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

[RonDean]

I don't have a problem with jokes - in general. I think our skins are often too thin.

However...
I also remember a time when there were many racial jokes floating around. As I have aged I have come to realize that many of those "jokes" were a vehicle for maintaining a grossly unfair and untrue social narrative. Now I can see how totally inappropriate and harmful they were.
So...
I think jokes need to be applied carefully and not used as a vehicle to sidetrack, confuse or skirt forum rules. Not saying that was the case here. Just saying we need to consider what might be perceived. A wild pitch that hits a noggin can still hurt.

 

[RonDean]

Commenting back on thread...
I am (obviously) pro-EV. But I am not ignorant of the fact we are not "there" yet when it comes to RV sized vehicles. At least not within most of our budgets. The tread title asks how soon will we be there, I assume that presupposes for those of us that would like to make that choice. Not if it's a good idea in the first place for everybody. But I can see where that might also relate to this thread.

Global warming, pollution, health concerns (ours AND the planet's), sustainability, cost, and many other factors also impact the original question. And while ICEs might someday be outlawed, I don't think most of us will live to see that day. So, for those of you happily motoring down the road with your ICEs... relax. Nobody is likely to take that away from you.

Hydrogen power...
It is cleaner to burn. But, like electricity, we need to look at how we gather it. Maybe I prefer EV technology because I can envision a technology where we individuals can gather sufficient solar power to run our vehicles without pulling up to a pump and paying some huge corporation for the privilege. With hydrogen, that would not be the case.

 

[Carla618]

I've noticed that politics gets more loosely defined all the time... which is kinda weird. Joking and making fun of EVs surely isn't political, is it? I didn't see any politics in his post...

I think so, because climate change denial clearly belongs to one or more political parties and is rejected by the opposing political party (parties).

I'm talking about where those parties lie on the right-left continuum.

I've never heard of anyone on the left supporting climate change denial.

 

[Carla618]

I also remember a time when there were many racial jokes floating around. As I have aged I have come to realize that many of those "jokes" were a vehicle for maintaining a grossly unfair and untrue social narrative.

Good point and it is what I was getting at. Makes me think of the term "tree hugger". It is often used by the right to poke fun of and discredit the left.

They also apply feminine labels to those they disagree with, because everyone knows females are a joke.

I've followed Earth First, Greenpeace and indigenous water and land protectors for years. I know many have died while trying to protect the environment. So yeah... jokes are not always harmless. And often are used nefariously.

 

[RvNaut]

So.... EV Rvs.... not for a long time. Storage density and consumption per mile means batteries are out for now. Hydrogen fuel cells powering elec motors will be the way to go, but not until cracking water to get the H becomes cheap....

 

[Happy Camper]

They recently discovered huge deposits of natural occuring hydrogen underground. Funny thing is that they knew it was there, just not in quantity.

Since they've been checking for viable oil areas they never bothered looking for hydrogen in bulk, as they never suspected it to exist.

I love electronics and tech. So I was never scared or threatened by EV tech. But I have always thought hydrogen and hybrid tech was a smarter way to go overall.

Gas stations can convert to hydrogen/charging stations with gas while transitioning over the years. It leaves existing infrastructure in place.

Depending on costs, you can have a hydrogen powered Volt type car where the engine is just a generator for EV motors. Or your can have a straight hydrogen engine vehicle. There isn't a ton of difference between hydrogen and gas engines.

I love my gas vehicles and the ability to work on them myself. But I also look forward to be technologies being incorporated in ways that matter to our transportation.

Being Internet connected, having a massive tablet in the dash, etc isn't actually tech there improving much. That's just trying to be futuristic and doesn't always move anything forward.

Looking forward to better chemistry batteries, smart hydrogen extraction and storage, and less actual tech that causes a small accident cost a fortune to fix.

And I'm looking for our elected leaders to do transitions in a smarter, less idealistic way. From either party, and those in the middle as well.

