RTEV, the Ruff & Tuff Electric Vehicle company, is not the first to realize that a battery-powered ATV could be a good seller (we spoke with Electric Vehicle Systems about their ATEV last year). RTEV is now ready to expand into the electric recreational vehicles market with three models - the Cruiser, the 4-wheel drive Hunter, and the Workman - and has high hopes for more EVs down the road.

RTEV's three current models are all Low Speed Vehicles, which means they're OK going 25 mph on roads designated with 35 mph speed limits. Ruff & Tuff sold about 1,000 vehicles last year and will introduce electric scooters and bicycles (branded with the Wheego name) later this year. 2009 should see car-shaped Ruff & Tuff NEVs hit the market and the company is talking about "full-size, full-speed electric vehicles" in 2010. Currently, RTEV vehicles use dry cell sealed (AGM) batteries that can move the vehicles about 70 miles between charges. Check out a video of the Hunter electric ATV in action and see more details on the currently-available LSVs after the break.

The Record Bee caught up with the Mythbusters (Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman) and crew at the Lake County's fairgrounds and Infineon Raceway in Sonoma Wednesday. What are the Mythbusters busting? According to the show's producer, they are filming an episode, to air next season, on busting the myth that electric cars are slow. The episode will include races between electric and gas; ATVs, go-carts and cars. Here is MythBusters Associate Producer Eric Haven talking about the episode:

A lot of people have a pre-conception that electric vehicles are slower than gas-powered vehicles. We're going to bust that myth. ... Today we're testing ATV's. We have a gas-powered one and an electric one. Tomorrow it's go-carts, and then cars.

The Record Bee also writes the Mythbusters tried to get a gas- and electric-powered Polaris ATV but did not mention the type of car or go-cart. Full disclosure, Jamie Hyneman help develop an electric ATV and I have not been too positive on the show in several articles.

Editor's note: we can bust this myth right now by talking to Michael Kadie or Dennis "Kilowatt" Berube or Gale Banks or ...
.

Related:

• Mythbuster Jamie Hyneman helps develop electric Model One ATV
• Mistakes in the Mythbusters' episode on fuel economy devices
• Mythbusters: drafting 10 feet behind a big rig will improve mileage 39 percent
• Mythbusters' mistakes in AC vs windows down episode
• Would a superhero drive a Prius? We're not sure, but the Mythbusters do!
• NY Times writes about the history of electric drag racing

[Source: Record Bee]

One of the benefits of an electric motor powering an ATV, says Ken Stasiek, the national sales manager of Electric Vehicle Systems (EVS), is that you can sneak up on wild game easier. That's a benefit to hunters. Police forces, too, can benefit from the silence because it allows for easier radio communication, even when driving. I spoke with Stasiek at EVS23 this past week, and he gave AutoblogGreen a rundown on his company's new ATEV 28 (All-Terrain Electric Vehicle). The vehicles were released just last week.

While there might be a lot of benefits to an electric ATV, the engineers were not able to offer all the goodies they had hoped for. The ATEV 28 has a 35 mph top speed and a maximum range of 25 miles on a flat surface. These numbers don't meet the goals the company had set for the ATV (42 mph top speed and a 30 mile range, numbers that are still advertised on the company's website), but there's still a lot to like about this battery-powered ATV.

Check out my video interview with Stasiek and see the ATEV in action after the break.