Will four-wheel drives become electric vehicles too?

Australians love to get out of town and into the rough stuff every now and then, tow a caravan around the country or haul the boat to the beach on the weekends.

And right now those lifestyle pursuits are generally only possible with a dedicated four-wheel drive or a rugged dual-cab ute, which is precisely why the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger have been the most popular new cars sold in Australia for the past five years.

So, will they be battery-powered too? Or will they become automotive ‘dinosaurs’ that survive the imminent electric extinction event?

Firstly, it is almost inevitable that traditional 4x4 off-road wagons like the popular Toyota LandCruiser and its Prado offspring, as well as the Nissan Patrol and others like them, will have to adopt some form of electrification in the near future, most likely with plug-in hybrid powertrains, for them to actually remain on sale over the next decade.

That’s because most mature markets, including here in Australia, are constantly tightening emissions regulations to force car-makers to produce more efficient vehicles in order to reduce pollution in heavily-populated areas.

And models like the Toyota LandCruiser and Nissan Patrol are among the thirstiest vehicles on sale at the moment, owing simply to the fact that they are big and heavy and need large-capacity engines to move them effectively.

So, yes, large 4x4 off-roaders will have to be electrified at some point. Otherwise, they will become extinct.

Exactly when that will happen is a harder point to pin down, as models like the Toyota LandCruiser and Prado and the Nissan Patrol generally have extremely long lifecycles.

The current 200 Series LandCruiser, for example, has been on sale since 2007 and, similarly, the Y62 Patrol was first introduced in 2010.

An all-new 300 Series Toyota LandCruiser is due later in 2021 that is likely to ditch its V8 engine option and feature a smaller-capacity six-cylinder with a plug-in hybrid powertrain option, and this LC300 model is expected to be around for another decade or so.

Nissan, on the other hand, has yet to reveal a firm timeline for the Patrol’s replacement, but development is well underway.

It’s a similar scenario when talking about the next generation of mainstream dual-cab utes, as they too have seven-year-plus lifecycles.

Looking at the most popular models, the Toyota HiLux is less than halfway through its current generation and isn’t likely to be replaced until at least 2025.

Similarly, Nissan has introduced a mid-life facelift for Navara and Isuzu and Mazda have both recently added the co-developed new-generation Isuzu D-MAX and Mazda BT-50 to local showrooms.

Finally, Ford is set to reveal an all-new Ford Ranger in 2022 alongside the Volkswagen Amarok that will share the same fundamental underpinnings.

All that means that we’re unlikely to see a fully-electric – or even a plug-in hybrid – dual-cab ute in Australia from any of the mainstream car-makers until later in the decade. The first could be the new-generation Mitsubishi Triton.

That doesn’t mean there won’t be alternatives from newcomers like Tesla with its retro-futuristic Cybertruck, and from rival American start-up brand Rivian, which is in the final phase of testing its R1T pick-up and R1S four-wheel drive wagon.

Rivian, which has billions of Amazon dollars behind it and recently linked up with Hollywood star Ewan McGregor for his latest adventure series ‘Long Way Up’, has indicated it intends to build right-hand drive variants for sale in Australia.

Among the traditional car-makers, all of them are working on electrified powertrains for their SUVs, including off-road brands such as Jeep and Land Rover.

These will include high-performance flagship versions of models like the Jeep Grand Cherokee, while Land Rover recently announced that it will launch its first pure-electric SUV in 2024 – one of six battery-powered models it will introduce in the next five years.

And, by 2030, there will be an all-electric variant of every model Land Rover produces.

Whatever happens, there’s plenty of pros and cons for four-wheel drives to become electric in the future.

For starters, electric motors are sealed units and therefore aren’t as prone to being affected by dust.

They also produce maximum torque from zero rpm, so are perfect for low-speed crawling and towing.

And, with a motor on each axle (which eliminates the need for driveshafts and complex transfer cases), the computer can provide each individual wheel with the ideal amount of power for optimum traction.

However, there are some big question marks too as electricity and water aren’t the best of friends, so the high-voltage battery packs will need to be properly waterproof.

But the biggie is driving range, and the lack of charging infrastructure off the beaten path that would prevent adventurers from exploring the outback.

Anyway, that’s more than a likely a problem for another decade.