This is a Fat Truck from Canadian company Zeal Motor, each is four-wheel-drive and can operate as a boat on water, or as a highly-capable ATV on land.
๐ The Core Development
Interestingly, Zeal notes that only the wheels come from outside North America. 60% of the parts come from the USA, including the turbodiesel engine, and the rest of the parts come from within 300 miles of the Canadian factory.
Zeal Motor unveiled the new Fat Truck amphibious vehicle in Bromont, Quebec, in January of 2019, with a 40 bhp three-cylinder diesel in its hull. Zeal quickly decided to replace that original 1.7 liter Caterpillar unit with a more powerful 2.2 liter Caterpillar four-cylinder turbodiesel capable of a healthier 67 bhp and 153 lb ft of torque.
๐ Background & Sector Context
Above Video: This clip from Caterpillar shows the Zeal Motor Fat Truck being put through its paces, on land and on the water.
In short, the Fat Truck is an amphibious crew and cargo carrier for work sites that a conventional 4ร4 canโt reach. Common use cases include power line and pipeline work, telecom tower maintenance, wind farm upkeep, and search-and-rescue operations in remote backcountry. Unusually, it has no steering wheel and no pedals, instead it changes direction using a tank-like skid-steering system.
๐ Industry & Real-World Impact
Zealโs three founders were Maxim OโShaughnessy, Benoit Marleau, and Amine Khimjee. They each come from a background in industrial vehicles, with 60 years of combined experience that included time at the crawler carrier manufacturer Prinoth.
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๐ฎ Strategic Outlook & What Lies Ahead
While looking for a product for clients with extreme off-road transport needs, they tested the Ukrainian-built Sherp , a big-wheeled amphibious ATV. OโShaughnessyโs idea was to combine those oversize wheels with the core features of an industrial machine. The partners found the Sherp effective, but they also found it difficult to drive, and its cabin could quickly fill with fumes.
Development began in May of 2018, Zeal had set up its headquarters in part of the former Hyundai plant in Bromont, and 2,000 hours of engineering work had already been done under Marleau, the vice president of engineering. Industrial designer Martin Aubรฉ developed the body โ a tall box with no overhangs to speak of, roughly as wide as it is high, with large tinted windows on all four sides.
