Lets see what's more likely, having an accident requiring the fire department to save you, or a zombie apocalypse.
Look, a perfect car for an unrealistic situation! ✨
These chodes want a bulletproof pickup but it's easier to just drive a normal car so no one hates you enough to shoot at you.
what if we combined the benefits of a car with the police security of being bullet proof?
Shhh. Don't prompt them to reevaluate their risk management strategies.
Electric cars are a very bad choice as an apocalyptic vehicle because they require a working power grid. If you have a reliable electrical connection, its not the apocalypse.
A gas or diesel car or truck is a better choice because the fuel is a liquid. You can store, stockpile, and siphon it. The same cannot be done with electricity.
But the value of a car is limited. You can escape a local crisis. But for anything widespread, there would be little benefit to high speed travel. Anywhere you go will still be the apocalypse.
Build community. Work together with others locally. That's how humans have survived throughout most of history and its a much better survival strategy than a mad max cosplay.
This is a weird argument considering that gas and Diesel absolutely go bad over time, and unlike electricity you can't exactly make more of them.
I mean you can set up solar panels, a water wheel, or Wind Turbine for off grid generation. And thus you can still charge an EV and many other things. With smaller or moderate solar setups it's probably not going to charge super fast but you could still charge it.
Compare that to gas and Diesel. It may seem better since you just pour it in the tank and it works without hours or days of charging. But eventually it's going to go bad, and it's going to start going bad everywhere in your own stockpile, in the gas stations and more isn't being drilled and refined.
Diesels are slightly better than gasoline engines since you can convert them to run them off different oils, there really isn't anything else you can run a gasoline engine off. But those are also finite, and even though some of them you can make yourself it's actually more work to produce enough vegetable oil to fuel a diesel engine then it is to use solar or wind to charge a battery. Even at abysmally slow speeds.
And actually ironically Diesel and gasoline have these same issues even outside of apocalyptic settings. If there was an economic crisis (or just some idiot in power) which stopped drilling and refining from happening then Diesel and gas will run out and those Diesel and gasoline cars are going to do nobody any good.
The real MVP of vehicles in the zombie apocalypse (and probably most other apocalypses) is a bike...
Fully agree on building community to avoid even getting into that position though.
Golf cart, bike pedals and an alternator. Quiet easy to fix, basically every car uses a battery so you can add or remove range as needed. They aren't fast but with knobbies they'll get over most stuff eventually.
Depends on the style of zombie. Slow dumb ones, sure. Fast predator-like ones, you're screwed.
You can only store gasoline for half a year. Electricity can be generated of grid if you have solar and the required alternators/converters.
Bikes are still the best for such situations.
You can store gas longer than that. Most 4cycles won't bat an eye unless that gas was stored in it's fuel system north of the tank. I'm 1.5yr into a 5gal tank that's only been "refueled" by syphoning between winter and summer equipment.
Gasoline and diesel expire in less than a year.
In the present day, there are plenty of people living “off grid” powering their homes and EVs.
Without a power grid, electricity can still be generated with solar panels or by spinning a turbine (wind, hydro, etc)
Electricity can be stored in batteries that will last years. With the right skills, it is also technically possible to DIY a lead acid battery.
I’d argue that getting places quickly is a substantial advantage in survival. Travelling is dangerous, people used to die all the time on multi-day journeys. Being able to travel quickly expands that range of available resources, and a vehicle provides the means to move those resources.
Depends how far into the apocalypse we are. Has enough time passed that some people have organized to clear the roads (especially tunnels and other difficult passes) of stalled vehicles? If not the car isn’t going to be very useful whereas you could carry a bike and stow it reasonably quickly if you hear a sketchy group of travelers down the way.
If you’re the group clearing the roads you definitely want some powered equipment.
The thing is, these people love to think about their apocalypse fantasies where they vroom away from a pack of zombies in their car while shooting them from the window, rather than making a walled village and farming and breeding your neighbors backyard chickens for eggs.
they require a working power grid
They require some solar panels. Distributing fossils does require infrastructure though.
That said, the best vehicle for the apocalypse is a bicycle.
'some'
Can't tell if you are being wilfully obtuse. Look at the math: https://www.cnet.com/home/energy-and-utilities/calculate-how-many-solar-panels-you-need-to-charge-your-ev/
A small ioniq 6 requires 6 solar panels dedicated to the car. And that assumes charging through the day. Want to charge at night? Now you need a decent battery.
F-150? Now you need 12 panels. And a bigger battery. Plus your home energy needs, throw on a few more panels for that.
I'm frustrated by generic appeal to solar without consideration for the realities of same.
Though I completely agree with your bike comment.
Tbh I don't think any kind of normal car is going to be a good "apocalypse vehicle". EVs might rely on electrical infrastructure, but gas vehicles ultimately rely on fuel refining and extraction infrastructure, making fueling them in the long run more difficult than an EV (since electricity isn't really that difficult to make, it might be unreasonable for a normal person unless they're some kind of hobbyist electrician and carpenter with a river next door or something, but a whole community could probably cobble together a small amount of generation capacity with enough motivation). Plus, any car made today is going to rely on complex components like computers, and most will require maintained paved roads.
