Introducing EXOVAN

E X O V A N
by Tellurian Motors

At this very early stage, there are no images of this concept to share. As unique as its appearance will be, however, there will still be many features to explain -- so let's begin...


EXOVAN is so named because it is a van with an external frame, or 'exoframe'. An exoframe is a sort of evolution of an external rollcage. If you're building a vehicle that is meant to have such protection, as desert racers and rock crawlers have learned, it makes sense to design and engineer it right in, instead of adding it later.

Now you know -- this concept is a go-anywhere vehicle, one large enough to carry several people and their stuff. EXOVAN will have full bodywork within the frame, intersected by a few crossmembers. The interior bracing will be carefully placed, so as not to interfere with cargo and passengers.

For maximum mobility, EXOVAN will have four rubber tracks instead of conventional wheels and tires. A company called Mattracks makes these. They're designed to provide traction where even the biggest and most aggressively-tread tires will fail. As a side effect of their larger footprint, they don't tear up the soil as much as tires do, which is beneficial to the environment.

Mattracks is gearing up to produce the first vehicle designed specifically to use their track system, a small side-by-side 2-passenger off-roader called the Gladiator. It should be available in 2008. I didn't know about the Gladiator when I conceived EXOVAN, but was excited rather than upset to learn that it also has an exoskeletal frame as well as another feature important for serious off-roading -- four-track steer.

Few details have surfaced about the Gladiator. I don't know whether its four-track steering is constant, with the rears always turning opposite the fronts, but EXOVAN's is not. Just like the systems on monster trucks, EXOVAN's rear steer will be operated by a lever and can be turned in the same direction as the fronts if the driver so chooses. Unlike monster trucks, however, EXOVAN will employ a speed-sensitive lockout for the rear steer to prevent rollovers that could be caused by turning too sharply out on the highway.

Rollovers are something to be expected in off-roading, and they are indeed the main reason for this concept's exoframe. To help keep it from becoming stuck on its side or roof, much of EXOVAN's steel frame tubing will be mandrel-bent into graceful curves. Conversely, its rubber tracks will help put it back on its feet after a full rollover or when set right (with help from winches mounted front and rear, which will also be quite useful for rescuing other vehicles).

To help reduce damage, the exoframe will be covered in a material used for truck bed lining. Since a certain amount of damage can be expected, sections of the frame will be secured with bolts rather than welds, to be more easily removed for repair or replacement. For much the same reason, all body and glass panels on EXOVAN will be flat. Ease of repair can become an important feature in remote locations, after all.

Ground clearance also being very important, EXOVAN will employ a long-travel airbag suspension, adjustable to clear low overhead obstacles.

Since an adjustable airbag suspension requires an on-board air compressor, we might as well put it to other use. With no tires to air up and down, that use will be the pneumatic operation of fold-down steps incorporated into the lower halves of the hatches. The upper (glass) halves are electrically operated, sliding up between the roof and the exoframe, and can be left open while the vehicle is in motion.

In case of electrical and/or pneumatic failure, limited access can still be had through these portals, but one may rather use the conventional manual double doors at the rear. EXOVAN has three step hatches, one on each side and -- this is very unconventional -- one on the front.

The front hatch is in the middle, requiring a gap in the front of the exoframe. I'm quite prepared for this to be received as a controversial feature. If it is deemed necessary, EXOVAN can be redesigned with conventional front-hinged doors for the driver and forward passenger.


For a long time, I've wanted a Steyr-Daimler-Puch Pinzgauer 710K. When I learned about Mattracks, well of course my dream was updated to include them. As an automotive designer, I began to think about doing a rebody -- but since I'm quite fond of the way the Pinzgauer looks I didn't spend much time on sketches.

Better to design something new anyway, starting with Mattracks. What got me more interested in developing this concept was the idea of an exoframe. Somewhere in the back of my mind was my intention to make this an electric vehicle, and suddenly things started coming together...


There is one company in particular, Tesla Motors, that is at the forefront of electric vehicle technology. Their Tesla Roadster, to be released later this year, is a highly impressive showcase of performance, efficiency, reliability and range.

The Tesla Roadster is mid-engined, with a single drive motor supplying power to the rear wheels. EXOVAN could use one of these motors for the rear tracks and one for the fronts. A lithium-ion battery pack twice the size of the Roadster's positioned low in the chassis would give EXOVAN as low a center of gravity as possible for such a vehicle, allowing it to tackle steeper grades.

Independent control of the long-travel adjustable suspension at each track would increase mobility that much further, providing more traction and preserving an acceptable body angle -- to prevent (or at least stave off) that seemingly inevitable rollover. This independent control would also allow one corner to be lifted for track maintenance, obviating the need for a jack.

Its interior space could be used for any number of configurations and purposes. It could be a cargo van, luxurious passenger vehicle, television remote production unit, small camper, or ambulance. The possibilities are only limited by its dimensions. How big is it? On the outside, about as big as a full-size SUV. Inside, with driver and forward passenger positioned over the front tracks, EXOVAN will have more room than a minivan.

Mattracks has a Trail-R-Mate series -- a tracked trailer could be towed behind EXOVAN. Perhaps I will design an exoframe camping trailer to match, with a fold-out solar array on board capable of recharging its tow vehicle's battery pack...


As far as concept vehicles go, EXOVAN would not be terribly difficult to construct, especially for Tesla Motors. Other companies could be brought in on the project, at different levels of involvement, specifically Mattracks, Rhino Linings, and possibly Airbag Man (or some other suspension specialist).

All companies involved would benefit from the attention EXOVAN will generate when it hits the show circuit -- that is, if it ever gets built.

My hope is that someone at Tesla Motors reads this and takes interest; I'll be inserting the URL to this post in a comment or two on their blogs. In my opinion they are the only ones who could build EXOVAN. Without their technology... Well, it would just be an empty shell waiting for essential componentry.

Sure, something similar could be built on a Pinzgauer chassis and still be sensational, but built around Tesla Motors' technology it would be nothing short of spectacular.

As a self-taught amateur I really have nothing to lose by publishing my idea in this space. If they do become interested in EXOVAN, I'll have no answer for them when they ask what I want as compensation...

Okay, maybe a Tesla Roadster in Jet Black and a position as a design consultant? Wouldn't that be nice...


To anyone reading this: Feel free to posts comments, and I can be contacted privately here. I will gladly answer any questions.


I won't say that the next post will feature images of EXOVAN. I'm currently teaching myself to use a CAD program, hoping to do better justice to the concept than I could with a scanned pencil sketch. However I may get impatient with that process and proceed with a lower-tech approach. Meanwhile I may become inspired to use this space to write about other things...


Phil Smith
April 25th, 2007

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