Winnebago Electric Motorhome on a F-53 chassis

time2roll wrote:

Gundog wrote:
Just think with a diesel generator you could stop and charge every 125 miles LOL.

Why stop? I've read posts where RVs run the generator while in motion...

My motorhome needs about 100hp to roll down the road at 65mph. You would need a 75kw generator to keep the batteries charged. Thats a 3000 pound generator plus fuel that needs to fit somewhere in the motorhome along with a few thousand pounds of batteries and electric motors. Plus the cost of all that. Plus the fact that double conversion from the generator engine to electricity back to the motors is less efficient vs just a direct mechanical transmission.

Trains do this without batteries because the need precise traction control to prevent steel wheels from slipping on the tracks, too difficult to gear that properly. This also allows for electric braking using heat strips on the top of the train. They however accept the ~80% efficiency of the electric drivetrain.

My motorhomes engine,transmission fuel and generator don't even weigh 1500lbs and only a few percent losses from engine to wheels.

You will notice all hybrids connect engine to wheels at highway speeds through a transmission as it is more efficient than running through the electric system. The electric system shines in stop and go city driving which motorhome don't really need.

I believe the future is electric, and motorhomes will get there probably last like they do with most stuff and they will be pure electric like the Tesla semi not hybrids. Even if the power comes from fossil fuels at the power plant, power plants are more efficient at extracting power from fuel than small engines are (multi stage heat recovery) and can have much better emissions systems as they arent constrained in size and weight. Plus you can mix solar, wind and nuclear in and vehicles don't change.

It will be a while before its practical though, the Tesla semi is going to have around a megawatt hour battery that weighs probably around 10,000 pounds and even if they reach $100/kwh cost that they are shooting for that's still a $100,000 battery. The charger to charge the thing in a hour needs to put out a solid megawatt that's like powering a 1000 homes. If you plugged it into a campsite 50 amp service it would over 80 hours at full blast to recharge.