I read his article mostly because we have a Sprinter with a lithium battery, 2nd alternator, and auto-start function with a high idle set up. Some comments in no particular order -
1. Our previous B van had propane for cooking, heating and a water heater. We had 2 serious propane leaks in 110,000 miles and we never used the water heater because it was too slow. I wanted to avoid the hazards of propane leaks and carbon monoxide.
2. We have the autostart feature set up but it has never been necessary. If it is activated it only needs to run for either 60 or 90 minutes (I forget which) not the 3-6 hours claimed.
3. The Li battery runs all functions including cooking for days without requiring charging. I suppose if you are boondocking for long periods of time or if you need AC or some other power hungry appliance, a generator would be useful. OTOH, a generator is just another engine that takes up space and requires monthly maintenance all year long.
4. His sound level tests were measured with the detector set up right in front of the vehicle's grill, hardly a fair comparison.
5. In one part of the article, he complains that the engine doesn't warm up enough while idling and in another he complains about overheating.
