Fiat Bugster Concept

This is really neat, and before anyone says it's not practical, keep in mind plenty of Dune Buggys are still sold in Brazil. My dad even owns one.

Give it slightly wider tires and AWD, and it would even be real-world practical for that market.

What all I can say FIAT...
I like it. That is one amazing Dune Buggy design. Adding a Electric Power source instead of the common gasoline or diesel motor is innovative and environmentally-friendly for a soft-roader (cars that can drive in gravel, dirt and sand and not intended for rock climbing).

But I think it won't be that efficient when using it as a electric soft-roader. Off-road is where a car is most inefficient, no matter if it runs on gasoline or electric power. Both will drive fine on dirt and gravel, but will use more fuel or electricity doing it. However, sand would be worse on an dune buggy if it ran on electric power alone, as sand beaches are known to be a very loose terrain and will basically drain the electric power just to go up a sand dune.

One solution is that you could make a extended-range electric while keeping to the zero emissions idea. Maybe add a small hydrogen engine to assist the electric motor when the electric power becomes low and also activates when you need the extra power. This could be handy so you can use more power, which will make the car a faster and a more electrically-efficient electric soft-roader while still being a zero-emissions car.

Either way, if it came to the US, I'll have one so I can have fun in the dirt without the emissions of most dune buggies (I rarely will drive on sand anyway since there's no sand beaches where I live). If the FIAT Bugster came in a bright blue, that will be even better of a reason for me to get one.