Maybe you could invest in a large generator with 240vac output and sell charging services.
How soon will electric or hybrid vans/RVs be common?
- Thread starter peacepanda
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Interchangeable, common to all makes, battery(ies) would make sense in getting better acceptance in general...
I guess all the drivers of all the electric vehicles in the entire USA should drive to your state for every recharge. Otherwise, a large chunk of electricity in the USA (not all of it, but a lot of it) is generated by burning coal and natural gas, which is a petroleum fuel.
You can look up state-by-state electricity fuel sources here:
https://www.chooseenergy.com/data-center/electricity-sources-by-state/
That's the second time you have posted personal insults. Further comments like that will be deleted. We dont tolerate insults here, and you dont need to resort to them to be able to make your case or state your opinion.
By making product specific battery designs manufacturers create their own monopoly of a sort and create their own market for their products. It started with tool batteries, only in the last few years have adapters become available. Ryobi started the “One Battery System” so at least you could use the same battery in most of their products. It was bad enough to have to buy AA, AAA, and D cell batteries but at least they fit several applications. Standardization is good for the consumers but not for the corporations profit. Imagine how much cheaper and how much more efficiently things would be if they could be repaired with recycled standardized parts. Imagine pulling any make electric vehicle into a bay, unlocking a compartment then an automated arm replaces your discharged battery with an ideally charged one in seconds. Just a note it has been attempted and done in the past with vehicles. One of the reasons several years of Chevy V8 engines made are so cheap to rebuild is interchangeability. For several years VW required newer model parts fit older models, probably one of the reasons why they sold so many. Imagine if you could replace any vehicles parts with any other! Recycling would really be something!
Gasoline powered Teslas. What a neat idea!
Spaceman Spiff
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Remember when we could go into almost any mom & pop store and buy a headlight?
Now they are $$ and unique to every make and model.
There will be room on our highways and in our garages (metaphorically speaking) for both ICE and EV modes of transportation for many more years. Each one will have its pros and cons, and I very much like that we will have MORE choice of what we'd like to own and drive.
Pick the right tool for the job YOU want to do.
Pick the right tool for the job YOU want to do.
This thread has recently evoked a lot of angst (pro and con) and thats not the way we want to do things here. Lets see if we can keep the topic focused on electric RVs and E-Vans and the availability and affordability for the average person or couple who might be interested in buying one.
We can be passionate about our choices and still be respectful of other's choices.
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If and when the range issue can be worked out for something close to what we would call 'affordable' then we might see some early adoption here among our members.
I for one, think the future for electric RVs is going to favor hybrids, but again, these wont be cheap.
I could imagine a camper van with an electric drivetrain (electric motor and large battery) but also incorporate a larger than normal on-board genset that is powerful enough to charge the on-board battery while providing electric power for the drive motor (or motors). This larger genset would operate as needed, starting and running when the RV or van is climbing a long grade, or driving into a headwind, then shut off when the electric motor and battery can do the job on level or mostly level terrain.
But the genset could also have gas-saving cylinder cutout, lets say it's a 4 cylinder generator, and 2 cylinders could be de-activated when the genset is running quietly as a house generator when parked and boondocking off-grid.
As long as you can buy gasoline this thing should be able to operate far from any electrical hookups. But if you camped in an RV park, you can hook up and charge the large battery from the 50 amp RV pedestal and save gas.
This type of hybrid system already exists in smaller hybrid cars, but has also been used in larger hybrid trucks and buses and delivery vehicles, so its not new...but as far as I know, you can't get this configuration in any production RV or camper van....yet.
Maybe someday?
We can be passionate about our choices and still be respectful of other's choices.
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If and when the range issue can be worked out for something close to what we would call 'affordable' then we might see some early adoption here among our members.
I for one, think the future for electric RVs is going to favor hybrids, but again, these wont be cheap.
I could imagine a camper van with an electric drivetrain (electric motor and large battery) but also incorporate a larger than normal on-board genset that is powerful enough to charge the on-board battery while providing electric power for the drive motor (or motors). This larger genset would operate as needed, starting and running when the RV or van is climbing a long grade, or driving into a headwind, then shut off when the electric motor and battery can do the job on level or mostly level terrain.
But the genset could also have gas-saving cylinder cutout, lets say it's a 4 cylinder generator, and 2 cylinders could be de-activated when the genset is running quietly as a house generator when parked and boondocking off-grid.
As long as you can buy gasoline this thing should be able to operate far from any electrical hookups. But if you camped in an RV park, you can hook up and charge the large battery from the 50 amp RV pedestal and save gas.
