Meet the couple that constructed an EV rock crawler for King of the Hammers

Once you consider an electrical automobile, you probably consider the ever present Tesla, making its method on a day by day commute. Possibly you consider a luxurious Lucid Air reducing by means of the air with almost no drag on a canyon street. A handful of you would possibly image a Rivian R1T toddling down a clean filth street.

What you probably don’t consider is an EV able to sort out the off-road rock trails with 37-inch tires, stable axles entrance and rear, large articulation, and a two-speed switch case. Fortunately, Keith and Melissa Silva of EVolve Racing have a little bit of imaginative and prescient.

For this yr’s King of the Hammers race festivities in Johnson Valley, California, the Silvas swapped the powertrain of their previous Chevrolet S10 rock crawler with a Tesla Mannequin S and raced it within the 4Wheel Elements Each Man Problem as automobile No. 2412.

For these not within the know, King of the Hammers is an occasion like no different. This yr, 80,000 folks gathered on Means Dry Lake mattress from February 4th–eleventh to look at a wide range of races in the course of the week. Drivers battle the open desert stuffed with whoops, delicate sand, and steep hill climbs that problem even the quickest of vehicles.

After that part, the identical vehicles should conquer rock trails that should be seen to be believed. Boulders as massive as Good vehicles. Hills at an angle that may make your geometry trainer weep. That is rock crawling at its most interesting, besides it’s carried out at velocity with loads of rigs rolling over — or climbing over one another. It’s full and utter chaos, a mixture of Burning Man and Mad Max.

And the Silvas determined to take an EV.  

As unlikely as it might appear, this isn’t the primary time an electrical rig has raced out right here. In 2021, Kyle Seggelin completed the Each Man Problem in an previous 4Runner outfitted with a Nissan Leaf powertrain. Nonetheless, his solely activity was to complete the desert loop. The Silvas must full one lap within the rocks as nicely.

Electrified powertrains are usually not favored by many rock-crawling followers; heck, even Keith himself stated he loves the sound of a V8. Nonetheless, throughout its week on the lake mattress, the TesTen — a mixture of Telsa and S-10 — garnered loads of consideration from onlookers interested by what’s or will not be below the hood.

The Silva’s rig has a motor and battery from a 2015 Tesla Mannequin S P85. Utilizing all 16 modules from the battery, they’ve 85 kWh of juice to get them so far as they will. The one motor produces 416 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque, a lot lower than the myriad V8s the opposite rivals run. The distinction right here is that torque is obtainable faster and at slower speeds, which is precisely what you need in a rock crawler. 

The addition of a low vary sort of blows my thoughts. In a gas-powered machine, low vary is used to make sure excessive ranges of torque at low engine rpm. If that torque is correct there below your foot, accessible immediately, why add the load and complexity of a low vary? Keith says it’s to maintain the motor from producing an excessive amount of warmth. Whereas there are three Mishimoto radiators on board to chill the battery, motor, and inverter, the low vary supplies a cheerful medium between utilizing all that torque without delay and stressing the motor. 

The couple constructed the rig of their storage over 10 months. That they had sponsors are available in with merchandise, like Mickey Thompson tires, Rugged Radios, and Raceline Wheels, however Keith says they did should take cash out of financial savings. It didn’t come to the purpose of maxing out their bank cards, however the staff nonetheless put $60,000 into the truck. Remember that all they did was swap powertrains. They already had the rig with suspension elements and axles. Had they constructed the automobile from scratch, it could simply prime six figures. 

Even with a 10-month construct time, when the Silvas arrived at Means Dry Lake on a Monday for King of the Hammers, they nonetheless hadn’t examined the truck. With the race looming the next Friday, the staff spent the few remaining hours turning their electrical gremlins into garden gnomes. Annoying however tolerable. 

