How soon will electric or hybrid vans/RVs be common?

[eDJ_]

Wow ! How much those look like the old Divco Milk Delivery Trucks. Detroit Industrial Vehicle Company produced these (1937-1986) for multi stop delivery routes. Dairy Companies made the most use of them.

 

[sdbpost]

I wouldn't wait for an electric and/or hybrid RV.

I was intrigued by the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid commercial, though. It states something like 84 eMPG (not sure if that really means what it sounds like). The website says an electric range of 33 miles; not very useful for a nomad, but probably just fine for a soccer mom. I believe most of these hybrids do better with city mileage vs highway (I'm guessing b/c of regenerative braking).

I've got a Sienna hybrid. It gets about 36 MPG both city and highway so it's usually our city driver. Unfortunately it's not a plug-in hybrid, and the battery is too small to do more than move me around a parking lot at very low speed. But it does work very well for what it is designed for - getting the van moving from a stop with the more efficient electric motors or giving a quick burst of speed for passing. Because of that, the engine is smaller and sucks less gas. And an separate electric motor provides power to the rear wheels so I get AWD with less mechanical complexity. I'd love a plug-in hybrid, but not sure the charger network is extensive and reliable enough yet for me to spend time boondocking.

 

[Inti]

The Voyah Dreamer is an all-electric and plug-in hybrid minivan produced by Voyah, which launched on the Chinese car market in March 2022.


The Denza D9 is an all-electric and plug-in hybrid minivan produced by Denza, which launched on the Chinese car market in May 2022.


The impression is that the Chinese car industry has surpassed the Western industry in the last few years. The Chinese also have a lot of pure electric and plug-in hybrids, which are much better than Tesla in all characteristics (except acceleration and possibly autopilot). They have really luxurious interiors and a lot of features that Tesla saves on. And of course plug-in hybrids are much more practical than pure electric cars.

 

[Frood]

Remember when you could walk into a general store in any podunk town and buy a headlight? Didn't have to worry if it fit your car; one size fits all. Somebody decided style (and aerodynamics) trumps interchangeability.

But why stop there: why do we need so many makes and models? 1 economy car, 1 SUV, 1 van, 1 LDT, 1 MDT.

Simple greed so that you have to buy "authorized" parts or get service the same way.

 

[Happy Camper]

Not everyone "gets" EVs.