Truck Campers 10 years from now?
Being close to the new year, was just wondering what kind of camper our children might be driving .... I can see them being much more " Off Grid ", than what we have now. Using newer designed phot...
Forum Discussion
A very interesting topic. I don't know whether the timeline will be 10, 20 years or more, but I foresee a lot of changes being driven by vehicle changes.
1) Driverless vehicles will be available soon - when this comes about many people's priorities for an everyday car will change - rather than something sporty, people may be very tempted by something they can relax, work, eat, drink, watch TV and sleep in while it drives them around. Why fly cross-country when you can let your car drive as you sleep or work. Hence more vehicles may actually become RVs possibly resulting in major car manufacturers taking interest in producing RVs and being able to bring their substantial resources, sophisticated design facilities and economies of scale to bear.
2) Electric vehicles must have a source of electric energy that makes our puny camper batteries look pathetic. Hence you're future camper may just use the electric supply from your future electric truck (this also applies if your vehicle is hydrogen fuel cell based). Obviously this is not a full solution for RVs that are used detached from their support vehicle.
3) Solar panels are currently a bit of an after-market addition. Yes, some RV manufacturers are starting to add them, but only bolting them on just like an owner would. The breakthrough here would be when the solar cells are built into the fabric of the camper, e.g. moulded into the outer skin of the camper. Every surface might then collect solar energy.
4) The new F150 shows the way things are likely to go in truck design - using modern materials to substantially reduce weight to allow for better fuel mileage and better performance from a smaller engine, plus with less weight comes better handling. This weight reduction would need to be carried forwards to the campers to reap the benefit of the weight reduction in the truck. Possibly a monocoque / clamshell design moulded out of carbon fibre or similar and whose stiffness, like a monocoque car, comes not from using thick materials, but from the shapes the materials are moulded into. This weight saving would also need to be applied to interior fittings.
Steve.
1) Driverless vehicles will be available soon - when this comes about many people's priorities for an everyday car will change - rather than something sporty, people may be very tempted by something they can relax, work, eat, drink, watch TV and sleep in while it drives them around. Why fly cross-country when you can let your car drive as you sleep or work. Hence more vehicles may actually become RVs possibly resulting in major car manufacturers taking interest in producing RVs and being able to bring their substantial resources, sophisticated design facilities and economies of scale to bear.
2) Electric vehicles must have a source of electric energy that makes our puny camper batteries look pathetic. Hence you're future camper may just use the electric supply from your future electric truck (this also applies if your vehicle is hydrogen fuel cell based). Obviously this is not a full solution for RVs that are used detached from their support vehicle.
3) Solar panels are currently a bit of an after-market addition. Yes, some RV manufacturers are starting to add them, but only bolting them on just like an owner would. The breakthrough here would be when the solar cells are built into the fabric of the camper, e.g. moulded into the outer skin of the camper. Every surface might then collect solar energy.
4) The new F150 shows the way things are likely to go in truck design - using modern materials to substantially reduce weight to allow for better fuel mileage and better performance from a smaller engine, plus with less weight comes better handling. This weight reduction would need to be carried forwards to the campers to reap the benefit of the weight reduction in the truck. Possibly a monocoque / clamshell design moulded out of carbon fibre or similar and whose stiffness, like a monocoque car, comes not from using thick materials, but from the shapes the materials are moulded into. This weight saving would also need to be applied to interior fittings.
Steve.
