A practical electric motorhome is not far away
Check out the >Zevo 600< from General Motors, both Fed Ex and Wallmart have placed substantial orders for these. At about 7.3m long and a gross weight of 4.5 tons, a payload of about a ton and a range of about 250miles, I don't think it will be too long before we will see the first practical electric motorhome on these or similar chassis on sale, hopefully at a sensible price. A small version, the EV400, will also have a similar range.
I doubt European producers are far behind the US..
peedee
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Reading the bumpf, the production number are relatively so small, even into the middle of the decade, that those that are produced will be snapped up by the huge distribution companies, leaving none to be turned into M/Hs unless of course those manufacturing the M/Hs pay a premium for the base vehicle, and then their cost is going to be way beyond that of the average LV owner. Maybe we will see a few about but I doubt that they won't become common place until the middle of the next decade at the esrliest, well past the time of many on here still touring.😄
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Just a random thought and without meaning to start the inevitable war of words!!!!Will this bring an end to the recent "fad" of fly camping?
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Range would be a bit marginal for many. It’s generally unclear in those articles what the implications of running with lights and/or aircon is? World class at the moment isn’t much more than about 250 miles so that’s quite a claim for a large van.
Also, I’ve not seen much from independent sources about degradation of batteries in real world situations as opposed to theoretical forecasts. If batteries in mobile phones are anything to go by the performance of 2+ year old vehicle might be disappointing?
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What I took from this article and others is a satisfactory range for me because even over there I rarely drive more than 250 miles in a day and I would be quite happy with that as long as charge points were readily available. The pay load also makes building a motorhome body on the chassis appear quite feasible, something others have in the past questioned in earlier threads. However I do take on board SBs post about battery aging but whatever your views it is getting more feasible and it will only get better. Ranges will increase as will charge points and other suppliers will come to market increasing choice and hopefully reducing costs.
I don't suppose I will ever own one because age is catching up on me and I do not envisage changing my motorhome for what remains of my touring days but the news should be encouraging for those with many more touring days ahead of them.
peedee
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That’s just it PD we are witnessing the only bit of this future we will see, not for us the use & full enjoyment of the 4-500+ miles per charge. Future generations will be the ones to enjoy the reality as we have the internal combustion engine👍🏻. My grand parents never owned a car. Our children will enjoy the use of EV’s but our grandchildren will enjoy the normality of it all. We still get to live in the exciting times. A full electric Moho, EV’s have come on since their inception in the 1800’s, it’s a pity they didn’t adopt the concept then🤷🏻♂️
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I think a big EV MH is a long way away, however…….this is of more interest to us. Converting existing vehicles https://www.electricclassiccars.co.uk/past-projects
Scroll down for VW camper. Range is only 100 miles, however, that’s how many small campers are used, proper touring around, and not as much belting down motorways. We had a muse over our small MH while away this week, wondering what might be possible, and how feasible. Would suit us very well, we love meandering, taking in all the interesting hidden places well off the beaten track.
Might be something for the MG as well🤔 Another few years, wait for infrastructure to get even better, technology to get better. 😁 Best of both Worlds then. An interesting vehicle, and eco friendly/cheap to run.
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The technology will undoubtedly evolve and EV range will improve. It has to, it’s the only show in town. However, break that claimed 250 miles down and, in the short-term at least, practicality for many would be disappointing.
Firstly the claimed 250 will be like any automotive manufacturers claim, not real world and exaggerated. Maybe something more realistic might be 200 on a good day?
Most drivers wouldn’t risk exporting the range boundary beyond real world 150miles due to lack of confidence in the charging infrastructure. Throw in some battery degradation and dark/fog/aircon running and you’re probably nearer 100 miles. Obviously folks can adapt to that, but it will change touring patterns big time for the foreseeable.
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As a classic car fan of many years I’ll be interested to see how the interesting car -v- spawn of the devil debate pans out in the EV age. Last classic I owned was a 1967 Triumph and, although not ‘green’ in terms of emissions or economy, I reckon it didn’t own the planet much in terms of sustainability.
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Firstly the claimed 250 will be like any automotive manufacturers claim, not real world and exaggerated. Maybe something more realistic might be 200 on a good day?
Test drive report >here< New York to Washinton is of the order of 230 miles.
peedee
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That’s encouraging. However, call me cynical but we know nothing about Ars Technica, it’s affiliations or test conditions. Also, how close to the end of the range did they take it? In reality most owners wouldn’t risk too close in the same way as they probably refuel at about a 25% remaining fuel for fear of getting stranded.
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Yes, but who wants to breakdown on a cold, dark, wet, ‘smart’ motorway? Not sure how much residual power is left to power lights & hazards after EV has come to a halt?
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Of course, Li batteries are powering the revolution in EV and our electrified future. However, not much is being said about what happens to those millions of Li batteries at the end of their useful life. Conventional batteries can be recycled easily enough, but apparently not so Li batteries. At the moment it costs more to recycle Li batteries than mine more Lithium. As a result only about 5% are being recycled. Mining Lithium is as environmentally damaging as any other metal mining operation which does tarnish its green credentials a tad.
