Could you survive Jurassic Park in an electric SUV?

The OEV office discussion: EVs in classic movies. The movie at hand: Jurassic Park.

Let’s say you’re an experienced palaeontologist working at a highly experimental dinosaur safari park. For reasons that have nothing to do with cutting corners on important safety regulations, the park is situated on a remote island off the coast of Costa Rica.

You have somehow become locked in the park overnight with your boss’s two grandchildren after a power outage. It’s on you to use your expert dino knowledge to keep them alive.

Back in ‘93 the kids just about survived, partly due to some nifty maneuvering in one of the park’s iconic Jeep Wranglers – though they may have needed some serious therapy after watching the lawyer get eaten on the toilet.

But what would happen if the original movie was set today, and the usual rugged, gas-guzzling 4x4s were replaced by modern electric SUVs with all the latest tech?

There’s no mobile signal on your remote island, there’s a tropical storm raging, and the park’s power failure means that the WiFi is down. It’s just you and your EV vs the dinosaurs: let’s see which comes out on top.

The Dilophosaurus: everyone’s frilly, poison-spitting favourite.* Often found tracking down rogue park employees for an easy early dinner.

Good news: your electric SUV is considerably quieter than a 92-reg Jeep! As well as making for a more relaxing cabin environment on longer trips, this also means that you can evade the most intelligent, fixated predators much more effectively.

In a Jeep? Plenty of engine noise for hangry dinosaurs to cotton onto and stalk relentlessly. In an EV with no gears or petrol engine to rev? You sneak through undetected, hole up in a remote corner of the park, and wait for it all to blow over.

*For the sake of scientific accuracy, we should mention that there is no evidence for real-life Dilophosauruses either spitting venom or having those impressive crests. Sorry - we know they look cool.

Let’s say that the worst happens and, despite your best efforts, a peckish Dilophosaurus stumbles across your hiding place. Your last-ditch attempt at survival involves locking yourself in the cabin and hoping for the best.

Could your car survive the attention of a 7m long, 400kg Dilophosaurus?

An EV’s heavier body with centralised weight distribution would definitely be an advantage in preventing your car from being rolled over. The heavy EV battery also strengthens the side of the car against collisions, offering a higher level of protection to those inside than petrol or diesel cars.

Whilst we’re not sure this would withstand a full-on T-Rex attack, we think it would offer a good level of protection against smaller dinosaurs – if it protects the cabin against collisions from a medium-sized hatchback (1,100kg), it would probably outlast a slower, lighter Dilophosaurus.

One of Jurassic Park’s most iconic scenes involves a daring escape from ultimate dino bad boy, the T-Rex. The main characters and their Jeep survive, though their car does get overturned by the big lizard and end up in a tree. Could your EV do any better?

We think you’d be much better off in an EV for three key reasons:

1. Electric SUVs accelerate faster than their petrol ancestors.
2. EVs also tend to have a higher top speed
3. EVs deal with tight corners and tough driving conditions especially well

The ‘92 Jeep Wrangler does 0-60 in 14.8 seconds, with a top speed of 93mph. Comparing like for like, Jeep claims its upcoming all-electric Recon model will do 0-60 in 3.5 seconds.

If you’re looking for an SUV currently on the market, the Kia EV9 will do 0-60 in 4.5 seconds, with a top speed of 118mph. With this difference in specs, you’d be leaving the T-Rex to eat dust as you speed off into the horizon, no near misses necessary.

Rugged petrol off-roaders like Jeeps are well known for their ability to handle tough driving conditions – but EVs are no slouch in this area.

Most EVs have at least two motors. This allows for torque vectoring (independently controlling braking force on each wheel) which makes EVs more stable and responsive when cornering, especially during tropical storms – perfect for escaping the clutches of an angry T-Rex.

They might lack the formidable size of the T-Rex or the (fictional) venom-spitting abilities of the Dilophosaurus, but Velociraptors are super smart, persistent pack hunters who do not give up until they have taken down their prey.

The easiest solution? Keep under the radar, and keep on the move. Velociraptors could hit speeds of up to 40mph – and you may not be doing much more than that over tough, off-road terrain. Luckily, they can’t maintain 40mph for long periods, so your strategy here should definitely be to outlast them.

With many recent electric SUVs boasting a range of 300+ miles, you’ll have plenty of room to just keep driving. The Jeep Wrangler would likely get 250-350 miles out of a full tank of fuel, so there’s no clear winner here – but you certainly wouldn’t be worse off in an electric SUV.

Your quiet EV has allowed you to slip away undetected from the Velociraptors and the Dilophosaurus, and tp accelerate past the T-Rex before it could do any major damage. Your strategy now: wait it out until the storm clears.

Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) technology allows your car to work as a mobile power pack for all sorts of appliances. So, hunker down, turn the heating on in your cabin, and put your feet up.

You should avoid making food because Velociraptors have a keen sense of smell, but you could use your EV to power a kettle for a sugary cup of tea to calm your nerves. All you need to do now is figure out how to flip the park’s power back on…

You probably won’t find yourself stuck in a dinosaur safari park with two children who aren’t yours any time soon – but it’s still worth looking for an EV that can handle everything life can throw at it.

Whether you’re looking for a tough SUV that handles a tropical storm as well as the school run, or a compact hatchback whose cornering can take on both T-Rexes and tight city streets, Intelligent EV can help you out.