We've seen Vertibirds and now dirigibles. So at least airplane motors still function. We've also seen a coastal steamer in Point Lookout. So where's the ATVs? Maybe people would have a hard time resurrecting a Corvega, but what about building a Stanley Steamer from scratch? Eminently doable. Finding viable gasoline for an internal combustion engine might be problematic, but no harder than finding usable automobile fuel circa 1900. Understandably,the road network has been totally [censored], hence the need for ATVs. So, where are they? If there are still people that can cobble together advanced tech from scavenged parts, building an ATV should be a piece of cake.

The Midwestern BOS utilizes combat ground vehicles. So does the NCR, we just never focus on them. The East BOS came by airship so of course they wouldn't have workable cars not to mention the roads might be be vehicle safe no more. So they use verti's since they have them and don't need to make more to use them.

Those are organizational examples. Large groups like BoS have access to a large number of more usable, already-existing vehicles, and also the resources to create their own factory. Individuals and small family-sized groups have substantially fewer resources. But that's still enough that at least 1 person in 100 can build something like an ATV. That's a gaping hole in the game setting that I think needs to be filled.

"Road Warrior" anyone?

Not here, gasoline is too rare to be used as we do IRL, solar is non existant.

Most average Joe's aren't nuclear physicists which you need to be to work with fallout electricity more oft than not with fusion tech.

Technically the generators aside from the wind turbines ought to be non-canon in fallout 4 with gasoline being 9555.99 USD per gallon BEFORE THE WAR.

Vertibird fuel might have come from Enclave reserves, the BOS is running low on coolant to keep their ship airborne after all so the stuff might be pre-war or from the rig, but supplies are starting to falter.

Now there are plenty of people smart enough to build workable vehicles, perhaps their reluctance is due to their explosive tendencies, or perhaps due to the untenable terrain where pack animals/robots would serve as better mules.

Physics. Physics Never change.

As BetaSpectre pointed out already, creating a nuclear powered ATV is a lot harder than creating a gas powered ATV. Only places like the NCR, BOS and Enclave would have the knowledge to teach people how to do this.

Weren't Diesel engines designed to run off hemp or peanut oil if necessary?

Hardly a "gaping hole" at all, and totally unnecessary to boot.

Diesel engines will run off of sunflower seed oil and even fryer fat as well, as long as it is pre-heated before it enters the engine.

Also the technique to make real diesel from old car tires is pretty well established, the only hitch is that the process doesn't become economically viable with oil prices under $95,- a barrel. (not that that would matter in a post apocalyptic world where fuel would fetch a sellers price at any rate.)

/2cts

edited for typos and crap

yes, that's what he originally built them to run off. back when cars came out oil was a fairly rare commodity confined mostly to the small wells in PA. it wasn't until spindletop in Texas that oil became both plentiful and cheap.

Keep in mind, this is an alternative universe. The resource wars were waged precisely because the European Commonwealth, Middle-East, the Chinese and the Americans wanted control over the resources that were presumably running scarce. They had nuclear energy and from what we know, it seems that nuclear energy was slowly replacing oil as the resource wars waged on.

This is not the zombie apocalypse. People didn't suddenly drop dead in the streets with their cars still running and filled with gasoline. The world was wiped out and irradiated for decades. It is probable that all cars with gas simply exploded from the nuclear blasts and all cars that ran on nuclear fusion were salvaged to power electricity.

What I would like to know; what the hell happened with bicycles and mountain bikes? They don't need a power source. They are relatively silent if you maintain them well. They are much, much faster than humans could be on their own. Why don't we see more of those? Answer; probably because we'd feel silly if either the protagonist cannot ride a bike but everyone else can, or if the protagonist peddles his way through adventure. But it'd be nice if settlements had people cycling through them. That'd feel more alive, I guess.

There were no cars with gas toward the end civilization in the Fallout universe.

The U.S. has completely switched over to nuclear power and literally everything ran on it. Oil has completely dried up and there should be none left anywhere. The lack of gasoline was pretty much the initial reason the world started to fall apart.

Game design>Realism

Physic what make my stick go boom?

BOOMSTICK!

This.

We have flying & walking things because those work well in the game engine. We don't have rolling things because they'd likely bounce all over creation & explode. Not because of any lore.

I'm assuming most vehicles run off some form of the fusion core or the like (as everything blows up like a nuke) in that case I'm also going to assume that the life of that fusion core is the same no matter what its in (be that atv or verti) in that case it makes perfect sense why you would not see atv's as vertibirds are just better. most roads are [censored], off road has all the problems that come with terrain, its easy to ambush, easy to block, the list goes on. vertibirds on the other hand are not constrained by many of those things and offer clear advantages (air superiority, air cav, etc.) whomever controls the air, controls the war. as well power armor began pretty much replacing atv's as they offered similar protection with a great many more benefits, as well as being transportable by, you guessed it, vertibirds. combined with power armor absorbing all fall shock you have the perfect combination as the verti's don't even have to land.

in modern day we are phasing out MBT's and the like because urban and building to building fighting just does not support it, and the day we develop tech like a fusion core you will see power armor. it will be similar to edge of tomorrow were we have highly trained highly equipped individuals and transport / support aircraft to move / provide support fire.

its simply more efficient.