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Yes that's right Peedee, the batteries from our EV will be re-used to provide another source of power, at charge points etc.
I'd suggest anyone who is interested can look up EV battery re-cycling on the web.
Incidentally there are already large vehicles in use powered by batteries including buses so a motorhome is likely to be viable.
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I’m pleased hear that, but surely if a battery has reached the end of its life, it’s usefulness to power anything can’t be that good? Isn’t it like giving your old torch batteries to somebody with a cheaper torch? I don’t think the question is about viability Brue, but practicality in a MH context which is essentially about touring on the open road here and anywhere else.
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My motorhome has a full tank range of 500-550 miles. I'm currently planning the logistics of a trip to Annecy. Even chopping it into bite sized drives, if I had an electric moho, I'd be looking at a full recharge at each stop. Whilst that could be done overnight, it would still probably entail finishing earlier and starting later the next day and restrict my stopping places to availability of suitable chargers. In order to future proof your touring, buy your next motorhome by 2029.
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I quite agree that battery technology will keep improving, but I don't see battery manufacturers supporting the older out-of-date batteries for long after production stops. So one could end up with a vehicle a few years old that is in excellent condition but just needs a replacement battery - but none are available. Perhaps "industry standard" batteries will evolve in time and large vans are likely to be so fitted sooner than small cars where the shape of the battery has to fit the styling of the vehicle.
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The main problem I can see is the total weight. Younger drivers need to pass a lorry test to drive a motorhome heavier than 3500kg. Once 70 the older ones have to jump through hoops to keep their current entitlement. Also some motorhomes don't have much payload at present. Many now measure it by only having 20 litres of water in the tank and a very small driver!
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White van man who only has a B licence can also now drive up to 4.5 tons with just some additional local instruction. It is on the cards, driven by EV weights, that the B lincence entitlement will be raised to 4.5 tons. Was not the restriction to 3.5 tons for new drivers scrapped and B and C1 categories are automatically given now or was it just the towing tests scrapped last year?
peedee
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https://voltatrucks.com is a leading EV truck co. Different approach in so far as in city from CFC (Consignment Fulfilment Centres) on outskirts to delivery inside. Lower range requirements.
Yes there are electric busses available with longer 'ranges', but its more about duty cycle than range. Mass takes energy to accelerate, constant acceleration drains the battery. That EV/hybrid are higher mass than equivalent ICE vehicle, so eating energy accelerating dead weight.
Of course none of these are green as the leccy supply is currently from fossil fuel as we don't have the infrastructure or load capacity to deliver green leccy. Get them nuclear plants built quicker.
In respect of mining I often wonder how people know so much as it's very difficult to get to them in remote areas to see what goes on. Of course that also means burning avgas as you can't walk or cycle there, As usual where greed pervades the regulatory requirements are lax. Where proper regulation is part of the extraction licence requires cradle to grave reinstatement, but that supposedly cost and corners get cut. Mankind needs what the earth holds to survive, dig it up, use it then return it whence it came, but accept the whole life costs not just the cheap tat we crave, apparently.
Bit like the argument about nuclear waste and terrorism, put it back in the ground. You'd kind of notice if terrorists were trying to recover it from a disused mine, it takes big kit that can be seen.
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I wouldn't get too excited. I suspect the 250 mile range quoted is for an empty van - more likely to be 100+ loaded (which is ideal for a parcel delivery van in towns and cities). The real breakthrough in terms of cost / range / speed of recharging will be the arrival of solid state batteries coupled to 400/800 volt charging and increased availability of super chargers. Most Euro manufacturers expect to be selling this technology in the latter part of this decade although one Chinese manufacturer claims they will have a car on sale with 1000km range in Dec 22....we shall see!
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All this electric stuff seems a bit clunky technology to me. It’s a bit like space travel, we’ve improved our ability to get there, but fundamentally it’s still basically strapping a few folks to a bomb and hoping for the best. Electric powered vehicles are the same. We’ve improved on the milk float, but it’s not really the great leap forward. Working going on now in particle physics will ultimately solve our problems and sustain the human race (Putin permitting). Developments in physics like the Hadron Collider will provide the means to safely unlock huge amounts of energy from matter and ultimately provide the means to power most of the our needs. Our grandkids will visit museums and laugh at the concept of a big, heavy thing called a car battery.
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Bill the batteries in an electric vehicle are not the same as the ones on a milk float (we had a friend who dealt with those and even the batteries on the occasional lighthouse before new systems came into operation.) The EV batteries themselves are quite small although they need are modular at present, I can't remember how many are in the floor of our EV but they form a flat bed. Developments in battery power have been ongoing over a very long time and it's just by sheer chance that electric vehicles, which were developed before ICE ones didn't make it to the production lines.
It might be that vehicles will be powered by some other means in the future but at present electric power is at the forefront.
Your grandchildren will probably know already what electric car batteries look like and how they work. The computerised techniques involved that get an electric vehicle moving are the major development in this field. Forget "car" batteries as you know them these are different.
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