Popularity of the EV vehicles for vandwellers could be overcome with few magic ... err, "sufficiently advanced" .... technologies.
I invoke 3rd Clarke's law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
1) If EV had lighter battery, we could haul along more capacity for longer range.
2) If solar panels were much cheaper, we can recharge off-grid. We even don't need the grid at all.
First is under development. After 100 years of barely any progress, we have LiFePO4. Hopefully progress will continue. I mentioned before,
Aluminium-air battery has higher energy density than lithium-based batteries.
Second is also: material scientist are working on solar panels which can be PAINTED on stuff. Paint itself captures electricity. Of course it is less effective that solar panels - because panels were invented to power electronics in outer space, so wats per weight are important. If you can paint solar panel on a tarp, it would be easier to recharge your eRV, even run AC.
And third: if we find out better way to capture solar energy, like algae which produce oil butanol, diesel fuel, we can have our hybrids and save the climate too. Sun sends us tremendous amount of energy, more than enough if we found a way to harvest and store it. Fossil fuels is simplest, stupidest way to use it. But with such algae, we don't even need to change our system. Just instead of drilling for oil, we could grow it in vats.
