Are Electric ATVs the Future?

Name: Are Electric ATVs the Future?
Uploaded: 2025-11-10T17:01:00+00:00
Duration: 10 min 8 s
Channel: UTV Driver

UTV Driver

3 hours ago

ATVs have been around for decades, coming before modern UTVs we know and love. But in recent years, they've fallen into the shadow of those very UTVs. So, what's the future for ATVs? Is it electric? To find out, we tested the 2026 Can-Am Outlander Electric! As a bonus, we got some seat time on the 2026 Outlander 6x6!

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Transcript

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00:00Woo-hoo!

00:02Hey, America!

00:03Anders T. Carlson from UTV Driver here.

00:05Questions for you.

00:06What did you grow up dreaming of riding?

00:07What's the gateway drug for UTVs?

00:09What's twice as much fun as a dirt bike in terms of number and wheels?

00:12The answer to all these questions is ATV.

00:15Like most of you, we got started on smaller stuff like four-wheelers, specifically ATVs.

00:20No matter how much time we spend behind the wheel, we still love grabbing handlebars and getting sideways on narrow trails and single tracks.

00:27Some say the peak ATV years are long gone, no more banshees or quadzillas or smoky two-strokes with swing arms and such.

00:33Unless you're slogging it out in a mud hole, ATVs are all about work, with the exception of some hunting and some light trail rides.

00:40And while it's true, the ATV category has gotten a lot more technologically advanced and responsible,

00:45there's still exciting things happening, courtesy of our neighbors to the north.

00:48Can-Am recently released their 2026 model ATV lineup, and for those who remember the glory days of ATVs, they're back, in a way we can explain.

00:56Now, there's 34 individual ATV models and trims in Can-Am's portfolio, but we're going to talk about the one that everyone is talking about.

01:03Can-Am Outlander Electric. It's the first mass-produced electric ATV, and it absolutely rips.

01:09It's a bold bet, given skepticism around EVs and LEVs. On paper, critics won't see much to change their mind.

01:1547 horsepower, up to 50 miles of range if you drive responsibly.

01:18915 pounds, an 8.9 kilowatt capacity liquid-cooled battery, and 3-level regen braking.

01:24It's claimed it can charge from 20% to 80% in just 50 minutes with level 2, and I could just keep shoveling specs at you BUTT.

01:31To properly appreciate what the Outlander Electric brings, you just have to plant your butt on the seat and hit the throttle.

01:36This is old news to the EV faithful, but if you've never ridden anything electric, it's like a brain transplant.

01:41You can hear things you've never heard before. You hear what tires sound like, crunching on twigs. You hear branches brushing against bodywork.

01:48You can actually hear suspension doing whatever the word is that suspension does. Suspending?

01:54If you were an American person who loves hunting, you'd have to be a fool to not understand what this machine means.

01:58It's swift, silent, and potentially deadly, if you're gamer. Dear.

02:02Speaking of swift, quick doesn't begin to describe the Outlander Electric. It's one of the quickest ATVs we've ever ridden.

02:08Peak torque is 53 feet-pound, and it's available at all times, all the time.

02:12Unless you're on groomed trails, just stay in standard mode. Or even work mode if you've got, uh, delicate nerves.

02:18The Outlander Electric is ostensibly about work, tasks, and challenges.

02:21Got a speed limiter and a trick reverse function. It's designed for grooming horse corrals, or shoveling snow, or any other work you can think of.

02:28The website references stuff about work five times and fun zero times, but they included a sport mode for a reason.

02:34Because this thing is fun, fun, fun. Fun cubed?

02:38All the specs, numbers, and stats don't mean anything. 47 horsepower, whatever torque number I mentioned, 8.9 kilowatt this,

02:4412 inches of ground clearance, 9 in front, 12 in back, 10, I'm sorry. The list goes on.

02:50They just stay what the Outlander Electric is. You have to climb on board to understand what Outlander Electric does.

02:55You might think the off-road category is the last place on Earth where electric vehicles would be relevant, never mind welcome.

03:00But Can-Am did some homework. They claim the average mid-horsepower utility ATV rider uses an average of 19 miles a day.

03:07Keep in mind that the Outlander Electric is technically a mid-horsepower ATV.

03:11So the conservative range estimate of 50 miles, or 30-35 with fun riding, suddenly makes sense.

03:16The range anxiety of road-going vehicles makes sense, but in this and many other off-road use cases, it's not much of an issue.

03:22In the case of dirt bikes, two things matter. Does it rip, and can it do a full session of ripping?

03:27The answer here is yes and yes. The Outlander Electric most likely will check both boxes for you.

03:32If, like most people, you don't have a Level 2 charger, it's just a matter of plugging in before you call it a night.

03:37Combined with the obvious benefits for hunters, the case for an electric ATV is pretty compelling.

03:42The biggest barrier to LEVs? Maybe it's you.

03:44If you like hugging trees and like electric stuff because it's somewhat better than internal combustion, great.

03:49If you're not into relations with trees and don't put much stock into the benefits of EVs, also great.

03:54But if you like arm-ripping torque and power and like the idea of sneaking up on wild game, we are all set here.

04:00Now to the matter of payment. The base Outlander Electric starts at a reasonable $12,999 MSRP.

04:06The Outlander Electric Max starts at $14,299.

04:10For the tech specs and sheer fun, this is a great price point.

04:13An Outlander DPS 850 starts at $12,799.

04:17And while it gets 82 ponies, the 66 feet-pound of torque is close to the electrics.

04:21And it's no contest when it comes to immediate power.

04:24Plus, they still both have the same tow rating.