This type of hybrid system already exists in smaller hybrid cars, but has also been used in larger hybrid trucks and buses and delivery vehicles, so its not new...but as far as I know, you can't get this configuration in any production RV or camper van....yet.
Maybe someday?
^All that wobbling can be dangerous and cause some strange things to happen.
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Just ran into this thread. I just made a deposit on a Chevy Bolt. My primary reason is to reduce the price of my commute which is $25K miles each year. A second benefit will be to keep the miles off my Tacoma which is the vehicle I plan for my year-long cross-country trip.
As a thought exercise, I've been playing with the idea of how would a Chevy Bolt work for a long-distance trip. I think once the Tesla supercharge network allows all EV models to charge long distance travel becomes possible (combine Tesla and non tesla DC fast chargers).
This exercise took me to a place where I ask "What happens if I'm out of battery...whats the backup plan?". The Bolt uses 1KWH to drive 3.5 miles. If you were to carry a Honda EU2000 generator with 1.1 gallon of fuel in the tank you could run for about 6 hours (at 8 amps) which translates into 21 miles of range. BUT....power consumption is based on speed which is a non-linear relationship to energy usage. So the 1KWH for 3.5 miles is at 65MPH. In a pinch you could reduce speed to like 45MPH where some folks claim about 5.5 miles per KHW....thats 35 miles of emergency range in a single tank of generator fuel. Obviously, terrain and roads would greatly affect all this.
Personally, I do think we are on the brink of a major disruption in transportation. EV's will be cheaper to manufacture when everything is scaled up. I don't think prices will go down, but automakers will elect to keep them the same and make more profit.
Random thoughts....
As a thought exercise, I've been playing with the idea of how would a Chevy Bolt work for a long-distance trip. I think once the Tesla supercharge network allows all EV models to charge long distance travel becomes possible (combine Tesla and non tesla DC fast chargers).
This exercise took me to a place where I ask "What happens if I'm out of battery...whats the backup plan?". The Bolt uses 1KWH to drive 3.5 miles. If you were to carry a Honda EU2000 generator with 1.1 gallon of fuel in the tank you could run for about 6 hours (at 8 amps) which translates into 21 miles of range. BUT....power consumption is based on speed which is a non-linear relationship to energy usage. So the 1KWH for 3.5 miles is at 65MPH. In a pinch you could reduce speed to like 45MPH where some folks claim about 5.5 miles per KHW....thats 35 miles of emergency range in a single tank of generator fuel. Obviously, terrain and roads would greatly affect all this.
Personally, I do think we are on the brink of a major disruption in transportation. EV's will be cheaper to manufacture when everything is scaled up. I don't think prices will go down, but automakers will elect to keep them the same and make more profit.
Random thoughts....
EV/RVs maybe possible as electric bicycles and cars improve. But people will have to be educated on how to best use them and infrastructure built. Educating people is difficult, especially when it comes to things we don’t fully understand yet. Science is what we use to establish facts as best we can to test to see if what we think is happening is in fact correct. Used to be we depended on educational institutions and scientists to explain and teach us those facts after a set of checks and balances had proven them to be true to the best and most important critical examinations of recognized experts in the field. Somewhere along the line the educational process has been interrupted by things like the internet giving voice to unproven and incorrect information. Facts are now more opinions and likes and dislikes and blown out of proportion to appease one’s view point. Tesla owners that show up here get educated quickly, too bad they weren’t better informed of the facts.
WVWildflower
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Tesla is allowing it soon, it's already on the app. They are not available yet, but Tesla is getting ready. Here's what I saw today on my app:
Attachments
WVWildflower
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Airstream is working on an EV platform to help tow efficiency. Check it out.
https://www.airstream.com/air-lab/concepts/estream/
https://www.airstream.com/air-lab/concepts/estream/
Dang...I wonder if we can get a commish?
Did they get all the battery fire recalls worked thru? Bolts were involved in a few spontaneous fires...I hope they have been able to correct this issue.
They had a software update which reduced charge limit to 80%...which is a bandaid, not a fix.
Good luck and let us know.
yes they are replacing all the bad packs. That’s what makes the bolt such a great deal. You could get a several year old bolt for pretty cheap and GM put a new battery in it. Best of all the new batteries have more capacity than the old ones.
The one i have on deposit is brand new but can’t be sold till they swap out the battery.
I'm going to clean up the thread as best as I can to remove all of the personal attacks, political comments, and off-topic comments. Some comments may be removed because the comment they refer to has been removed.
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