In-Depth on the Rev 1’s Powertrain

In this article we’re joined again by Owen Emry, CTO of Orbital Electric Systems, to unpack what sets the Rev 1 apart from every other utility side-by-side.

The short answer: it’s the Rev 1’s powertrain—the first ever vertically integrated electric powertrain in a UTV.

The Rev 1’s custom-designed battery, inverter motor drive, and motor are all developed and engineered by our industry-leading team in our California facilities. By achieving total control over the powertrain’s individual components, we have rewritten the expectations for a utility side-by-side.

The result of these efforts is the first UTV with a truly modern electric powertrain, similar to what you’d find in a Tesla. You’ll observe the impact across reliability and performance. And trust us – you’ll feel it when you press the accelerator pedal.

With that, let’s bring in Owen to describe the mindset behind taking this approach and help us understand what it means for you, the rider.

Interview with Owen

Thanks for joining us again, Owen! Could you start by telling us why Orbital chose this path?

Sure. We took a clean sheet approach in designing the Rev 1, because we wanted to build a better vehicle for what people do with these vehicles all day long. We didn’t want to accept any compromises—we wanted to build something that’s legitimately better.

And to be clear, we didn’t set out to build an electric UTV, we really wanted to build a better UTV. But we think at this state of technological development, electric is obviously the way to go, sinc battery tech now allows us to pack in plenty of energy for a day’s work.

You can use the Rev 1 every day, but it also shines in occasional or seasonal use. Forget fuel stabilizers. You can park your Rev 1 for 3 months or 3 years and know it will start the instant you turn the key, every time.

Thanks, Owen. I’m sure owners of the Rev 1 will love knowing they can rely on it to get the job done. Next, could you shed some light on the benefits of taking that clean sheet approach you mentioned?

As far as designing the powertrain, the key to making a vehicle succeed in the real world is to make sure it has enough energy and power to do the things people want to do. We’ve cherry picked the best modern tech has to offer, but we’re not reinventing proven things that work.

We’ve designed our powertrain from the ground up to be able to fit in everything that we need, and that’s easy to do when we control the entire stack. We control the vehicle design, we control the packaging of the motor, the battery, and all of the electronics that drive the systems in the vehicle.

By designing those ourselves, we’re able to optimize at the system level to fit everything in the vehicle that we need, in the best way possible, while making it as small, as light, and as inexpensive as we possibly can. We’re not buying 50-year-old forklift tech from Alibaba or repackaging components off somebody else’s shelf like the other manufacturers do. So it’s really that level of control that allows us to build the best possible vehicle.

There’s one more thing I’m sure our readers are curious about. What sort of impact does the powertrain have on dependability for the owner of a Rev 1?

Sure. The Rev 1’s dependability comes from the simplicity of the system. With so many fewer parts, you’ve got fewer things to go wrong. The motor has no moving parts aside from its bearings. No clutches mean the transmission (and the transmission oil) last almost forever.

Want to park your Rev 1 until next season? Just do it. Come back in a month or 3 years and rest assured that it will start the instant you turn the key. Plug it in while it’s in storage if you can, but know that you only lose about 10 miles of range per year while it’s parked.

Brilliant. That’s a whole new level of peace of mind for UTV owners. Thanks for joining us, Owen. We’ll see you soon, in the next installment of In-Depth!

Concluding Thoughts

Here at Orbital, we cannot wait for you to experience the power and the reliability of the Rev 1. Our team has worked diligently to craft a vehicle that far exceeds the quality standards currently present in the industry.

The Rev 1 is here not just to compete, but to set a new standard for what a utility side-by-side can be. It’s not just another UTV. It's a trailblazer.

If you enjoyed this article, you can catch another interview with Owen here: In-Depth on Battery Life & Longevity