Are today's shiny new motorhomes fit for purpose?

[LostInSpace]

I think not.

A shiny new Fiat based motorhome purchased new this year has been off the road for two months, unable to start the engine.

Why?

Because the start/stop system went start/stop start/STOP on lane two of a busy motorway - not to start again and has since been on the back of 4 recovery trucks. The tracker people keep ringing to ask why is it moving without the engine running?

In addition to that, before it STOPPED, the regenerative braking system was ridiculous - at best, only charging the starter battery to 12.2 volts. In some cases, the start/stop system was discharging the battery faster than the alternator could recharge it.

After being recovered from lane 2 of the motorway, the dealer told me that the engine battery was probably dead/dying when we bought it because it had been left uncharged in various places after the battery manufacturer made it. Quite probably for years before we got it.

The prospect of a low leisure battery being charged above 12.2 volts was non exsistant. (and that battery had probably suffered the same fate as the starter battery)

 

[Tony50]

Has anyone purchased a new or secondhand motorhome that's been faultless, I've bought new UK ,new foreign all had problems some very small some quite large, don't buy secondhand, always worried about ( why were they sold especially if they have been treated to remove smells such as dogs , damp etc. ps. Not against dogs just our personal views) so have to put up with warranty problems, dealers / factory so far have put them right as can be ! Or I would sue them , I won't be messed about, probably due to being in the motortrade all my working life.

 

[WESTY66]

Has anyone purchased a new or secondhand motorhome that's been faultless, I've bought bought new UK ,new foreign all had problems some very small some quite large, don't buy secondhand, always worried about ( why were they sold especially if they have been treated to remove smells such as dogs , damp etc. ps. Not against dogs just our personal views) so have to put up with warranty problems .

Yes me, this Carthago I have now and my previous Adria sonic, not a problem with either that wasn’t owner induced. Both of them 3.0L comfortmatics too, and BOTH bought from Simon Select
Maybe a coincidence, or maybe just good stock either way I’m very happy

 

[Tony50]

Yes me, this Carthago I have now and my previous Adria sonic, not a problem with either that wasn’t owner induced. Both of them 3.0L comfortmatics too, and BOTH bought from Simon Select
Maybe a coincidence, or maybe just good stock either way I’m very happy

You're lucky obviously I haven't seen them

 

[WESTY66]

You're lucky obviously I haven't seen them

Oh and both of them were/are left hookers

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[nicholsong]

Has anyone purchased a new or secondhand motorhome that's been faultless, I've bought new UK ,new foreign all had problems some very small some quite large, don't buy secondhand, always worried about ( why were they sold especially if they have been treated to remove smells such as dogs , damp etc. ps. Not against dogs just our personal views) so have to put up with warranty problems, dealers / factory so far have put them right as can be ! Or I would sue them , I won't be messed about, probably due to being in the motortrade all my working life.

Yes I bought our N&B Arto secondhand privately at six years old and had no problems.

Found out reason for sale was unmarried couple were splitting up and she wanted her money back, so nothing to do with the MH. They had only had it 4 months.

 

[CazPaul]

Has anyone purchased a new or secondhand motorhome that's been faultless, I've bought new UK ,new foreign all had problems some very small some quite large, don't buy secondhand, always worried about ( why were they sold especially if they have been treated to remove smells such as dogs , damp etc. ps. Not against dogs just our personal views) so have to put up with warranty problems, dealers / factory so far have put them right as can be ! Or I would sue them , I won't be messed about, probably due to being in the motortrade all my working life.

Yes we did with this one bought 2018

 

[chaser]

Has anyone purchased a new or secondhand motorhome that's been faultless, I've bought new UK ,new foreign all had problems some very small some quite large, don't buy secondhand, always worried about ( why were they sold especially if they have been treated to remove smells such as dogs , damp etc. ps. Not against dogs just our personal views) so have to put up with warranty problems, dealers / factory so far have put them right as can be ! Or I would sue them , I won't be messed about, probably due to being in the motortrade all my working life.

Yes bought our 08 ambulance 4 years ago, never missed a beat.

 

[VXman]

If the air did not spin the pollution would be worse

I assume you are just being pedantic. My point being that the air in a certain spot on the globe doesn't stay at that spot and follow it as it rotates.

