Electric Motorhomes

[tofo]

Will the batteries weigh less than the fuel, the fuel tank, engine, cooling system, exhausts ect. If so, it could mean a big boost in motorhome payload. Or will the leccy motorhome be so weight sensitive we'll be like balloon pilots jettisoning things to lose weight just to make our destination. I can see it now..

"Siân, throw out three more pairs of shoes, and that 6kg bag of ice or we're not going to make it"

"How about you losing some weight you fat b@$%^d"​

From the BBC so could be round things

Tesla may produce an electric lorry next year


I saw this on the BBC News App and thought you should see it:

Tesla will unveil electric lorry in September

Chief executive Elon Musk tweets the truck will be "seriously next level".
Disclaimer: The BBC is not responsible for the content of this email, and anything written in this email does not necessarily reflect the BBC's views or opinions. Please note that neither the email address nor name of the sender have been verified.

 

[mitzimad]

shame we took all the trolley bus infra stucture away in london

 

[Yorick]

Crap for skiing.
We will flatten the battery climbing the mountain, have nothing to run the heating on, then only recharge through regen braking on the way down.
Electric motorhomes will end wild camping and tie us all to campsites.

Won't solar panels work in the future ?

 

[jongood]

The next logical stage is hybrid.

Iveco s approach makes a lot of sense to me and could work very well indeed for motorhomes.

http://www.parkers.co.uk/vans/news-...king-payload-bonus-for-alternative-fuel-vans/

 

[Puddleduck]

Range would be the key requirement for me after costs.

Same here. I take the manufacturers' stated range with a huge pinch of salt, like the mpg figures they are under ideal and controlled conditions. Until the range is 150 miles plus with freezing temperatures, hilly terrain and lights on it just won't work for people who live in rural or isolated communities.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[jongood]

Same here. I take the manufacturers' stated range with a huge pinch of salt, like the mpg figures they are under ideal and controlled conditions. Until the range is 150 miles plus with freezing temperatures, hilly terrain and lights on it just won't work for people who live in rural or isolated communities.

Hmmm - a motorhome that won't make it to scotland might save some arguments

 

[busby]

Gypsies will love it,,all those copper hook up cables (35 million probably) to steal during the night,,,BUSBY..

 

[Crazylegs]

I do so hope that I'm still alive in 2040 when all new cars will be electric.

I want to see the chaos and Health & Safety issues when people who don't have a garage or off road parking have cables strewn across the pavements (and maybe half a mile down the road to where the nearest parking space was when they came home).

Also where is all of the extra electricity going to come from as, from what we're told, the power stations and the national grid are already running to full capacity?

Will the yobs of the time be cutting and knicking all of these copper cables, and where is all of the copper needed to make them going to come from? And come to that, where is the lithium needed for the batteries going to come from? And what about the environmental damage that is caused by copper and lithium mining?

What will happen when 100s of people get stuck on the motorway in winter when the (less efficient in cold weather) batteries are unexpectedly flattened by heaters and lights? Will the AA/RAC have electric vehicles too? If so how will they cope with towing 3 ton cars to the nearest (available) chargers?

What happens if the chargers are all in use when you get to where you're going and don't have enough power to get back home? Will there be queues of people pushing their 3 ton battery cars looking for an unoccupied charging space? Will there be 'charging rage' with people fighting in the streets over who's turn it is next?

I do so hope that I'm still alive in 2040 when all new cars will be electric.

 

[Puddleduck]

I do so hope that I'm still alive in 2040 when all new cars will be electric.

I want to see the chaos and Health & Safety issues when people who don't have a garage or off road parking have cables strewn across the pavements (and maybe half a mile down the road to where the nearest parking space was when they came home).

Also where is all of the extra electricity going to come from as, from what we're told, the power stations and the national grid are already running to full capacity?

Will the yobs of the time be cutting and knicking all of these copper cables, and where is all of the copper needed to make them going to come from? And come to that, where is the lithium needed for the batteries going to come from? And what about the environmental damage that is caused by copper and lithium mining?

What will happen when 100s of people get stuck on the motorway in winter when the (less efficient in cold weather) batteries are unexpectedly flattened by heaters and lights? Will the AA/RAC have electric vehicles too? If so how will they cope with towing 3 ton cars to the nearest (available) chargers?

What happens if the chargers are all in use when you get to where you're going and don't have enough power to get back home? Will there be queues of people pushing their 3 ton battery cars looking for an unoccupied charging space? Will there be 'charging rage' with people fighting in the streets over who's turn it is next?

I do so hope that I'm still alive in 2040 when all new cars will be electric.

All very valid points.

 

[jongood]

Well the government announced this week that they are relooking at incentives for people to use and store electricity differently. Of course the detail is still to follow but the concept makes a lot of sense to me.

jon

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[John & Joan]

There were proposals for battery replacement. Roll onto a service Pit. Battery is removed and a replacement fitted in a couple of minutes. You simply rent your battery and pay for the charge. The company hiring the batteries makes the money as the petrol companies do now.

Doesn't get over the problem of charging when wild parking though.

Induction charging in car parks is a possibility without cables all over the place. You would get something for your parking charge and those who didn't park correctly would find they paid for nothing. sweet justice.