Yeah Beth already explain why there ain't no drivable vehicles, they didn't want to be restricted how the map was designed just so that it could work with a drivable vehicle.

Then that only explains everything more. I thought that this was the case, but now that I know for sure; if you have a limited number of nuclear reactors from a forgotten era, then you probably going to prioritize security and shelter over mobility.

I imagine that, within a century, there'd be very few original vehicles left.

The BOS use tanks and Hummers all the time in the midwest, but in large crowded cities the roads wouldn't let you use them effectively, and they are easy to get stuck in locations mostly good as pack mules, scouts, and transports instead of weapons

The NCR are known to use large trucks in Vegas, they just aren't shown operational, and are perhaps really expensive. Fission Batteries can probably run the vehicles as in Fallout 2 your Highwayman took small fusion cells, or microfusion cells. So making new vehicles might be doable, with the main issue being where do you park it. The NCR have military bases, while the PC might just get his hijacked. Not to mention the physics wouldn't be kind.

One person in a hundred? Have you *met* people? How many people do you know who could build a working lawn mower, let alone an ATV?

Me? I'm fortunate: I work in tech,so I know a lot of "maker" type people. Not sure any of them have what it takes to survive by eating mutated roaches.

Bikes are a lot of work to use when carrying gear. Even 5 to 8 kg of extra gear on a bike has a really noticeable on how much work it is to travel for long periods. Additionally, you need panniers. Given the leaned-over position while cycling, wearing a backpack is difficult - even a hydration pack leaves your neck and back sore at the end of a day of mountain biking.

I also can't imagine anyone cycling in heavy armour.

This right here is the reason why vehicles are super rare in the Fallout series. All the wrecks you see in the game are of the fusion variety. Those fusion cores that would have powered those vehicles have been scavenged or stolen for other purposes. That is assuming that the vehicles are viable still mechanically.

Even if the vehicles are viable mechanically, they are probably shot electronic wise. When the big nukes drop, besides the collateral damage from the blast. A nuclear explosion also gives out an EMP. That EMP fries all electronic devices in a certain radius, depending on the size of the warheads exploding.

Those are reasons why Bethesda does not want your character driving around. But there is no reason why I can not have a Brahma to ride on.

That's true, hadn't thought of that. Would be funny to see someone in power armor cycle his way to the battlefield. *ring ring* Outta da way, troopahs!

I guess I just interact more with brainier crowd; mostly electricians.

Anyone that repairs Power Armor, ALL mechanics on Vertibirds and pretty much any machinery, anyone that works on power distribution systems would be able to puzzle out how the motors sitting in those gazillion derelict vehicles lying around the Wasteland work. ALL of them have viable power sources still on board. Otherwise why is it that EVERY time any derelict vehicle gets hit by weapons fire, it explodes? If not a petroleum-based fuel, than it has to whatever alternative power source had its containment vessel -- the "bottle" -- breached = KABOOM. The primary reason for nearly every derelict vehicle being derelict is that the electronics were EMPed. EMP alone does not destroy the machine's functionality. Just reset some breakers and replace a number of fried circuit boards and it would be good to go. The reason soooooo many vehicles lie derelict is because nearly all of them had their owners die at the same time as their vehicles. Then for quite awhile, the only way to survive was to seek shelter out of the fallout and radioactive hot spots. By the time it was relatively safe to come out again, most derelict vehicles were well on their way to becoming rusted wrecks. ["And the rust! How do you polish rust?"]

But as I say, the physics remain the same. Take any engine from most any vehicle. Wire it into a power distribution system. Connect a viable power source. Flip the switch and you're good to go. Easier and more viable than getting a Power Armor suit functional again. And an ENORMOUS supply of tires just lying around practically everywhere. ATV chassis and drive system and who needs roads? ["Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads."]

Thinking about this some more, I think the lack of bikes and chemical engines is a symptom of the love affair the Fallout pre-war society has with nuclear stuff. There are nuclear-powered cars, nuclear-powered robots, even nuclear soft drinks. It seems that society deliberately turned its back on anything other than nuclear energy. This fits in with the American 50's aesthetic of the games.

Alternatively, I wonder if there was a conspiracy. In our world, there is the big-oil conspiracy, which says that the petrochemical companies suppress any vehicle technology other than internal combustion. This is why we don't have electric cars or cars that run on water or 100mpg carburetters. Perhaps in the Fallout world, big-nuke suppressed other technologies?