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Electric RV?

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DavidM

P2624, Delivered
Aug 18, 2011
451
21
Florida
Listen up Daimler Benz. How about an RV Sprinter Van EV, with a Tesla powertrain? 85KWh or 120kWh. Think about it! You're plugged into a NEMA 14-50 outlet in RV parks anyway. Why not use it to fully charge the battery? Combine that with Tesla supercharger use on roadtrips. Many RV buyers are used to paying $100K and up so they wouldn't sneeze at the price. Tell them the cost of fuel goes away, and all of a sudden, this would be the most popular RV in it's class. What a way to see the country. Luxury RV, and no gasoline.

I don't have nearly enough Tesla stock.

btw - meanwhile, Mercedes is only thinking about electrifying the "B" Class econobox sedan. If I could just give them a tap on the shoulder and yell out SPRINTER VAN EV!
- Sprinter EV for recreational vehicles
- Sprinter EV for airport - hotel transport
- Sprinter EV for delivery vans
- Sprinter EV for Limo services
- Sprinter EV for tradesman work vans
- Sprinter EV for executive transportation
etc.
 
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Listen up Daimler Benz. How about an RV Sprinter Van EV, with a Tesla powertrain? 85KWh or 120kWh. Think about it! You're plugged into a NEMA 14-50 outlet in RV parks anyway. Why not use it to fully charge the battery? Combine that with Tesla supercharger use on roadtrips. Many RV buyers are used to paying $100K and up so they wouldn't sneeze at the price. Tell them the cost of fuel goes away, and all of a sudden, this would be the most popular RV in it's class. What a way to see the country. Luxury RV, and no gasoline.

I don't have nearly enough Tesla stock.

There are a TON of retired baby boomers that would love to drive around the country in motor homes if they could only afford the insane gas prices. I wonder if they could build a dual pack RV?

Two 85kWh packs. If they could use superchargers, pretty sweet setup
 
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So, in two years, the supercharger network will be mostly built out. That's not too far away. I wonder if some RV manufacturer is thinking of licensing Tesla's drivetrain and battery technology to build an EV RV? The supercharger network, and, of course, available 50A charging at RV spots, would make this practical. I would think RVers would like the option of travelling green - no noxious fume when going camping. It would almost certainly have to be a luxury RV, not cheap. But probably doable. Any thoughts?
 
Well, never mind the "green" aspect of it. An RV gets like 10mpg, so it makes a huge difference in just out-of-pocket!

I would imagine you'd need to use 170 kWh of batteries to get 300 - 400 miles of range, even on a class C. Unfortunately that does mean that a 50A outlet will take 20 hours to re-charge your RV, but that's probably fine for most cases.

PleasureWay converts vans like Ford E-350's and Mercedes Benz Sprinters into RV's. I can imagine if either of those come out with a Tesla drivetrain, PleasureWay will immediately jump on that.

It would probably cost about $140k but I would be first in line to buy one!
 
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I have been thinking that same thing lately. It would seem to me to be a great idea for fuel savings alone on those giant rigs. Great idea, hopefully eventually someone will tale advantage

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 2
 
First issue i see with an RV using the charging network is the legth of that cable. With the model S you have to position your car very close to the SC in order to reach. Now take a 30ft RV and try to position a plug on that RV where it can reach all types of the SC network.

Also for the truck/tow vehicle, the current placement of the SC network assumes a single car. What happens if you have a 20 foot trailer on the back of your vehicle? Guess you need to unhitch your trailer every time you want to charge.
 
I would prefer a tow vehicle for my Airstream..Elon has suggested that a pickup truck was a future possibility...if it was able to tow 5500,and had a huge battery pack, count me in.

Having an integrated RV would be better - the large battery could also be used to run the lights, microwave, pumps, etc. in the RV. You could then put a small quiet propane powered generator in it, and you could have a couple of RV sized propane tanks for cooking and emergency generator usage (or off grid RVing).

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First issue i see with an RV using the charging network is the legth of that cable. With the model S you have to position your car very close to the SC in order to reach. Now take a 30ft RV and try to position a plug on that RV where it can reach all types of the SC network.

Good point - cable length might not be an issue, since you could put the charging port at the back of the RV, but the parking spots are not sized for RVs. The current supercharger infrastructure really isn't built for RV sized vehicles. Maybe Tesla is missing an opportunity here?
 
Good point - cable length might not be an issue, since you could put the charging port at the back of the RV, but the parking spots are not sized for RVs. The current supercharger infrastructure really isn't built for RV sized vehicles. Maybe Tesla is missing an opportunity here?

Nah. Keep in mind the thing you drive up to isn't a charger. It's just a connector - which is really just a fancy extension cord.

So it will be fairly cheap comparatively to install more connectors at additional parking spots.


The bigger problem is that you're not going to be able to charge a 200 kWh battery in 30 minutes from a single SuperCharger. (Assuming 200 kWh... I've seen quotes of 900 kWh for these electric RV's, but that seems ridiculous).
 