I am curious to see how those fully invested in EV tech and supporting industries deal with the hydrogen idea once it really hits. If they are fully green minded they will embrace another truly clean tech. But I doubt it'll be that simple lol.

https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/hydrogen-white-gold-us-renewables-b2440021.html

 

[rruff]

I'm talking about where those parties lie on the right-left continuum.

You are making inferences based on dogmatic beliefs. The left-right divide is bogus and irrelevent... best not to perpetuate it.

I miss the good old days when no one seemed interested in turning every little made up "issue" into political dogma.

 

[tx2sturgis]

tx2sturgis, can you tell me where the humor/joke forum is & also delete my joke post please? I never meant to offend anyone, Thanks!

The thread I think you are looking for is this one:

https://vanlivingforum.com/threads/just-for-fun.45034/
Jokes that are found in that section will have a wider range of humor...thats the nature of a section dedicated to joking around.

Also, I removed the item in this thread containing the jokes that were found to be inappropriate by some of our members.

 

[rruff]

Gas stations can convert to hydrogen/charging stations with gas while transitioning over the years. It leaves existing infrastructure in place.

I think you don't understand how hydrogen is used in vehicles. Hydrogen is a gas, and an extremely light one. You either have to compress it to extreme levels or cool it to very low temperatures to transport. This is true of getting it to the filling station and carrying it in your car. The cost of doing that and the infrastructure required is a lot, and nothing like petroleum based vehicles. EVs are relatively simple to charge using our existing electric infrastructure. The fast chargers that people use when traveling are fairly simple as well.

If they do find large pockets of hydrogen under ground, using those to directly fuel electric power plants would probably make the most sense.

 

[Carla618]

You are making inferences based on dogmatic beliefs. The left-right divide is bogus and irrelevent... best not to perpetuate it.

I miss the good old days when no one seemed interested in turning every little made up "issue" into political dogma.

I was imagining things. Best I inform the New York Times, the Washington Post and every other MSM news source, because they are spreading crazy rumors.

 

[Morgana]

Wait, humor is not OK but sarcasm is OK?
Of the two, most people I know would tend to give humor more leeway.
On the left/right divide, and thoughts about their convergence at the extreme ends, you might want to look up "horseshoe theory"
And ... just to make the mods' lives more difficult ... I certainly hope we don't have to put all our humorous comments into one jokes thread now. That would kill conversation.

 

[Zerpersande]

Please delete. I don't want to participate in this thread.

There’s no rule that says you have to participate.

 

[Happy Camper]

I think you don't understand how hydrogen is used in vehicles. Hydrogen is a gas, and an extremely light one. You either have to compress it to extreme levels or cool it to very low temperatures to transport. This is true of getting it to the filling station and carrying it in your car. The cost of doing that and the infrastructure required is a lot, and nothing like petroleum based vehicles. EVs are relatively simple to charge using our existing electric infrastructure. The fast chargers that people use when traveling are fairly simple as well.

If they do find large pockets of hydrogen under ground, using those to directly fuel electric power plants would probably make the most sense.

That's true. And probably a good idea for power plants.

Regarding hydrogen vehicles, there's money there. They'll figure out the storage and transport issues.

Regarding gas stations, I was more referring to the thought that they have ample infrastructure underground that can be repurposed for whatever they come up with. That, and they already have hydrogen filling stations for the limited amount of vehicles that run on hydrogen like the Toyota Mirai.

 

[bullfrog !]

I would think current gasoline storage in under ground tanks would have a life span. I know the environmental cleanup of the older tanks caused many problems when it came time to sell property. Looks like that in itself would be an incentive to change how we handle new technologies if designed properly.

 

[Carla618]

Wait, humor is not OK but sarcasm is OK?
Of the two, most people I know would tend to give humor more leeway.
On the left/right divide, and thoughts about their convergence at the extreme ends, you might want to look up "horseshoe theory"
And ... just to make the mods' lives more difficult ... I certainly hope we don't have to put all our humorous comments into one jokes thread now. That would kill conversation.

Conversation is already dead. Now we are choosing between humor and sarcasm and ranking them? Jeebus.

