More Practical EV Vans

[JT646]

Like it or not, someday soon this will happen. A 'slimmed down' version of this would certainly help:

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2022/07/01/retractable-solar-trailer-from-spain/
Combine this with a PV roof & PV awnings and your "fuel" production (when parked) could be greatly increased.
Yes, up-front costs would be higher...but for some, they could totally eliminate their weekly fuel bill.

YMMV

 

[gkb2016]

I actually think van life will be easier when electric cars (and vans) become the norm.

Having electricity for low wattage items will certainly be much easier, since the car is basically a giant battery. Air conditioning and heating should also be pretty easy since you can just use the vehicle's heater/aircon and plug in if you need to, and relatively cheap to do so compared to gas. Range could be an issue, but battery tech is definitely improving.

Hopefully vehicles will get higher wattage inverters standard (enough to run things like an instant pot, cooktop etc.). Would be nice to have those kind of conveniences without modifying the vehicle.

One thing I've thought about is ways to get more solar on the roof of a van ... an idea I had is kinda similar to that trailer in that it would be retractable (albeit not in the same way). Basically you would have 3 panels ... 2 of which are on some kind of slides. One would slide to the left and one to the right, so effectively you would have 3 panels in the space you normally have 1 panel. Once you slide them out there would be some sort of mechanism to bring them level with the other panels and lock them in to place. Obviously when driving you would slide them back in.

I imagine investing in some sort of tilt system might be cheaper / easier than my idea but you could probably combine the ideas too.

 

[abnorm]

Something different...............

During the Quartzsite Winter we used to see a dweller in a Class A pulling a long cargo trailer........the Top and Sides of the trailer were covered in solar panels.............

He always parked East-West.........one side of the trailer faces the South........ the Side panels in-the-shade were raised nearly 180*........"Upright" to catch the sunlight........Panels are hanging Down the side of the trailer...........Flat on the roof and now raised UP

The trailer housed a "Prius" as a Battery Bank & TOAD................a large inverter in the trailer supplied the RV

 

[JT646]

Something different...............

During the Quartzsite Winter we used to see a dweller in a Class A pulling a long cargo trailer........the Top and Sides of the trailer were covered in solar panels.............

He always parked East-West.........one side of the trailer faces the South........ the Side panels in-the-shade were raised nearly 180*........"Upright" to catch the sunlight........Panels are hanging Down the side of the trailer...........Flat on the roof and now raised UP
The trailer housed a "Prius" as a Battery Bank & TOAD................a large inverter in the trailer supplied the RV

Now that is a clever idea! Some of the newer EV's are equipped with V2X (Vehicle-to-vehicle/Load/home/grid/etc)...thus your vehicle is dual-purpose (EV & storage battery). Personnaly I wouldn't buy an EV...UNLESS it has this feature--great for emergencies. I believe the vehicle software allows you to set/limit how many Kw-hrs are "pulled" from the battery...so you're not left stranded.

 

[JT646]

This might be an even better option....or for those wanting to get rid of their propane appliances.

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2022/07/07/solar-trailer-for-range-extension-from-tesla/
Probably lighter weight (?) as well.

 

[abnorm]

Here's a UK camper....the X Bus

https://electricbrands.de/en/myxbus/
No plans for USA

 

[rruff]

Here's a UK camper....the X Bus
https://electricbrands.de/en/myxbus/No plans for USA

Actually it's German. Most countries over there have a light quadcycle vehicle classification which has low regulations, and the XBUS is designed to this spec. It's a shame that we have no such thing in the US. Light vehicles have to be 3 wheelers and classified as motorcycles to get around the massive regulations ($$$).

With something as light and efficient as the XBUS, solar charging starts to make sense. With the smallest battery of 10kWh and a realistic 80 mi range, you'd need about 2,000W of solar panels on a typical sunny day to fully charge it. So you won't be going cross-country very fast at that rate. But if you are are boondocking, you have enough range to get deep in the boonies, and you can easily deploy enough panels to charge up for trips to town.

 

[Gr8ful]

I'd go with a hybrid but never a total electric. I read a good article showing that a total electric car cost as much or more as a gas one & the electric to charge is made $500 for charging which was more than gas would cost & the chargers ran on diesel & she had to wait. Here's an ad for one & there are many more https://www.chargedfleet.com/tags?tag=Larson+Electronics I'd rather have a small diesel charger built into the car for unlimited range.

 

[JT646]

I'd go with a hybrid but never a total electric. I read a good article showing that a total electric car cost as much or more as a gas one & the electric to charge is made $500 for charging which was more than gas would cost & the chargers ran on diesel & she had to wait. Here's an ad for one & there are many more https://www.chargedfleet.com/tags?tag=Larson+Electronics I'd rather have a small diesel charger built into the car for unlimited range.

EV charging is always cheaper than buying gas--about 99% of the time. And you totally missed the point of this post--making your own "fuel".

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

The problem is it still is not 'practical' for mobile, remote applications.
You can get about 2 miles of range per 100W of solar per day (<4 miles per KW, 500Wh per day). So unless you have a very large solar array or can sit for a while before moving, its not practical.
You are better off with backup fuel powered generation.

 

[bullfrog]

Ford’s new expensive, over $90,000 top line electric F150 is rated for over 200 miles per charge. The cheap over $40,000 version is only a little over half that. Charge times on a regular 110 outlet I believe is days, on high powered speciality chargers is as little as 4 hours. It is getting better but not for someone in social security living on BLM LTVA in the winter! Lol!!!