I have dreamed of electrifying my bus even before I got my S. I think it's the perfect fit. Once I remove the detroit diesel and transmission I would have tons of room for Tesla battery packs, don't forget that my Bus is 45000 lbs, Install 6 battery packs and two drive motors, and don't forget I carry a 15k generator that is wired to everything to power appliances and charge the battery on the road as well. Did we forget that unlike a car we have about 280 square feet of roof for solar panel mounting to help out on the road and also while parked at a campground to help charge, the panels could also deploy like an electric awning does while parked. Deploying panels could easily double the stationary panel availability to 560 square feet. Talk about the way America views electric transportation, WHAT ABOUT IT ELON, DO YOU WANT A CLASS A BUS TO EXPERIMENT WITH. By the way 10 miles per gallon is a dream I get 6mpg. I think the TESLA system could really work for a bus. I'll drive it to Fremont tomorrow Elon, tell me where you want it parked.

The bigger problem is that you're not going to be able to charge a 200 kWh battery in 30 minutes from a single SuperCharger. (Assuming 200 kWh... I've seen quotes of 900 kWh for these electric RV's, but that seems ridiculous).
Actually thats not a problem, thats what the on baord fridge of beer and flat screen tv's are for, lots of time to charge and take a nap.
 
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Starting with the same old brick shaped trucks that we have had for years is the problem.
Air resistance is everything.
If you made a perfect teardrop shaped RV with enclosed wheels it could easily have a much lower Cd than the Model S.
Having the top pop up might also keep the frontal area down enough that the Wh/mile could be quite good.
Then you just need to spend a lot of money on aluminum and carbon fiber to keep the weight down.
 
Starting with the same old brick shaped trucks that we have had for years is the problem.
Air resistance is everything.
If you made a perfect teardrop shaped RV with enclosed wheels it could easily have a much lower Cd than the Model S.
Having the top pop up might also keep the frontal area down enough that the Wh/mile could be quite good.
Then you just need to spend a lot of money on aluminum and carbon fiber to keep the weight down.

A lot could be done with the existing design without having to do a complete tear down.

-Round the front more so that the air is pushed to the sides rather than the front. Shaping the RV any other way would either make the RV lose a good amount of usable interior space or add a good amount to the overall dimensions.

-No exposed screws or rivets on the sides would greatly reduce drag. I look at RVs and the siding has so many screws,rivets and bumps in the surface that I'm sure Cd could be greatly improved.

-air suspension that lowers the RV while at highway speeds and raises it at lower speeds.

Those are a few that come to mind.
 
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I have been wanting to see an EV Class A RV as well. We have a very nice RV, but rarely drive it anywhere because of gas prices. RVs are relatively light for their size with lots of room for batteries. They have propane on board for heating, cooking and some power generation. And a hookup (30 to 50 amp or more) could be uesd just for charging while using another hookup providing power while at a camp site.
 
I like the idea of an electric RV, but i keep having issues justifying the high price. Yes RVers get 6-12 mpg and it costs an arm and a leg to fill up, but most RVers' drive their rigs once a month at most. In MN typically RV's stay in storage all winter and get used 5 or 6 times throughout the summer. Those that use their RV all the time might drive it to a campsite and leave it there most of the summer. So if you need 200 miles of range that is a lot of power that you may only cycle a hand full of times in a given year. With a Tesla the average seems to be to cycle the pack every week or so making a lot more use out of the investment.

Now the battery has a lot more benefits when you pull up to your site but every time i have camped there are always 30 and 50 amp hookups. Why would I want to use my battery when the site already supplies that for a nominal fee. Yes there are situations where the electric hookup are not always available but in those rare cases a small genset is a much much cheaper option.
 
I agree about the RV (or evRV)not getting utilized for the majority of the time... however if you can use the evRV as a battery pack for your house, tying in your solar panels to charge/store the batteries in the evRV and use that stored energy to run most of your appliances and lights then it wouldn't be all that bad. That way the pack will still get used. Would be cool to tell the pack to charge up to 85% at most and to discharge to 40% at most, that way it won't stress t he pack and would keep it in relatively good condition.
 
I agree about the RV (or evRV)not getting utilized for the majority of the time... however if you can use the evRV as a battery pack for your house, tying in your solar panels to charge/store the batteries in the evRV and use that stored energy to run most of your appliances and lights then it wouldn't be all that bad. That way the pack will still get used. Would be cool to tell the pack to charge up to 85% at most and to discharge to 40% at most, that way it won't stress t he pack and would keep it in relatively good condition.

Thats going to be a tough sell for me for a variety of reasons. I think the better use would be an EV (or series hybrid) F150-450 tow vehicle that is towing a normal 5th wheel camper. The truck can have an inverter tied to its battery that can be used for AC power for the camper, power tools at work sites or even to your home in the case of a power outage. With a pickup you will get a lot more cycles out of your pack because it can be used so many different ways besides just camping and therby have a broader customer audience.
 
Thats going to be a tough sell for me for a variety of reasons. I think the better use would be an EV (or series hybrid) F150-450 tow vehicle that is towing a normal 5th wheel camper. The truck can have an inverter tied to its battery that can be used for AC power for the camper, power tools at work sites or even to your home in the case of a power outage. With a pickup you will get a lot more cycles out of your pack because it can be used so many different ways besides just camping and therby have a broader customer audience.

Good points and I agree, having a evTruck would be the way to go. You could also put a truck camper on the back/bed if you didn't want a 5th-wheel option. The battery packs could give the truck good handling capabilities by lowering the mass/center of gravity. The power tool / AC inverter would be fantastic, especially on a job site. Definitely a better vehicle that has a wider array of uses and broader market space.