging every day after a full days use).  Consider   Li ion Conversions at 1stPack replacement, add that into the budget when doing your cost analysis. If replacing the pack with lead, do not expect cheap batteries to last. You really do get what you pay for, treat the first 20 charges with care and dont thrash them when new. A new set of GEL can be destroyed in a couple of months, if you dont break them in.

 

[EVSupport]

I just looked at the Intimidator web site.  It makes a lot about it being built of "American Steel"   but like all such vehicles, most of the components will be unlikely to originate in the US. The point being mature foreign built vehicles can be good value and use many of the same components. As an example The US constructed Ranger uses a motor controller from Poland , the Hisun uses the same make. The Canadian "Designed" Delta Q chargers used by both Polaris and Hisun (different models) are actually made in China. Just dont count something out before really looking at it . Made in USA doesnt really mean its all made in US it means assembled in USA using parts sourced elsewhere.

An issue with the Ranger and wet lead batteries in general, is chassis corrosion from the gas condensate. Its a real issue, and American Steel wont save you from having a rusty  chassis once the paint has peeled away.

[Ducks]

EV Sport,

Thank you for your feedback. As you can tell, I am a little green when is comes to the electric utv.  Much appreciated.