04:26Even LEV skeptics might think twice before pulling the lever.

04:29And it's one more reason to put opinions and long-held beliefs aside and plant your butt on one.

04:34Go ahead. Just hit the thumb throttle once. It might change your mind.

04:37Hey, America. Coming at you from Jackson Hole.

04:40Today, we have taken a ride on the Can-Am Outlander Electric.

04:43And let me tell you, I am out of breath. Not only because it is almost 7,000 feet high here in Jackson Hole, but because this thing has literally took my breath away.

04:53And we've had so much fun on various Can-Am rigs that I have actually exhausted the batteries on every other camera I have.

05:01So that's why I'm doing this on an iPhone.

05:03But that is my commitment to you, power sports journalists, readers.

05:08Anyway, this thing is so much fun.

05:10So the first thing you are going to do is you are going to make sure that there is not a hellacious amount of power waiting to be silently unleashed in the wrong direction.

05:18So first of all, here we've got a really classic kill switch. Right now it's off.

05:23We're going to turn it to on because we obviously want things to go on.

05:27Then what you do, go back over to the screen right here.

05:31First you hit this button right there. This unlocks and unawakens everything.

05:36All right. And when you do there, you have a bunch of legalese that you've got to say yes to.

05:41Go right here, hit okay, because it's going to be okay.

05:45All right. There we go. And then we got this screen right here.

05:48So now you're going to see the little P in the lower left right there and down here.

05:53Well, we're in park. Now we're in high. Now we're in neutral and now we're in low.

05:58Now the interesting thing that this is an electric motor, so it can reverse polarity.

06:03So you don't see any sort of like reverse thing there, do you?

06:06Well, that's because there is a little trick to turn that D into an R.

06:11So what you do is you go back here to the power button, the most powerful of the buttons that have power and whatnot.

06:19And you press it for a millisecond, one, two, and then you hear a beep.

06:25And now you are in reverse.

06:27This is a really cool feature is that you can actually engage reverse, even if you're still moving forward,

06:31as long as your thumb is not on the throttle.

06:33This is really a, this is a fabulous, awesome, wonderful thing.

06:38If you happen to live in Northern Climes, close to where obviously Can-Am's BRP headquarters is,

06:44if you like to shovel snow or put a plow on it or do any sort of other kind of work,

06:49this is something that is a game changer.

06:51Not having to go back and fiddle with this thing back and forth, back and forth, back and forth,

06:56while you are clearing your driveway of snow.

06:59So, and then we go over here and we're going to see here is the diff.

07:03Here is, uh, up is four wheel drive.

07:06Oh no, that's a lock in differential.

07:07Sorry.

07:08Anyway, you go down back down and then you have, well, I'm going to figure this out.

07:12Actually, no, that's four wheel drive.

07:13That's rear wheel drive.

07:14Real wheel drive is really fun for hooning.

07:17Uh, it's really great for, uh, dirt drifting.

07:20Yes.

07:21That's actually technically a sport dirt drifting.

07:23Look it up.

07:24Here, and you can get into various ride modes that you're going to see on your screen right

07:28here.

07:29You got, now we're in sports and then you go back over here, like here.

07:34And we're going to do that again here.

07:36You got to be quick on the draw here.

07:37So then you go down and that is normal and work.

07:42I got to tell you, man, I was spending a little time in sports.

07:44Uh, this here, uh, from throttle was a little twitchy.

07:48It was kind of like operating a chainsaw with a light switch.

07:51It was pretty incredible.

07:52But heading back down, if you go back down to, down to normal, actually kind of was nicer.

07:58It sort of made things a little bit more manageable, a little less twitchy.

08:00I'm not going to lie.

08:01I'm kind of an expert at riding ATVs, sort of, not really.

08:05Anyway, I found that normal was really just a fantastic balance between response and control

08:12and, and, and, and really kind of like kind of pulling back on the throttle a little bit.

08:17You still got plenty of throttle and plenty of mojo for working up hills and dirt.

08:20And then the other really cool thing that you can do is here is right here.

08:24You can fiddle right there.

08:25See, you can fiddle with the regen.

08:27So you can have it on max, you can have it on medium, and you can have it on minimum.

08:31And anyone who knows electric stuff knows that a, uh, regen is a way of reclaiming, uh, some power, um, as your, as the engine sort of slows down.

08:40It also has, uh, the benefits of engine braking.

08:42It was really cool going into turns.

08:44Uh, I had it on max mostly because I'm being, uh, Mr. Careful and I don't want to destroy a press rig, especially in the day that, uh, it's coming out.

08:51And, uh, it was really fun.

08:53It actually kind of helped like dive into corners and it kind of like induced this lovely sort of like brief, like four wheel drift that was kind of different than, uh, than the brake action.

09:01Actually, you end up really not having to use the brakes like at all.

09:04But this rig right here is, it's kind of changing stuff.

09:07People don't really care much for electric stuff.

09:09This ATV might change your mind.

09:11On paper, this thing has, I want to say 50 horsepower.

09:15And if you told me that this thing had 80 horsepower or 90 horsepower or a hundred horsepower or 120 horsepower, I would actually believe you because this thing has monster torque.

09:26The funny thing about horsepower is that horse, it really doesn't matter how much this thing is kind of a game changer in the sense that this thing might have only 50 ponies, but they're 50 ponies you can put to the ground at any given moment in time.

09:38And that's what makes it so remarkable and so unique.

09:40Honestly, it feels like it has twice as many ponies galloping around in that, uh, in that battery.

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10:05You're welcome, America.

10:06You're welcome, America.

10:07You're welcome, America.