Time to report back after two months of field tests with the 4x4 prototype. What have we learned from our first forays into a new era of next-level off-roading? Driving the prototype is easy. Flying a drone? Not so much. Check out our new blog post to get a flavour of how the world’s first electric Pinzgauer performed when we took it for a spin in the rugged landscape around the AVS workshop.

Much has happened over the past months. To summarise: we’ve moved Project ECARUS from the Middle East to Europe, and from drawing board to field trial. While an expedition shelter and solar system are going onto our 6x6 base vehicle, we've also developed a fully electric 4x4 prototype. A world first, as far as we know. Make sure to check out our new video and get a full recap of what’s been going on at the workshop.

Dr Egon Rudolf, also known as ‘Mister Pinzgauer’, was one of the driving forces at Steyr-Puch, a man who spent his entire working life in the service of the Austrian carmaker. He started out as a graduate at the company’s manufacturing plant in Graz, in 1955, and retired as its director, in 1987. Thanks to an uncanny coincidence of the kind that happens in small towns, I was lucky enough to meet him in person and talk to him about the history of the Pinzgauer and the auto industry itself.

So this is what the first steps of a solar-electric truck conversion look like... At least, that is, when the truck in question is over 35 years old and still needs a full refurb. We wanted to give Project ECARUS™ the best possible starting point, so we had to take it back to bare basics first. Starting from scratch is always a little daunting but we hope this ground work will pay off in the long run. Don’t miss the photo gallery at the end of this post to get a better idea of what we’ve been dealing with!

Project ECARUS™ is based on a 1983 Pinzgauer 712M, a beautiful mechanical wondermachine made in Graz, Austria, by Steyr-Puch. A very popular off-roader in the civil defense industry across the world, it spent its life in Oman – doing what Pinzgauers do best: ride off-road across the least forgiving terrain imaginable.