For the last few years I have been driving around a Kubota Diesel UTV on my farm, its been great and done basically everything I needed. But I recently bought myself another utility terrain vehicle. This one being quite special as its all electric, and by producing my own power on the farm. I can charge it up using solar energy. This is now my second electric vehicle, the first being my Talaria electric bike. But I think this UTV will be a great addition to the farm as well. Using its fast charge option it can be fully topped off in a matter of hours, and should be able to drive many days on a single charge depending on what I do with it.
I ordered this Polaris Kinetic Ultimate last year, glad I was able to get it in about 2 months time. There were none in Virginia so they had to import one from out of state. And then took the company I bought it from another few weeks to add all the accessories I wanted. Eventually I will find more things to add to it, but with the options I got it should be quite capable.
My other UTV is stock, so I had a good idea of what kind of features I wanted in my next vehicle. I got myself things such as a enclosed cabin, side bars for the bed and extra lighting if I need it.
The first day I got it was a cold day, in the 30s with some snow still on the ground. Would be a good test for it in this harsh weather.
Found some logs me and my foreman cut up a few days ago and hauled them back.
I like how I can hang my backpack on the outside of the UTV using a carabiner. Planning on adding more storage bags, but the one I carry around with me goes on well using a basic carabiner.
About an hour into its use outside I saw a snowflake indicator come on the dash. And on the infotainment screen it said "traction battery cold" due to this it would reduce power until it warms up. Hopefully that will not be much of an issue. Honestly I did not notice any reduction in power, though it was my first day with it so hard to know. It drove fine back to the homestead so that is all I care about.
I continued to drive it and the indicator stayed on the whole time, but I did not notice much change in its performance.
One of the annoying things was the bed of the UTV. It is shorter than the Kubota UTV, and the Polaris has a slick surface unlike the bed liner material used on the Kubota. So I found my firewood falling out of the back of the bed quite often, especially on the hills.
I think I am going to need to engineer a drop in bed for it to haul firewood, something a little longer and surface that grips the wood better. Not sure how I will build it yet, I did buy a welding rig so maybe that will be an upcoming project. Otherwise I may build it out of PVC pipes, or a wood frame.
Got the firewood back to the furnace though had to stop twice to pick some sticks that fell out. The side rails help to stack it to weigh it down. But will need something to hold them in place better when its all small sticks.
As the sun goes down I turn on the main lights, unfortunately I cannot use the light bar yet. As a 10amp fuse was installed and it blew out as soon as we turned on the powerful lights. The company I bought it from said I should replace that fuse with a bigger one, though I did not have one on hand so I had to order some. Waiting on a 20 amp to see if that resolves the issue, otherwise the company I bought it from will address the problem.
After driving it for about 2 hours, I really like it. Having an enclosed cab in freezing weather is nice, I do not have a heater inside. But I do not think its worth getting the one offered by Polaris. If need be I can use a plug in one that goes into the accessory socket. Will just have to keep it low wattage not to blow that fuse too.. lol
So happy to have that windscreen when the sun went down and got even colder outside. I paired up my bluetooth on my phone to the infotainment center on the dash. I can listen to podcast, or music on my phone. I can also listen to the radio but will almost never use that unless my phone is acting up or something. I can also switch the screen to a GPS navigation, or a dash with telemetry from the UTV.
Brought it back into my workshop for the night. I keep it parked next to my 240V outlet for fast charging. And my wood furnace heaters keep it the workshop warm at night. Usually above 50F so hopefully thats enough to keep the batteries charging. If not I can turn on those fans and blow hot air directly on to the UTV which will be a good enough fix.
The next day I go pick up my trashcan, a more basic task. But works great for that too.
Using the trailer hitch, I can pull it along at low speed.
Looking forward to putting many hours into driving this around. Feels so good to know it will run on solar power. To make the most of it, I will plan on charging it in the late morning once the sun is hitting the panels. That way I will pull less from the grid.
If I charged at night I would quickly go through the battery for the workshop and dip into grid power. But by charging during the day, I am pretty confident array B will be able to handle the load 100% when the sun is fully out.
Will do another post talking about the UTVs capabilities in more detail soon, but for right now I am just getting to know it.