[olivermarks]

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.

[ollie87]

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.

[newnewpdro]

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.

[olivermarks]

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.

[newnewpdro]

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.

[dsfyu404ed]

Tires are consumable so you're unlikely to see monster truck teams adopt anything too exotic for cost reasons unless there's a huge performance improvement to go with it.

[olivermarks]

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