 

[busby]

Well the government announced this week that they are relooking at incentives for people to use and store electricity differently. Of course the detail is still to follow but the concept makes a lot of sense to me.

jon

Nothing as good for the environment as a load of acid batteries bubbling away in your garden,,,.Where are all the raw materials going to come from for all these batteries and solar panels,,,,BUSBY..

 

[Yorick]

Blimey. This thread alone just bust the MHF cynicism meter

 

[MR. FUSION]

The main electric vehicle charging depot in Glasgow was shut yesterday.....So if you left it too late to find another charging point you will be royally up the renewables creek without any electricity....

 

[MR. FUSION]

Nothing as good for the environment as a load of acid batteries bubbling away in your garden,,,.Where are all the raw materials going to come from for all these batteries and solar panels,,,,BUSBY..

China, nobody cares about the environment there.....

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[MR. FUSION]

Seems to me that it's all just another crank of the life handle regarding polution, especially on the streets of capital cities.

This is all brought about because of pollution. It really wasn't that long ago that the only means of transport was the horse. This in itself brought around a polution problem, health hazards and disease. See here: http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Great-Horse-Manure-Crisis-of-1894/

We'll mine the earths resources even further for the metals to make these batteries and then draw on our electrical supplies to charge them.

We don't even have power stations that can maintain the UK's power supplies of today without drawing from overseas supplies, let along charge the millions of cars that would eventually run on our roads.

Will we need to build more power stations, possibly nuclear and how safe will they all be. Hopefully nuclear technology will ensure our safety, but what of the disposal years from now. Contain the waste and dump at sea, or bury in the ground or dump in deep space.

Can't help but feel it's the futures futures generations that'll be paying for it all in one way or another.

I notice nuclear power is on full tilt today and often was during last winter, to replace coal burning power stations output when there is not enough wind power (about 73% of the time). So where are all those spent nuclear fuel rods going to go ??????
http://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk

 

[knokinonabit]

If solar panel technology improves will we end up with motorhome/van/bus/car/truck roofs made of them ?
Didn't someone recently fly an aeroplane around the world on solar power alone ?
That has to be more than 100 mile range .

I know that it depends on bright days to be at it's most effective, something the UK isn't too blessed with, but solar technology is improving so it may just happen before the year 2040.
Hopefully I will have reached 89 by then and can see what happens.

Wonder if it's possible to have those panels that heat water made to reach boiling point ?
The steam engine could make a comeback

 

[Enword]

I got to thinking of our trip's to Assen in the years past & how long it will take in the future with electric power (650 miles) for racing bud's of the future? But then there wont be any so the problem wont exist

 

[jongood]

IMO you guys are being very cynical, electric racing already exists as Formula E and the bikes on IOM, Ok it isnt electrifying (pun intended( yet but it will get there - the old saying is HP sells bikes but torque wins races and electric is big on torque.

 

[Enword]

I forced myself to watch Formula E earlier Qualifying (3rd time I've tried) today & the commentators do their best bless em, but its utter crap to watch my scalextric's car's sounded better when I was a lad The same as the TT Zero. Sorry!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Barclaybasher]

Blimey. This thread alone just bust the MHF cynicism meter

.......and the pessimism meter.........we're doomed !............

..........but I am sure it seemed the same in the past.........and we're still here

 

[Puddleduck]

Induction charging in car parks is a possibility without cables all over the place. You would get something for your parking charge and those who didn't park correctly would find they paid for nothing. sweet justice.

That would be the way forward for larger towns and cities, but I don't see the induction cables being laid in smaller places. heck, some places here don't even have mains electric yet!

I had fun yesterday with a man trying to sign me up for gas and electric. He couldn't get his head round the fact that there wasn't a mains gas supply. I almost got a contract signed for the company to put in a gas main for free and supply the gas!

Wonder if it's possible to have those panels that heat water made to reach boiling point ?

Yes it is and we have done it by accident even on a dull day. The solar thermal panels are heavy though..... we put ours in when we built the house and had to have the roof trusses beefed up to take the weight.

 

[bertiebasset]

And nobody has ask the Middle East what their intentions are as to revenue when there is no need of oil.

 

[Larrynwin]

I think we are to some extent dreaming.
We had men on the moon, we have men on a space station orbiting the earth but BT can only manage 5mbs on my broadband and EE as well as others cannot give me a 2g mobile signal ...........
all electric cars and the ability to charge them by 2040

 

[Silver-Fox]

Crap for skiing.
We will flatten the battery climbing the mountain, have nothing to run the heating on, then only recharge through regen braking on the way down.
Electric motorhomes will end wild camping and tie us all to campsites.

But you forget the venerable diesel generator for a recharge

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[magicsurfbus]

Scalextric found the answer years ago.

 

[Enword]

We have started saving for a Voltswagon

 

[Rob Turner]

Battery technology is moving forward at a very fast rate, so is solar. It won't be long, before the pv on the roof charges the cells as you're moving along.
I'm all for it.

 

[busby]

And nobody has ask the Middle East what their intentions are as to revenue when there is no need of oil.

And where are HM Government going to replace the revenue thy receive from fuel tax and road/emission tax ???

 

[Badknee]

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}