Perhaps electric motorhomes will be okay after all?

Googlebot

Googlebot

Joined
Sep 29, 2019
Posts
3,741
Likes collected
8,638
Funster No
64,846
MH
Hymer Exsis
Exp
20 years
A van is a van and all that.

It is fully functioning and out working all over Birmingham as I type.

wmas.nhs.uk

WMAS launches the first 100% electric emergency ambulance in the UK

Murray MacGregor – Thursday 1st October 2020 – 6.00am. West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) has taken a major step forward in reducing its impact on the environment by launching the first fully e…
wmas.nhs.uk wmas.nhs.uk

The signs are looking good and this should be a great test bed for future motorhomes that are electric only.
 
It still seems to have a lot of downtime whilst it's charging and unable to go anywhere so a backup vehicle will be required to cover for it.
 
Figaro said:
It still seems to have a lot of downtime whilst it's charging and unable to go anywhere so a backup vehicle will be required to cover for it.
Click to expand...

I agree, we tend to roll them round though anyway so it’s not a major issue.

I don’t disagree the range is also an issue, the problem as always is that real world testing is always needed to refine it.

I think it’s a really positive step forward even given the limitations.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
I think this is a very good show of the real opportunities incoming.

Yes it can only go 100 miles, yes it takes 4 hours to charge.

It is the first, improvements already with 2 hour charge incoming, no doubts its range will increase as well and the infrastructure for charging is to be put in place.

And they have 10 years in order to be able to do it.
 
When straubel gets his new battery on the go thinga like this become more possible, but seems a long way off.
Also how will the sites hikke up there prices when we all start charging our MH batteries from the commando :eek:
 
Last edited:
As I posted the other day, all-electric Amazon (Mercedes Sprinter) vans are out on the road and can do about 100 miles on a full charge, according to the driver I spoke to - so a similar range.

PXL_20201130_122419913 (1).jpg

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
If I were retired, it would be lovely to only drive 100 miles. As it is, taking holidays during leave periods, I need more range but it may suit many and make planning a trip a little more interesting.
 
It will improve, and 100mile wont be 100 miles with the wipers/heater/air co etc.
My leccy car tells me I can do say 300, Ill get 250 depending on those and driving factors sometimes even less. I dont complain though for a 12 quid fill up.
What I find also is I tend to gravitate towards places wth chargers. Hotel, pubs restaurants, shopping retail parks etc.
So I wonder if camp sites woudl be wise to invest in rapid chargers
 
I think for most of us it's more about payload and weight
 
In theory, if you have 100kw lithium EV battery then that could power your motorhome 12v - 230v via invertor too.

readsetvan in new jersey are already using tesla batteries to give Umph to the vans they create just for off grid power.
 
Last edited:
Is this why they CHARGE for amazon prime ;)

Ill get my coat !!.....

seriously though High mileage is where the savings kick in
 
GROMIT69 said:
I think for most of us it's more about payload and weight
Click to expand...
Yes,you would be right to think about those. Our local council,South Cambridgeshire District Council now have an ALL ELECTRIC dustcart. They are very proud of it,but if you’d spent nearly £400,000 on a lorry I guess you’d have to be!!!!!!!!

Of course it’s far too soon to tell if it’s any good..................and by the time they find out it will be too late, those that ordered it will be gone....and so will the money.
 
Where I worked we had a Mitsubishi Phev as a patrol vehicle and we were told to charge it each time it had completed a patrol so roughly every two hours and overnight on the only installed charger that was a "rapid" charger taking 30 mins to full. We got 16 miles out of the batteries from full in the end albeit with led beacons going and poss air con. We were promised 200 miles. Turns out with the rapid charger we were cooking the batteries. It was sold to us as the great breakthrough... it was crap! Vehicle gone rapid charger removed. Long way to go.....
 
I find the fixation with battery power frustrating. Other means of propulsion are available (or will be, as much as batteries are) - hydrogen being promising for commercial vehicles for instance. EVs are undoubtedly cleaner than petrol or diesel but batteries are the next re-cycling nightmare we are likely to be foisting on our children and grandchildren unless they work out effective ways recycling them.
 
Tombola said:
It will improve, and 100mile wont be 100 miles with the wipers/heater/air co etc.
My leccy car tells me I can do say 300, Ill get 250 depending on those and driving factors sometimes even less. I dont complain though for a 12 quid fill up.
What I find also is I tend to gravitate towards places wth chargers. Hotel, pubs restaurants, shopping retail parks etc.
So I wonder if camp sites woudl be wise to invest in rapid chargers
Click to expand...
Yup campsites will need to invest in an infrastructure I had mentioned before cm you imagine 100+ electric MotorhomeFun arriving with only 70% charge all electric heating and cooking. Our local Tesla garage has just installed superchargers and a small substation !
 
TDub49 said:
I find the fixation with battery power frustrating. Other means of propulsion are available (or will be, as much as batteries are) - hydrogen being promising for commercial vehicles for instance. EVs are undoubtedly cleaner than petrol or diesel but batteries are the next re-cycling nightmare we are likely to be foisting on our children and grandchildren unless they work out effective ways recycling them.
Click to expand...
Agree with the Hydrogen as a potential option

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
In a recent R4 prog ('Costing the Earth') I learned that 80% of the world's cobalt needed for batteries is from polluting mining in the Dem Rep of Congo and shipped by heavy oil vessels to China where it is processed and used in battery and EV production, all powered by vast amounts of electricity from coal-burning power stations. Production of electric motors and the EV's was said to create twice as much CO2 than IC engined vehicles.
There was some doubt that the lifespan of the batteries and construction and operational life of low polluting EVs was long enough to result in an ultimately carbon neutral (never mind a saving) benefit.
Food for thought.
 
Last edited:
I'm sick of being lectured to by all these let's save the world nutters.

Many many many years ago our milk was delivered to our home in glass bottles by an electric vehicle, it also delivered Bread and Eggs and we cycled to work and they think they have thought a new idea....doooh
 
Spriddler said:
In a recent R4 prog ('Costing the Earth') I learned that 80% of the world's cobalt needed for batteries is from polluting mining in the Dem Rep of Congo and shipped by heavy oil vessels to China where it is processed and used in battery and EV production, all powered by vast amounts of electricity from coal-burning power stations. Production of electric motors and the EV's was said to create twice as much CO2 than IC engined vehicles.
There was some doubt that the lifespan of the batteries and construction and life of low polluting EVs was long enough to result in an ultimately carbon neutral benefit.
Food for thought.
Click to expand...
Maybe it’s a conspiracy........... but by whom?
 
Im sat 3 miles away from a good sized tesla super charger bay on the m62, amazing to see how mamny cars use it now from when it was first installed

I pop down to it now and again when I need a quick boost.

+1 for the hydrogen comment
 
TDub49 said:
EVs are undoubtedly cleaner than petrol or diesel but batteries are the next re-cycling nightmare
Click to expand...
Yep...... Nuclear power is about as clean as it gets...... Until you have to dispose of the radio active element.

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!

Join us

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Back
Top