Just for fun - RV's in 30 years...

Turtle n Peeps wrote:

smkettner wrote:
If you need more let me know.

Guess it depends on who you believe.

Must be a conspiracy because even Green Car say's the figures are optimistic at best!

Funny; Edmonds say's the same thing.

Seems a lot of reviewers that drive a Tesla problems with range.

Top-gear 1........Tesla 0


Believe what you want but a lot of reviews had problems with range when testing the Tesla. Not only that but your $120,000.00 car can turn into a $40,000.00 brick!


We are talking about tow vehicles here; not some aluminum clad little car. It takes a lot of energy to pull a hill at 55 mph while towing a trailer. Even that little car was reported, when you floor it, you lose 1 mile/ second! :E

I have to disagree. IMO a 250hp diesel + 200hp electric should easily be more fuel efficient than a 500hp diesel. And try to imagine pulling in or out of a campground on silent electric instead of hearing all the complaints of idling diesels and the fumes.

Well ya!!! But who on earth needs 500 HP to tow a trailer? There is a lot of big rigs that have less than that and they tow 80K all over the country with no problems. The new diesels are just as quite as a gas engine and there is no fumes with a DEF and SCR.

My 200HP diesel only gets 12 MPG average towing my 26 foot TT. And that is with no fuel burning DPF. A battery pack for a Tesla is 40 grand and that is for a tiny car. Double that for a big truck. :E Even if it gets 1 to 2 miles/ gallon better how long do you think it will take to pay off a $140,000.00 pickup in fuel savings?

Bottom line is, electric vehicles are great for in town driving where you have to drive 30 or 40 miles to work each day. They work great! Out on the road they flat suck. Even then, without subsidies hardly any would be sold because they are so expensive and heavy.

pure electric trucks arent very practical yet,
unless they build those fast chargers in every truck stop

hybrid trucks are about 80,000$,still not cheap,but they do get 100mpg or 40 miles on straight electric which is quite impressive,and it will run cleaner then any diesel,
except maybe some powered by natural gas or vegie fuel.

http://youtu.be/jYG5Z6ypp8Q

Im totaly puzled why the Big semi tractors dont already use this technology as the electric motors have way more torque right from the get go,so it wont even need a transmissions,,

http://youtu.be/WQkwWxykQ6g


http://youtu.be/eDHJCM-P9k0

I am not suggesting the near future (OP topic) will have a pure electric HD truck or motorhome. However an electric assist motor would allow a smaller more efficient internal combustion engine accelerate and climb hills same as todays large engines. Also the electric would recapture a whole lot of the energy coming back down the hill. This recapture instead of burning up brakes or wasted through the exhaust brake. If done right it would also be possible to forgo a multispeed transmission. Anyone like to pass on the next transmission rebuild?

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How did the OPs vision for the future turn into an argument over electric power only statistics? Save it for a winter discussion.

pure electric trucks arent very practical yet,
unless they build those fast chargers in every truck stop

Faster charger??:R 1 gallon of gas is = to 33.5 KWH. The Tesla (state of the art) comes with a 60 or 85 KWH battery. So the smaller Tesla battery carries the approximate equivalent power of less than 2 gallons of gas. :E This battery costs around 40 THOUSAND dollars to replace! At WOT the Tesla can exhaust it's battery in less than 4 minutes! Done, dead flat! Think of that next time you tow up a big mountain with your RV!

hybrid trucks are about 80,000$,still not cheap,but they do get 100mpg or 40 miles on straight electric which is quite impressive,and it will run cleaner then any diesel,
except maybe some powered by natural gas or vegie fuel.

Please tell PG&E to get a better deal on the VIA trucks they (I) bought. :S They paid 200 grand apiece!

PG&E wrote:
The two VIA trucks PG&E has been trying out cost about $400,000 total, Meisel said.

Sorry wrong again. My diesel is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay cleaner. Around 50% of this countries electricity comes from coal. Energy producing, BIGGEST AIR POLLUTER in the US. This is a fact. LINK

http://youtu.be/jYG5Z6ypp8Q

Im totaly puzled why the Big semi tractors dont already use this technology as the electric motors have way more torque right from the get go,so it wont even need a transmissions,,

Two reasons. One is mega buck cost and the other I suspect is power. Notice the guy does not talk about HP. Why not? Hmmmmmmm????????

http://youtu.be/WQkwWxykQ6g

http://youtu.be/eDHJCM-P9k0

Delivery trucks and the like. Yep, like I said, works great. Out on the open road? Batteries suck!

Veebyes wrote:
How did the OPs vision for the future turn into an argument over electric power only statistics? Save it for a winter discussion.

Because energy (fuel) costs are the single biggest deciding factor in traveling in an RV. (talk to any RV sales man when fuel costs are high and see what they say) Fuel costs are going to be even more important in RVing in the coming years and future.

A lot of my friends have given up on RVing because of fuel costs. :(

The BTU content of gasoline may well convert to 33.5 kWh however when you burn gasoline you are lucky to get 30% converted to mechanical energy. Electric motor is closer to 90%.

It has been long proven an EV running on coal generated electric is still cleaner than a gasoline vehicle. And coal is on the way out right now in favor of natural gas. Besides if gasoline was so clean and low cost why are people not just running their home with a gasoline generator?

Hybrid fuel/electric RVs are the future IMO. The way things are going it will be natural gas/electric.

spoon059 wrote:
Lighter and stronger composite materials with better insulation value. Imagine a solid foam style wall that insulates, is water proof, rigid enough not to require wall studs and hand interior fixtures upon. This removes wood studs which can rot or allow heat/cold in AND prevents roof leaks from causing interior damage. The material fuses to itself, like a PVC glue connection. For repairs you can cut out the damaged area and fuse in a new section.

Better roofing material. Perhaps that magic composite that makes the walls can also be formulated to provide the neccessary strength for the roof while maintaining some degree of flex.

Inexpensive and high performing solar panels on the roof.

Better battery technology. I saw that some poeple think that current battery technology is at its peak... maybe its time to research new technology.

Air conditioner and refrigeration units that run on battery power.

Generators that are substantially more quiet.

More aerodynamic RV's that help acquire better gas mileage.

More fuel efficient tow vehicles that have sufficient power (remember lighter weights and more aerodynamic RV's).

Thats all I can think of for right now. This is an interesting thread, thanks OP!!!

with aerodynamics and photo voltaics, a drive motor on each wheel not to push but assist, it detects forward motion and puts power to the wheel to reduce drag on the TV ,, of course that would not work at night, unless it uses its fuel cell.

All solar powered it will take you another life time to travel the USA. The options will be a solar powered generator to charge the solar power RV batteries. You won't be able to have a camp fire because the greenies will sue you for carbon emissions. By then your dog will care it's own poop bag and clean up after it's self. OH! and by the way you will have to share your RV with those who didn't save and work hard to have what you have. I was reading the other day of the Feds having black boxes put into all new cars so they can tell every reaction you have if you have a accident. How long before they nail you with a road tax for traveling on highways ?
I would say go buy one now and travel as much as you can because the time to travel is coming to a end for those who like our freedom to go anywhere anytime.
Remember for those who worked hard or started a business you really didn't do that ! someone else got up a 4 am everyday for six days a week for years and years.
Sorry for being bitter but we just got hit with a rain tax ! in Maryland on top of a flush tax. WHAT!!!!!!