What we need is a 21st century Land Rover Defender - a simple yet high-tech vehicle that can handle the frontiers of the emerging post-Everything world. This vehicle will need to be lightweight, adaptable, usable, durable and very fuel efficient. I propose that it will be more of a platform than a traditional vehicle -- literally a platform, and a very lightweight platform at that -- with modular add-ons that allow you, the King, to turn it into whatever you want.
I live at a remote ranch community in the mountains of Northern California in the brave year 2038. This is a period of tremendous global conflict. Civil wars and resource wars are raging around the globe. Oil, metals and food are all in high demand and universally rationed, their supplies ever-diminishing as humanity reaches the final end of the Industrial Age and enters the Age of Scarcity at full steam. Climate change, starvation, pollution and ecosystem collapse have wreaked havoc on entire nations and laid waste to immense swaths of land, turning them into poisonous wastelands.
It is in this world that I struggle to survive.
I own and use a 2032 TC6 FVP (Tyco Concept Model 6 Frontier Vehicle Platform). It is essentially a skeletonized, drive-by-wire, 4-wheel electric vehicle with a single-seat open cockpit and a flatbed. You might call it a tractor, or a buggy, of sorts. I have configured its battery pack to hang evenly beneath the flatbed, reducing the vehicle's overall center of gravity. A highly efficient solar ragtop roof covers the entire vehicle, providing trickle power during all daylight hours. There are also 2 portable 12-volt wind turbines onboard, which can be flipped up any time I am stopped to add additional battery-charging ooomph.
My TC6 has a small electric motor in each wheel hub, and airless tires. The battery pack powers the motors, and the motors are "smart" -- that is, they automatically adjust their speed and turn off and on on their own accord, according to the terrain we are traversing and their own energy-saving protocol. The TC6 seamlessly becomes a 1-, 2-, 3- or 4-wheel drive vehicle at its own whim. In fact, it drives semi-autonomously around the entire ranch, going wherever I prompt it, traveling on what it discerns to be the most-tried-and-true routes. The battery pack is charged by the solar ragtop, the wind turbines, regenerative braking, downhill regeneration, and, when I am parked at home, by the 24/7 community pelton wheels in the creek and river.
I do not often travel long distance, as this is my ranch vehicle, so running out of power is not a pressing issue. When I do travel to Hayfork or Eureka though, I have two power options. One is to strip all excess weight off the TC6, wait for a sunny/windy day, and make the trip as-is with charged batteries, at very slow speed. The TC6 is a crawler, very efficient and able to traverse extreme landscapes, and it excels at energy-efficient low speeds. The second option is to attach a small turbo-diesel generator to the flatbed and plug it into the battery pack. Using this method, the TC6 can attain speeds of up to 60 miles per hour. Either way, it is fully capable of driving itself, and responds to my personalized voice commands.
On a day-to-day basis, I use the TC6 to haul tools, feed and people around the ranch as I fix fences, repair roads, feed animals, run security, etc. Generally speaking, the heavier the load, the slower the TC6 moves, as it eeks every possible centavo out of the battery pack. It can traverse extreme slopes, mud, potholes, etc effortlessly. Sometime we affix a wooden bench or two to the flatbed, to accommodate passengers. Sometimes I attach tool boxes, or tow around light farm equipment.
I foresee the possibility that the electrical system might one day fail due to age, faulty components, or an EMP attack. In that case, the TC6 could be stripped of its entire electrical system, and used as a wagon. It could be pulled by a horse, a mule, goats or dogs. It could also be pushed and/or pulled by people. It's that lightweight. The bottom line is this: The TC6 functions well, and at multiple levels, in this fucked up, low-energy world we now live in. Because of its advanced utility, I am generally unburdened by the quest for expensive and scarce liquid fuel, and have watched many lesser vehicles decay around me over the last decade, to be replaced by bicycles, horses and human feet.
I live at a remote ranch community in the mountains of Northern California in the brave year 2038. This is a period of tremendous global conflict. Civil wars and resource wars are raging around the globe. Oil, metals and food are all in high demand and universally rationed, their supplies ever-diminishing as humanity reaches the final end of the Industrial Age and enters the Age of Scarcity at full steam. Climate change, starvation, pollution and ecosystem collapse have wreaked havoc on entire nations and laid waste to immense swaths of land, turning them into poisonous wastelands.
It is in this world that I struggle to survive.
I own and use a 2032 TC6 FVP (Tyco Concept Model 6 Frontier Vehicle Platform). It is essentially a skeletonized, drive-by-wire, 4-wheel electric vehicle with a single-seat open cockpit and a flatbed. You might call it a tractor, or a buggy, of sorts. I have configured its battery pack to hang evenly beneath the flatbed, reducing the vehicle's overall center of gravity. A highly efficient solar ragtop roof covers the entire vehicle, providing trickle power during all daylight hours. There are also 2 portable 12-volt wind turbines onboard, which can be flipped up any time I am stopped to add additional battery-charging ooomph.
My TC6 has a small electric motor in each wheel hub, and airless tires. The battery pack powers the motors, and the motors are "smart" -- that is, they automatically adjust their speed and turn off and on on their own accord, according to the terrain we are traversing and their own energy-saving protocol. The TC6 seamlessly becomes a 1-, 2-, 3- or 4-wheel drive vehicle at its own whim. In fact, it drives semi-autonomously around the entire ranch, going wherever I prompt it, traveling on what it discerns to be the most-tried-and-true routes. The battery pack is charged by the solar ragtop, the wind turbines, regenerative braking, downhill regeneration, and, when I am parked at home, by the 24/7 community pelton wheels in the creek and river.
I do not often travel long distance, as this is my ranch vehicle, so running out of power is not a pressing issue. When I do travel to Hayfork or Eureka though, I have two power options. One is to strip all excess weight off the TC6, wait for a sunny/windy day, and make the trip as-is with charged batteries, at very slow speed. The TC6 is a crawler, very efficient and able to traverse extreme landscapes, and it excels at energy-efficient low speeds. The second option is to attach a small turbo-diesel generator to the flatbed and plug it into the battery pack. Using this method, the TC6 can attain speeds of up to 60 miles per hour. Either way, it is fully capable of driving itself, and responds to my personalized voice commands.
On a day-to-day basis, I use the TC6 to haul tools, feed and people around the ranch as I fix fences, repair roads, feed animals, run security, etc. Generally speaking, the heavier the load, the slower the TC6 moves, as it eeks every possible centavo out of the battery pack. It can traverse extreme slopes, mud, potholes, etc effortlessly. Sometime we affix a wooden bench or two to the flatbed, to accommodate passengers. Sometimes I attach tool boxes, or tow around light farm equipment.
I foresee the possibility that the electrical system might one day fail due to age, faulty components, or an EMP attack. In that case, the TC6 could be stripped of its entire electrical system, and used as a wagon. It could be pulled by a horse, a mule, goats or dogs. It could also be pushed and/or pulled by people. It's that lightweight. The bottom line is this: The TC6 functions well, and at multiple levels, in this fucked up, low-energy world we now live in. Because of its advanced utility, I am generally unburdened by the quest for expensive and scarce liquid fuel, and have watched many lesser vehicles decay around me over the last decade, to be replaced by bicycles, horses and human feet.
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