I prefer to hoof it (walk) around my property as I see more native wildlife that way and Niki The Wonder Dog and I get some much needed exercise to boot; but at times it's impractical.

When I need to haul tools or get somewhere quick, I use a 125cc ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) to zap around. It's nothing flash and probably wouldn't be the best choice for a real working farm, but it does the job for me.

But I hate the noise - noise pollution is severely underrated environmental issue, a pet peeve of mine and I really don't like contributing to it. I chose a 4 stroke 125cc partly to try and minimize the amount of noise generated; but it means I miss out on the extra grunt of a bigger ATV.

Pollution is another major issue as most gas powered ATV's aren't really big on emission control systems. I can't remember where I read the information, but supposedly ATV's and dirt bikes in general crank out 6x the emissions  (cc for cc) as your average family car.

Overall, ATV's aren't all that environmentally friendly - especially the way some recreational riders use them; but they are a very valuable tool on a farm.

A solution is the electric ATV. These have been available for a while, but when I last looked a couple of years ago they were around the USD $30,000 mark and were still quite limited in what they could do in terms of real work.

I was looking at electric ATV's again today and noticed things have really changed. The Chinese are starting to produce very cheap electric ATV's, but the quality is probably a bit iffy at this stage. 

Then I came across the American-built E-Force ATV and started drooling. The makers (EVS - Electric Vehicle Systems) say the E-Forces's Torque On Demand electric drive system has more than three times the torque of similar sized gas-powered ATVs. 

EVS E-Force Electric ATV

As to what "similar" means, I really don't know much about ATV's or engines generally, but I'm guessing based on the horsepower, the E-Force ATV would be the equivalent to a 300cc gas engine.

The Torque On Demand is controlled from the ATV's digital dashboard. There's what they refer to as the "grannie" mode for just cruising along, then torque levels can be nudged up incrementally for more serious work (or ahem, "fun"). 

Powered by a 72 volt brush DC motor and producing up to 28HP, the E-Force stores charge in 6 x 12V-50AH SLA AGM deep cycle batteries. It takes only 6 hours to fully charge from mains power and I guess it could be rigged to charge via solar panels for a truly clean ride; although the charge times would be far longer using just a couple of panels.

Bear in mind just because a vehicle is electric, it doesn't make it green - that depends on how the power you use to recharge it is sourced; e.g coal fired power generation is pretty filthy and even so called "clean coal" isn't as clean as renewable energy. However, with many electricity providers now offering green power options, you can get a more environmentally friendly charge even if you don't have a solar power system.

The E-Force has a maximum top speed of 35 miles per hour and a maximum range of 25 miles - so more suited to small farms. An interesting add-on for the E-Force is a generator tray. With a generator mounted on the back, this can provide power in the field for tools and also act as a charger for the ATV if your battery runs out in the middle of a paddock. 

It can carry 66 lbs front on the front rack and 99 lbs on the rear. Towing capacity is a very impressive 1,000 lbs.

Oh, and judging by the video on the manufacturer's site, it's incredibly quiet!

Unlike my current ATV which I can push if need be (it's under 200 lbs), the E-Force is very heavy - around 824 lbs. Based on my own deep cycle battery for my mobile solar power system, I'm guessing the batteries in the E-Force account for around 150 - 200 lbs of that weight. It's a bit of a concern if it should roll on you and it also means a lot of the juice is spent on hauling its own batteries, but the extra weight can be very useful in some applications and would help with stability.

Given the current focus on developing batteries for electric cars, maybe it won't be too long before we'll see lightweight batteries for ATV's as well.

The cost? I've seen the E-Force for as low as USD $6,600. That's still far from cheap, but a big drop from the $30,000 I had seen for similar ATV's not so long ago and is getting very close to the price of a good quality gas-powered ATV in the 300 - 400 cc range. If it's bought for work purposes, then it's a tax deductible item.

Update: December 31, 2009

Here's another Electric ATV I came across, the Zap Dude:

Zap Dude Electric ATV

The Zap Dude has fairly similar range and speed as the E-Force according to Zap, but has a 48V permanent-magnet Brush DC Motor and a 65aH Absorbed Glass Matt (AGM) Lead Acid battery. While that means a far lighter ATV, it's also far less storage capacity - so how it achieves the same sort range and speed I have no idea - I think the key term here is "up to".  Anyway, it's another good looking electric ATV that seems to be more than just a show-pony and at USD $5,495, will be over a thousand bucks less than the E-Force when it becomes available in January.

Do you own an electric ATV; an E-Force or another type? I would be interested in hearing your experiences, recommended models etc. Please add your reviews, feedback and comments below.