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brokendown's avatar
brokendown
Explorer
Sep 10, 2020

Engine swap.

I have been searching for a gasoline to electric conversion for my RV. I have a 2019 32' Thor ACE with a Ford V10. Carrying 80 gallons 480 pounds of fuel and around 200lbs for the tank. Not sure what the weight of battery's would be after swapping them with a fuel tank. Has anybody seen or hear of a Ford V10 swap to electric?
  • There was a company that build a batch of EV E450s to use for Long Beach public transit. It works ok for stop-and-go use, but the physics of pushing a brick wall through the air don't lend well for EV use on the highway yet. For a viable EV motorhome, the efficiency of the chassis and aero need to be dramatically improved, and even then, a lot of batteries won't go far.

    The Thor ACE is one of the worst designs for reducing drag because of the "forehead". The Thor Vegas and Axis are the best, actually allowing Thor to meet greenhouse gas limits for a Class 3 chassis.

    You ace with it's Cd around 1.3 and frontal area estimated to be 86 sq. ft, would require 160 kW (including ~10% for driveline and accessory losses) to drive down a flat highway at 60 MPH.

    The battery back from a Tesla Model X has a capacity 100 KW/hr. You'd only be able to drive your motorhome around 37 miles before needing a recharge. Assuming no headwind, hills, using heat etc.

    For a usable range, you would need about 10 Model x battery packs. But each one weighs 1200 pounds. And your existing cooling system might not be large enough to reject the heat of 10 of those packs charging simultaneously. Using a 240v charger (to utilize campground power), you'd need 120 hours to recharge your battery bank to drive another 370 miles. Plus you'r need a 2nd pedestal to power the house while your chassis charges.
  • I've never heard of a swap for an electric motor. It sounds very expensive.
    Just a guess but, the battery bank will probably weigh considerably more than a full fuel tank.
    You could buy a lot of gasoline for the price of the conversion.
    It does sound like an interesting project but, would it be practical or cost effective?