How far will your new Electric RV go????

[Grumpy]

Isn't it funny how all of this is nothing new.......

"The electric car burst onto the scene in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In 1899 and 1900, electric vehicles outsold all other types of cars. In fact, 28 percent of all 4,192 cars produced in the US in 1900 were electric, according to the American Census".

[hikerjohn7]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

Isn't it funny how all of this is nothing new.......

"The electric car burst onto the scene in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In 1899 and 1900, electric vehicles outsold all other types of cars. In fact, 28 percent of all 4,192 cars produced in the US in 1900 were electric, according to the American Census".

Yes, I read something about that. But they only had the old lead acid batteries in those days so the ranges must have been very small. Also, gas was super cheap and the world was not threatened with global warming. So the almighty infernal combustion engine took over. In fact, oil was probably the reason for some of our wars because we stationed so many Americans in the middle east to protect the oil deposits that pissed off the Muslims and led to 911.

[cekkk]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

Isn't it funny how all of this is nothing new.......

"The electric car burst onto the scene in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In 1899 and 1900, electric vehicles outsold all other types of cars. In fact, 28 percent of all 4,192 cars produced in the US in 1900 were electric, according to the American Census".

In the same vein I've been hearing about hydrogen powered vehicles for 40 years anyway.

And not to be too contrary, but oil was very cheap until the last couple months. And I'm not so sure about global warming. First of all it was global warming, then when the numbers didn't add up it became climate change. Then when the politics prevailed it became global warming again. And of course, nobody claims that we're going to lower the temperature from our country's efforts.Just as global cooling was going to destroy our crops and we'd all starve 50 years ago, it's really about taxes.

I'm all for EVs, but we must provide Power for the coming evolution. New coal, NG fired plants aren't going to happen. At least we've pretty much used up opportunities for hydropower. Solar and wind generation are fun to talk about but after nearly 50 years of govt subsidies, they still can't power our homes at the level we are accustomed to, let alone our transportation industry. And their per kilowatt-hour cost is very high. If we are going to use electricity in anything approaching that demand we need Nuclear Generating Stations, and lots of them.

[bansai]

I'm a huge fan of green energy. I should state that first... but:

The requirements for me from an end-user perspective are fairly simple.

My EV Tow Vehicle (ETV?) needs to tow an 8000+pound camper and the 2000 pounds in the truck, 300 (500 would be nice to have) miles in one shot, needs to (must) be able to repeat this as many times as required to go from San Diego to Boston with *minimal to no downtime* i.e. I team drive. I also need the ability to remotely charge it when I'm 100 miles from the nearest gas station -- something a few jerry cans does for me today. It needs to meet these requirements not just on the interstate, but on any / all roads I choose to utilize from point a to b and all points inbetween.

My second 'must-have' requirement is this miracle truck has to cost less than 55K in today's dollars. I'll miss the rumble of my V8, but if the ETV can meet / exceed my 2 core, must-have requirements, I'm sold and I'll buy it now.

Green energy is cool, I embrace it when / where I can. It is taking on a greater role in our lives every day and will continue to do so regardless of what the government mandates or doesn't. The biggest obstacles right now aren't the end-user and my own requirements, it's our entire power grid and its inability to support current demand. Are people thinking we can triple or quadruple our grid capacity, with nothing but renewable inputs and we will see that happen in our lifetimes? Where 80+% of the current inputs to our crumbling grid is fossil-based? I love ambitious goals, but this is pretty much in 'pipe dream' catagory, and that's not a reference to the canceled Keystone XL.

[hikerjohn7]

Originally Posted by cekkk

In the same vein I've been hearing about hydrogen powered vehicles for 40 years anyway.

And not to be too contrary, but oil was very cheap until the last couple months. And I'm not so sure about global warming. First of all it was global warming, then when the numbers didn't add up it became climate change. Then when the politics prevailed it became global warming again. And of course, nobody claims that we're going to lower the temperature from our country's efforts.Just as global cooling was going to destroy our crops and we'd all starve 50 years ago, it's really about taxes.

I'm all for EVs, but we must provide Power for the coming evolution. New coal, NG fired plants aren't going to happen. At least we've pretty much used up opportunities for hydropower. Solar and wind generation are fun to talk about but after nearly 50 years of govt subsidies, they still can't power our homes at the level we are accustomed to, let alone our transportation industry. And their per kilowatt-hour cost is very high. If we are going to use electricity in anything approaching that demand we need Nuclear Generating Stations, and lots of them.

Well, I won't try to convince you that fossil fuels are causing global warming but I am glad to hear you are not opposed to EVs.

