OSCar eO will bring EVs to the Dakar rally (video)

The Dakar is the most grueling race in the world and, while that historic location is no longer the destination, the race itself still serves as the most brutal punishment a car (or bike) can take. If you can cover 5,500 miles across some of the roughest terrain in the world you know you built it right. The R?ga Rally-Raid Team has done just that in the past, and for its next attempt it'll make things more interesting with a series hybrid powertrain. Its car is called the OSCar eO, an EV with enough batteries to make it between 150 and 300km on a charge. However, most Dakar stages are well longer than that, so the car also carries an on-board generator, a Nissan-sourced engine fueled by a 200 liter fuel tank. That's 53 gallons worth of the good stuff to keep this thing going over the kind of terrain you can see in the video below, with regenerative dampers helping to add juice as well. Will the whole contraption make it all the way to Dakar Lima? We're hopeful, but then again we all know how well sand and electronics get along.

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OSCar eO will bring EVs to the Dakar rally (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 12:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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