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by JulianMorrison 2326 days ago
They will fight each other at monster truck rallies. "Team Cyber" and "Team Hummer" shirts will sell out. Many corn dogs will be eaten.
1 comments

I would gleefully attend an all-ev monster truck rally.
Electric power is well suited to driving the huge wheels of a 4x4 monster truck, great low end torque and wide power band. The problem might be battery weight - monster trucks are basically lightweight space frames with low unsprung weight pushed by a big block V8 engine with a flimsy fiberglass body over the top of it all.
Battery pack might be better really, you could move the centre of gravity slightly lower than the fuel tank and engine on a ICE version.
With how massive the wheels and tires are, maybe hub motors with batteries packed in their centers could work. I don't get the impression that monster trucks strive to minimize unsprung weight, the tires are wrecking balls.
https://youtu.be/OumQxxO8v1M <- 2014 EV monster truck

You wouldn't need huge battery life for a 15 minute performance, so shaving off battery weight might just work. What most people go to see is airborne jumps rather than crushing things hence need for low weight.

IIRC the rubber tires weigh 1000+lbs each, I wonder if the tires could be implemented differently using lightweight materials shifting their weight budget into hubmotor+battery.
It's the weight of the batteries to drive that sort of power compared to ICE that would be the issue, not location. Would be an interesting experiment