But I do think, if you check with the latest technology journals you'll read that per kilowatt-hour costs for solar and wind are becoming as inexpensive if not cheaper than conventional petroleum powered power plants. And the technologies are advancing every day. As for nuclear, there are also some new technologies for conventional fission plants being developed that don't produce such dangerous waste products. But the real breakthrough will be the fusion technology which is now one of the hottest technologies on the power forefront. All the major countries are trying to race each other to the prize. That could change the whole global energy picture for producing electricity.

But to get back to what this forum is about and that's RV's, when they come out with all electric RV or even a big high tech battery to replace my gnset hog. I will certainly want one assuming it has a reasonable range. The maintenance and care for electrical power systems is much less than internal combustion ones that require gas, transmissions and transmission oil changes, engine oil changes, radiator coolant flushing, spark plugs, timing changes and so on. Electric power system will be more like your TV. And when have you ever had to take your TV in for maintenance?

[RAurand]

Well, Lessee, If we do it this way, we can go far!
So much for Carbon Footprint!

[kyleebrock]

Q said horses are coming back. Well just the back ends.

[RPR]

I wonder about the mileage ratings they publish. Was everything taken off the vehicle but the kitchen sink to reduce weight? To cheat the system to improve miles per gallon test on regular cars they put light weigh oil in the engine, transmission and rear end housing (if rear wheel drive).

[SloPoke]

The Future Seneca - electric powered

[Shokyle1]

Some interesting info on the larger vehicle segment which is probably more relevant to motor homes. Peterbilts new day cab can go up to 150 miles. Real world with a load, wind and hills I suspect you will be luck with half that and the power requirements for the chargers is crazy. The battery technology is not up to it yet. Nor is the power grid. You know it is a great idea when the government has to force it on the people.

[Finally Able]

As a country we can make anything happen that we damn well want to (moon landing and beyond) or need to (saving the world in WW2.) Will and necessity led to unparalleled technological advances and economic growth in the latter half of the 20th century.

I think the transition to EVs and away from fossil fuels is *both* a national desire (granted, not universally among my Boomer peers, but certainly among those of my childrens' age (33 to 42), and a necessity.

But change is hard, especially when fossil fuel companies are so large and globally powerful. I read Barry Commoner back in the late 70s, and I remember him saying that if the US invested as much in solar research and technology back then as it did in computers and electronics needed for NASA for the Apollo program, we could have the *energy equivalent* of cheap digital watches and calculators (and very soon after the PC revolution). These modern-day conveniences/necessities wouldn't have happened so quickly without the national will to get to the moon. Not suggesting Commoner was always right, but he made a good point here -- he also made one about the entrenched economic and political power of the automakers and oil companies to squash emergent renewable energy tech. Today, they embrace it, seeing the future.

Transition will be difficult and expensive, as all such massive changes are. Continued public and private investments in wind, solar, hydrogen, better storage, sistribution networks, a smarter grid, etc. are all required. But this transition is happening, no matter our opinion of it. (As a 65 yr old, I look forward to my 1st electric vehicle -- hoping it's not a mobility scooter!)

[jasum]

Originally Posted by Kenelz

I'm wondering how they will maintain the roads, doesn't a tax on gas do that now?

Where the hell are maintained roads??

[Route 66 Traveler]

Originally Posted by Shokyle1

Peterbilts new day cab can go up to 150 miles.

I was a "Local" tanker driver for 32 years, driving mostly in the LA area, with frequent trips to San Diego to the South and Santa Maria to the North, as well as Las Vegas. Just running around LA for 10 hours I used to easily put on 200-250 miles, a round trip to Las Vegas was 500. Once I finished my run another driver jumped into the truck for the night shift and he would do the same. Our fleet of 12 trucks ran 24/7 and the only down time was for maintenance. There is no way an electric truck could do the same job because there would be no time to recharge the batteries. Trucks make money driving down the road, not sitting idle while getting batteries charged.

[ledoyle]

For this application perhaps a quick change slideout battery pack would work.

[koweb]

Electric vehicles do not necessarily need batteries. I'm not sure why people automatically assume they do

Brad

[ledoyle]

Can you say more?

[Route 66 Traveler]

....extension cords.....

[Route 66 Traveler]

There is a Tesla charging station at our local Carl’s Jr. that has about 6 charging stations. Over the Easter weekend we stopped for a burger and noticed all of the charging stations had cars charging AND a waiting line of cars waiting to be charged. We asked one of the drivers who was also in line for a burger how long he had been there. He said he waited over an hour for an empty charger and it would take just over an hour to “fill up” his car. In that amount of time he could have been another 100 miles down the road. Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

[RPR]

Latest battery R&D using some very interesting and expensive materials solves the run time and charge time for electric vehicles. Some brands of electric forklifts went with AC drive motors which draw less amps

[ledoyle]

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