Electric Cars
Is anyone out there towing with an electric car (or Hybrid)? Suspect the club may face a few challenges in the years to come.
Comments
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The future is for pure Electric cars. This does not bode well for the traditional towed caravan enthusiasts, as only the super rich will be able to buy an electric car with any capability of towing. But the super rich don't caravan, they stay in 5 * hotels. Therefore the use of towed caravans will die out..
So where does that leave those of us who like to tour and stay overnight in camping places.? -- Absolutely no problem !
We will use Electric Campervans or Electric Compact Motorhomes, staying overnight on pitches each with it's own charging point.
Those who still want to stay in a caravan will buy a Static.
The future is looking very exciting
K
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have you done your sums on this? If an electric engine can push or power a MH along then it can just as well tow a caravan. the weights are just the same. Ever noticed the weight of a MH and car+towcar ? Are they the same more or less?
Actually it could be said that an electric car plus caravan would be more 'fuel' or electric efficient. Once on site no towing and therefore more miles per amps (or whatever) so maybe the future is electric car plus lightweight caravan?
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What little of the media hype I have bothered to read is all about banning "cars". Nothing about lorries and buses, or their little brothers that make up the skeleton of motor caravans. Or about tractors, vans, and other utility vehicles such as four-wheel-drive vehicles.
There will be an effect on them though from fuel pricing when the economy of scale does not have the millions of gallons used by cars to help keep prices down.
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Hmmm.....I remember about 30 years ago watching an episode of "tommorows world" which showed a flat screen TV. It was astronomically expensive, I seem to remember them quoting about £8000. At the time, watching it on my old cathode ray tv that they would never become reality let alone cost peanuts.
Same with mobile phones. In 1990 I had a phone installed in my Astra GTE and thought I was the dogs do da's. Look at them now.
Electric cars for the masses will happen much much faster than we are expecting and at comparable prices. A Garage down the road from me has got two immaculate Nissan Leaf's for sale, both "15" plate, one £8995 & one at £9995. That's cheaper than a "proper" car.....
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I agree, I am amazed how quickly electric cars have happened. I never imagined that a 'battery' could power a car.
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You cannot change the laws of physics. It takes a certain amount of energy (kw) to move a wheeled object along a flat surface. The greatest variable factor is weight then velocity. If 50kw is required for an hour you need 50kWh. Motorised caravan or motor car and caravan, it's all roughly the same. A camper-van towing a car though is just crazy!
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The range extender in our electric car is fuelled by a small amount of petrol, this generates battery power and increases the driving distance. We did a 120 mile round trip not long ago, the original charge was not fully used and the range extender maintained the charge. There are three charges available from fast to slow.
There is a small i.c.e in the electric car but it's only for generating electric power, a completely different concept.
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Are you saying the cost of diesel fuel will rise? Whenever there is over supply, the price at the pump falls.
As more electric vehicles arrive on our roads, there will be a situation, certainly in the early years of change, where diesel will be stockpiled. Despite the rhetoric of government plans, the oil companies of the world will not be quick to reduce fuel production.
They will keep drawing oil and refining for as long as they can get away with, plus, diesel is a product that results in the refinery of other fuels. The world will still need aviation and other fuels, so diesel (and petrol) will continue to be produced alongside.
I suspect the value of diesel cars will plummet but so will the diesel that powers them.
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Absolutely, the government will attempt to cream off what it can with taxation, however, they won't get away with taxing too much because it will affect the haulage industry which will in turn affect the overall cost of living and will drive a poor economy. Tax fuel too much and inflation will rocket.
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McDonalds have been running their trucks on the old fry oil from their restaurants for years, Iveco have developed a natural gas truck, there are fleets of duel fuel and hybrid buses already on the roads... so yes, advances in haulage and public transport are being made but it will be a much longer process to switch the haulage industry over to alternatives, over that of private cars.
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Taxation on fuel for commercial vehicles can be VAT which is reclaimed through the companies VAT account. This means the company cars would avoid the increas. The private motorist (those who are unable to claim back the VAT would pay the price. Company car drivers using their vehicles for private use i.e. Towing a caravan, would not pay the increase. There are many "company car drivers" who don't even go to work.
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