Shandoka: What is a Pinzgauer?

At the top of Ingram Falls at Telluride, Colorado: The most exposed and treacherous off-road route in the lower 48 states is the infamous "Steps" of Black Bear Pass. Telluride Offroad Adventures utilizes the Swiss military Pinzgauer, ca. 1974 to give adventurous visitors the heart-thumping ride of a lifetime. Join Shandoka electric conversions as we transform this amazing vehicle to an all-electric, zero emission example of the clean energy revolution!

[This is a gasoline powered Pinzgauer in the video. This is provided as video on our website www.shandoka.com for those who want to know "What is a Pinzgauer?"]

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• electric conversion
• pinzgauer
• telluride
• offroad
• adventures
• shandoka
• black bear pass
• colorado
• steps
• travel log

[meater1111]

("3 hours to climb the 8 miles to the top")--What do you anticipate your run time (or range) on batteries? Or if you're going for the stealth factor, would a nice, quiet Honda generator supply sufficient Watts? You will answer the age old question: is it my engine or all those gears that make my Pinz noisy?

[ShandokaVideo]

@meater1111 With a payload of 2000 lbs, the Pinzgauer is capable of having over a 7 hour run time with two people, perhaps four. But for tour purposes we need to maintain ridership at 8 passengers with driver, and preferable also maintaining complete front-passenger position. But, if you are willing to compromise cargo and passenger space for range, we can build a machine that will run for an entire day in the backcountry.

[meater1111]

Electric powered? Now you know why you see them driving down hill, not up!

[ShandokaVideo]

@meater1111 -- Basic geography sort of dictates you drive up before you go down... But most naysayers tend to miss obvious truths like that...

[J005t]

Could you please tell us more about the electric convertion? how's the millage? the weight etc.

[ShandokaVideo]

@J005t This video is of the design vehicle, a 1974 Pinzgauer. It is supplied stock with an 87-HP air cooled gasoline engine, as operating here. Once converted, the electric motor has twice the stock horsepower and matches the peak torque. However, thanks to the availability of full torque from first motion to full speed we will be improving the performance. Time is the factor here: it takes 3 hours to climb the 8 miles to the top. Weight is heavy, with redundant military-spec Li-Ion batteries.

[gawker8750]

@meater1111

The electric motor has almost twice the horsepower as the stock gas engine btw...