When the solar rose on February tenth, the TesTen made its method to staging. It might be beginning final out of 155 entries, tasked with finishing 95 miles of desert racing and 48 miles within the rocks for 143 miles of the craziest racing on the planet. They usually didn’t even understand how far they may go on a single cost.

“We’re hoping for 80 to 100 miles of vary, however we actually don’t know,” stated Melissa. “Essentially the most we’ve ever pushed it’s 35 miles.”

Additional, the TesTen by no means received its refined battery administration system, so Keith was leery of charging the battery previous 80 p.c. Certain, it’s not a good suggestion to cost to 100% each time, however to not even do it even as soon as? That’s an enormous drawback.

The primary drawback cropped up not even 5 miles from the beginning line. The inverter was struggling, and the TesTen couldn’t make it up the primary sandy hill climb. A reboot of the system was required, however the couple didn’t have a laptop computer with them. Keith was able to name the race, however Melissa had different concepts.

King of the Hammers is a no-chase race. Opponents can’t settle for outdoors assist until in a delegated pit space, so Melissa had one selection. She needed to run again to the primary pits and get the laptop computer. It took her two hours, however they have been in a position to reboot the system and have been on their method once more.

Even after taking it sluggish for the primary 25 miles, No. 2412 arrived on the first pit space with a 25 p.c state of cost. Realizing that their “full” battery is barely 80 p.c, the staff used 55 p.c of their battery to race 25 miles. That may be a little over a half a mile per kWh in effectivity. Good Lord, that’s worse than the GMC Hummer EV’s effectivity. I didn’t assume that was attainable.

Thankfully, the staff was allowed to cost on the first pit cease. Optima Batteries confirmed up with its transportable Degree 2 charger, however the staff hooked as much as Hypercraft’s Ford F-250, and tow charged — utilizing regenerative braking is quicker than Degree 2 charging. Nonetheless, not ones to look the proverbial reward horse within the mouth, the Silvas grabbed a couple of electrons from Optima, leaving the pits with an 80 p.c state of cost.

The staff upped the tempo for the following part, hoping to make it again to predominant pits for an additional cost earlier than heading into the rocks. But it surely was to not be. Their faster progress drained the battery to virtually nothing, and although the staff was so near finishing their lap they may odor the exhaust from their V8 rivals, they determined to not deplete their battery and danger damaging it.

Refueling of any sort, fuel or electrons, should happen within the pits, so the Silvas have been primarily out of the race. The husband and spouse staff needed to wait till the race was completed at 6PM earlier than they could possibly be recovered. 

Sitting in No. 2412 with the chilly wind blowing mud and sand into their faces by means of the open cockpit, the solar dipping beneath the hills to the west, and the chilly night time air setting in, the Silvas couldn’t have been happier.

“I used to be excited that we received to pit 1 and we nonetheless had juice left,” stated Melissa. “We didn’t break, we didn’t get damage — the truck is in an important state. All the things that we’ve carried out is a win. We’re each prepared for it to be subsequent yr.”

We’ll see extra electrified powertrains subsequent yr with a brand new EV spec class. Ten groups have been given a 40 kWh battery from Hypercraft, an electrical motor from Spicer Electrified and a management unit from AEM Electronics. Race organizer Dave Cole will enable groups to construct any chassis round that powertrain, so count on to see some cool hand-built electrical side-by-sides and conventional vehicles subsequent yr.

The TesTen will proceed racing, albeit in short-course rock crawling competitions, which normally final 10-15 miles. Nonetheless, I’ve a sense they’ll be again at Hammers subsequent yr. The couple might add swappable batteries to the TesTen to keep away from the effort of charging within the pits, and I wouldn’t be stunned to see a laptop computer strapped into the rig someplace.

Within the time main as much as the race, all I noticed from the Silvas was absolute grit and willpower by means of the late nights and early mornings, all the time with an upbeat and optimistic perspective. If anybody can get an EV to the end line on the most gnarly off-road race on the planet, it’s these two.