Have our trucks got too much power yet?
I've often thought about all the energy being wasted with braking applications and exhaust braking on down grades. It's only a matter of time before our rvs will have electric drive axles to help hold...
Forum Discussion
4x4ord wrote:
If your right (and you're probably not far off) that the typical RV is only used 2k miles per year that means about 90% of a typical pick up's miles are spent without a trailer in tow. Even when the trailer is in tow only about 110 hp is required for cruising down the highway so we end up buying a 475 hp engine that gets employed for 1% of its life. The rest of the time a 220 to 300 hp engine would work just fine. In spite of that I agree with you that there might not be enough savings to warrant the the cost of electric drive trailer axles .... depends what they will cost.
If you go back 25-30yrs, 220-300hp was what a typical truck pulling an RV had. Heck sold a 1992 F250 with the 7.3 diesel...it had 180hp from the factory and was a nice towing machine. Not the fastest up hills but never a question of making it.
For 90% of RVs, the stock gas V8 with 350-390hp, is overkill. Of course, you have to keep in mind, the efficiency is a function of how many HP you ACTUALLY USE. Drop back to that 110hp and there isn't a lot of efficiency gains to be made with a smaller engine while rolling along the freeway at steady speeds.