 

[Happy Camper]

I prefer my humor with sarcasm. Although that probably shows...

 

[bullfrog !]

Speaking of Electric vehicles do you recon we will be offered a cheap “people’s car” of the electric variety as it seems a lot of the country is ready for another car like the Volkswagen in prewar Germany. Maybe more public transportation of the electric variety? Seems the semi truck industry is already headed that way with trucks running interstate between California and Arizona I believe. Would you buy an electric vehicle and get by using it if it was $3,000? I’m doing pretty good on saving fuel by simply riding my electric bicycle a 100 miles or so a month. For me where I’m at that is over $50 a month! I figure even with the initial cost of the bike these last 2 years with about 1,800 miles on it I have almost broken even with fuel, maintenance and insurance/registration on the truck.

 

[Gr8ful]

My jokes are gone so you can stop imagining hidden secret coded messages. Several of you have taken this thread way off topic. I said 5+ years or more. The original title was

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

I like the idea of modular motors & most parts but the U.S. is not ready! Those boxy vans pics posted aren't legal here & we need better batteries, more range, cheaper prices, and solar charging. The charger should be on the car so it can be plugged into a 240v outlet for a fast charge & 120v for a slower charge almost anywhere. The other thing is Americans don't like being forced by our government to change especially when the tech is not ready & won't be for several years. I think we'll end up with a Hydrogen EV Hybrid. Until then I'll enjoy my ICEs. As far trees we have more than we did 100 years ago & growing fast. The roads you use on federal land were built or paid for by the companies that logged it.

 

[bullfrog !]

I agree with everything above except I think we need to acknowledge that big oil and automotive corporations have used their profits to influence people and their governments so they can continue to increase their profit margins while negatively affecting our environment which affects the entire planet and the people living on it negatively. We have allowed them to continue to use old technologies and discourage the use of new technologies while new technologies could have been promoted and developed. Not only have they discouraged development they actually have encouraged inefficient use of our resources by making available and attractive larger heavier vehicles like trucks and SUVs. Government has been bought by those corporation’s money to cut rules and regulations allowing our rail system to deteriorate putting more semi trucks on the road increasing corporations profit even more. Corporations have become too powerful and prevent new developments from coming to the public if it would decrease their profit margins. Capitalism just isn’t able to work or be regulated as it should to allow new solutions to be developed and promoted. Corporations should be taxed and government regulated so new technologies can go forward and explored. We need corporations to be financially encouraged to promote research and development rather than become stagnant and inefficient. EVs have not been developed and advanced as much as they could have been. I was surprised that Tesla survived, but again Tesla is playing the big corporation strategy and unrestricted we will repeat the same cycle of events. We are going to have to deal with these factors a long time before competitors can overcome the status quo.

 

[RonDean]

My jokes are gone so you can stop imagining hidden secret coded messages. Several of you have taken this thread way off topic. I said 5+ years or more. The original title was

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

I like the idea of modular motors & most parts but the U.S. is not ready! Those boxy vans pics posted aren't legal here & we need better batteries, more range, cheaper prices, and solar charging. The charger should be on the car so it can be plugged into a 240v outlet for a fast charge & 120v for a slower charge almost anywhere. The other thing is Americans don't like being forced by our government to change especially when the tech is not ready & won't be for several years. I think we'll end up with a Hydrogen EV Hybrid. Until then I'll enjoy my ICEs. As far trees we have more than we did 100 years ago & growing fast. The roads you use on federal land were built or paid for by the companies that logged it.

You are right that EV technology still needs improvement. Just like I am glad that ICEs didn't stop with Model Ts and Model As. But look at how fast that changed! As for Americans being any different from anyone else, our global village is getting smaller every day. And sooner and not later the issues we all face will need to be addressed and not just ignored hoping they will go away. Although I have to admit that our congress is getting pretty adept at kicking the can down the road. That's going to bite us pretty quickly too.

In the meantime, those that enjoy the status quo can do so for a bit longer. Others of us will continue to advocate for change. And we will probably never agree. IMHO that's the real American Way.