What you honestly want, I would think, would be like a bicycle or something, maybe a robust cargo bike if possible, and maybe with the tires swapped for some that handle dirt better. Or if it must be something motorized
The ideal one would probably be an EV that can handle off-roading, since you can charge an EV with Solar or a Generator, but like you said Gas infrastructure isn't something that can be relied on if the world is ending, or the economy is shot (takes much less to derail the petroleum industry than the apocalypse, anyone who was alive in America in the 70s can attest to that).
I like what you said though about a bike and that probably would be the go to thing for most applications. Since even though you can charge an EV from solar or Generator (I'm assuming at Level 1 because Level 2 is extremely intense) it'll take a long time and be a lot of effort. So the EV would probably only be for things you can't do with a Bike like moving things that are too heavy or bulky to carry in a cargo bike.
It’s easier to generate electricity during a zombie apocalypse than to pump up oil and refine it into gasoline. Let alone if you have to actually prospect for oil and drill an oil well.
So many ways to easily create and store energy using an alternator and some lead batteries. You can make a windmill, use a stream and a watermill, basically anything you can make rotate can be used as an energy source.
Who's making all this gas? Electricity can be generated by renewable sources, you don't need a working power grid. Hell, it can also be generated by gas, if you have a generator.
Batteries don't last forever, no, but they last a lot longer than whatever small amount of gas is local to you.
I think people have this unchallenged fantasy that they can stockpile Gas and it'll just last forever but it won't. Gasoline (yes Diesel too) is volatile and goes bad over time as the volatiles evaoprate, or as it oxidizes. Batteries if well taken care of can last for years, decades even. They are more sustainable long term than Gasoline is and ever will be.
An ev car would be far better choice... just tow a trailer with solar panels. Once fuel reserves dries up, you're boned unless you managed to modifey the engine to run on woodgas.
If solar panels were insanely more efficient imagine a EV that's self powered. Battery would only be needed at night and cloudy days.
i'm on a solar power setup right now and just clouds don't make a huge difference. if it's like raining or storming, yeah, but just overcast? not really much of an issue.
Maybe build partnerships with some key communities abroad too so if something goes down in one place you can shift to an unaffected area where you already know and trust people. International solidarity prepping.
Petrol has a shelf life of up to 6 months and diesel up to 12 months if properly stored, so ev is much better overall.
Just put a generator in your trunk and use fuel for as long as it hasn't gone bad.
its a perfect car for the apocalypse, so long as you have a functional electricity generator compatible with tesla plugs
and also that you cover it when it rains (it has no coating so it rusts in the rain)
and also that the apocalypse happens on even asphalt surfaces (it gets stuck in mud)
and also that you have access to a tesla-certified repair shop
and also that your onboard computer doesn’t break (if it breaks the whole truck can’t move)
And then you have to hope the accelerator doesn't get stuck and it doesn't spontaneously combust and lock all the doors.
Tbf the rust is cosmetic damage only
The rust, sure; but the rain seeping down and pooling in the frame which has no drain holes, is not. Electronics don't like sitting in pools of water long term.
Maybe nothing can get in, but there's a lot the truck can't get out of too
Functioning handles are a premium feature, sorry
Do they have a special universal key to the armored money trucks like the postal service does for mailboxes? Asking for a friend
Its alway zombie protection for these do KS, always. Yet their telling on themselves. To their eyes zombies are the rest of humanity. Nameless, mindless soulless NPCs who aren't wealthy enough to be full humans with ridiculous status symbol "trucks". When they hear phrases like "eat the rich" and "free Luigi" they see themsleves as needing protection.
Which frankly, I find comforting.
You're giving them too much credit. Elon doesnt care, zombies make his brain go brrrrr so he roleplays. That's it.
But if they tug on the door, it'll come clean off.
Just throw a small, round ball at it. That seems to shatter it pretty quickly.
You can't save anyone with this method, but you sure can fuck up the car with it.
Its for the best, zombies actually want to eat someone with brains.
Zombies are inherently magic, so a Zombie with the ability to magically disintegrate cybertrucks is as plausible as a regular Zombie.
It's terrible for real emergencies but great for fictional ones!
Who should I run from? The zombies, or the nazis?
You don't, because they will persist and hunt you without end. Correct answer is to aggressively seek and destroy them both without mercy, or they will keep coming back. Stop being a limp-dick pacifist because, so far, it hasn't stopped Nazis from returning.
The Nazi zombies
Bros gonna buy a depreciating asset and hope zombies happen before all the value is gone. Truly based and elon-pilled
Good job there are never likely to be more than 12 zombies in an apocalypse
each zombie gets ONE attack per vehicle, them's the rules
The door skins are just held by a cheap glue, tho. Pretty sure it's easy enough to rip that off and throw a grenade in there.
Too much work for too little reward.
