E-powered Dethleffs M/H. (1 Viewer)

joka250

Free Member
Jul 29, 2017
907
1,554
Fylde Coast.
Funster No
49,691
MH
Coachbuilt
Exp
Since 1985
Small news item popped up on my info feed. A Dethleffs solar powered coachbuilt on an Iveco chassis. Only a prototype at present but perhaps there's hope for those who might be around in 2040. Also i understand that Cummins are running an artic in the USA with a 100 mile range with a 16 ton payload trailer.
Look for www.inhabitat.com and click on news feed. It's about 5 or 6 item down page.
 
R

Robert Clark

Deleted User
The future is electric !

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Sep 17, 2017
5,335
9,945
Birmingham, UK
Funster No
50,575
MH
A-Class
Exp
2017
The press release tactfully says nothing about how useful the solar panels are for charging the batteries for travelling. It says you can do about 100 miles on a charge. The batteries come to roughly 90kWh, but you only get to use about half of that each cycle or they'd die pretty quickly. The best the panels can charge is 3kW in direct cloudless summer sunshine (which is about 4 hours around midday)... It'd take days to recharge after each 100 mile leg. And longer if it was raining, not summer, or the motorhome isn't parked in an optimal direction... Transport takes a lot of energy!

As for future improvements, better battery technology would mean you could get further on a charge, but then it'd take even longer to charge. Solar cells are plateauing towards a theoretical maximum efficiency already, so don't expect great gains there. You could make the van smaller and more aerodynamic to get it to go further on a charge, but then you'd have less solar panels and less living space. With good optimisation (a la Tesla) expect a two times improvement on these figures???

I think making the van electric is a good idea. The solar panels should stay static though...

So in summary, it's a good publicity stunt, but not practical.
 
Sep 17, 2017
5,335
9,945
Birmingham, UK
Funster No
50,575
MH
A-Class
Exp
2017
Tesla HGV or LGV
Whatever the new name is for trucks

https://electrek.co/guides/tesla-semi/

Yeah, I think batteries for a MH is a good idea. Plugging in overnight is fine. We don't care too much about sitting around at a service station for an hour while they recharge mid-trip. I'm just not convinced that solar panels on the vehicle will do anything except drive appliances.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 

Gorse Hill

Free Member
Feb 2, 2013
2,364
1,944
Stretford
Funster No
24,533
MH
Burnster Ixeo IT 734
Exp
2000
Solar cells are plateauing towards a theoretical maximum efficiency already, so don't expect great gains there.
Sounds familiar, didn't they say that about processor capabilities for computers not so long ago:sneaky:(y)
 
Sep 17, 2017
5,335
9,945
Birmingham, UK
Funster No
50,575
MH
A-Class
Exp
2017
Sounds familiar, didn't they say that about processor capabilities for computers not so long ago:sneaky:(y)
That was an engineer saying they couldn't do better... So they changed the way chips are structured (and cheated by going multi core). The solar cell efficiency limit is defined by quantum physics.

Plus the sun only provides about 1kW per square metre and even consumer grade cells get about 25% efficiency already, so even if we wiggle around the theoretical limit, there's no more than a 4x improvement ever to be made. We need a few more times than even that to make a pure solar MH practical.
 
Oct 8, 2014
1,541
4,558
Todmorden
Funster No
33,748
MH
Compactline 143
Exp
I'm a newbie and always will be. You never know it all.
The future is garlic bread


NOOOooo!! NOOooo!!!

giphy.gif

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 

Join us or log in to post a reply.

To join in you must be a member of MotorhomeFun

Join MotorhomeFun

Join us, it quick and easy!

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Funsters who are viewing this thread

Back
Top