General thoughts on Hybrids

Groover wrote:


Good points. I was really just suggesting that the car pull itself when the motorhome is straining but you do raise a good point about the hitch being able push some as well.

As for integration you could do a lot with a car that can simply accept inputs from the standard trailer connector. For example, my F150 can activate its own brakes but if you want to tow it you have to put in your own very cumbersome and expensive break actuator. You also have to put on tow lights or do a complicated connection to the tiny wires for the LED lights while not screwing up the radar in the rear light assembly. I bought this vehicle with the intention of towing it behind my motorhome but have never used it that way because of the complicated hookup. I would not hesitate to pay $1500 and maybe even more for an OEM plug in connection. With 12v power from the RV you could activate all sorts of useful systems in the truck such as ABS and tire pressure monitoring. With an electric vehicle with a front camera you could activate regen every time the exhaust brake comes on if it also triggers the brake lights. Most vehicles have accelerometers and inclination meters that could be used to make the systems work even better.

My "New" vehicles are '05s so I may not know what I'm talking about. But my understanding is some new vehicles, riding on cruse control, come up behind a slower vehicle, and your car slows automatically. Could the car be programmed to have the following distance the length of towbar plus 2 inches when going down hill, and minus 2 inches going up? Or instead of measuring distance between vehicles, could compare side pressure where towbar mounts. Both pushing to outside? Turn on regen.
I assume your tire air pressure senders broadcast a wireless signal to the driver? Mount a receiver so the driver of MH can see.
BTW, I'm not a fan of Jake turning on the brake lights. IMHO, those lights are to signal I'm slowing down. Most time my Jake comes on it is only to hold speed.

valhalla360 wrote:


If you have a self driving car...why tow at all. Just have it drive to your destination and wait for you to arrive.

This would fit better with manufacturers as a self driving car would be viable for 100% of model sales.

Yes, but when you catch up with your car, but the battery is dead. With the car tailgating the MH, would not use much power. And I don't know when totally self driving will be on the market, but from what I have seen the cars are doing more of the driving. Bell, I was driving legally for 6 years before I bought something with automatic transmission. LOL