But anyway I cannot remember the original point of this conversation so I'm out.

 

[Coolcats]

I assume you are just being pedantic. My point being that the air in a certain spot on the globe doesn't stay at that spot and follow it as it rotates.

But anyway I cannot remember the original point of this conversation so I'm out.

I can be literal which be taken as pedantic and apologise. The original post was a comment about pollution in China but I was pointing out pollution travels. Birds follow air currents across the globe and so does pollution.

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[VXman]

I can be literal which be taken as pedantic and apologise. The original post was a comment about pollution in China but I was pointing out pollution travels. Birds follow air currents across the globe and so does pollution.

Yes of course, but not in the same density that has already been said.

 

[FrankNicklin]

Back in 2009 a study confirmed that air pollution moves around our planet.

https://www.livescience.com/7916-pollution-travels-globe-study-confirms.html

 

[Coolcats]

Yes of course, but not in the same density that has already been said.

And agreed

 

[PaulW2]

Regarding fitness for purpose, the future is electric and almost here. I see that the Fiat e-Ducato - already for sale - has a payload of at least 690 kg (largest battery, largest body, 3,500 kg limit), but up to much more (c. 1,800 kg for 4,250 kg chassis, smallest battery and body).

 

[Lenny HB]

Regarding fitness for purpose, the future is electric and almost here. I see that the Fiat e-Ducato - already for sale - has a payload of at least 690 kg (largest battery, largest body, 3,500 kg limit), but up to much more (c. 1,800 kg for 4,250 kg chassis, smallest battery and body).

But that is on an empty van, the conversion will use all the payload on the 3.5t then you will need the same again to use it and even the biggest battery the range will be far too short for use as a motorhome.

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[PaulW2]

But that is on an empty van, the conversion will use all the payload on the 3.5t then you will need the same again to use it and even the biggest battery the range will be far too short for use as a motorhome.

Until battery technology provides better solutions.

But it is the future. Motorhomes will need to be electric in the future, won’t they?

 

[FrankNicklin]

Fiat e-Ducato

113 miles on small battery and 230 with the larger and thats unladen. Don't think so. 8 Year warranty on the battery. Cannot see anyone buying an old EV Motorhome given the battery warranty and the likelihood of a big repair bill.

 

[Lenny HB]

Until battery technology provides better solutions.

But it is the future. Motorhomes will need to be electric in the future, won’t they?

I doubt it will get there in my lifetime.

 

[PaulW2]

I doubt it will get there in my lifetime.

Sure, but it is nonetheless clear that say in 20 years’ time, to choose a fairly distant date, any new motorhomes that are sold will need to be electric, not?

Then it’s just a question of the trajectory from here to there. Some say sooner, some later, but the end point is clear.

Everyone is researching battery technology, none are doing ICE development of any significance.

 

[nicholsong]

Until battery technology provides better solutions.

But it is the future. Motorhomes will need to be electric in the future, won’t they?

Well I think my ICE MH will last another 20 years.

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[PaulW2]

Well I think my ICE MH will last another 20 years.

Hah! We’re a community of Cubans

 

[funflair]

In a couple of days time IVECO are showcasing their latest range of vehicles as a live webcast 15th 6pm CET, I guess it will be from the Daily right through to the truck range which is starting to go both BEV and Hydrogen depending on the duty, I will be watching with interest

BETHECHANGE |

bethechange.iveco.com

 

[FrankNicklin]

Mercedes launched an electric lorry tractor unit with a predicted range of 500Km. Their own webpage gives statistics for the average truck travelling 120000km per annum. Assuming the 500Km per charge (we all know it will be a lot less) thats 240 stops per year to recharge. Typically a diesel truck will do around 1000km on a tank full of diesel thats only 120 refills per year. Mercedes state the financial savings in fuel alone and do not take in to account of the fact that the EV lorry is stationary twice as long as a ICE lorry and taking up to 30mins to charge to 80%. 500Km based on 100% charge pulling 40Tonnes at 20DegC. The range will drop dramatically in cold weather. For heavy vehicles EV's just don't stack up.

Edit: Forgot to mention they are almost 3 times the price and the EU offer grants to entice you to buy one.

 

[Guigsy]

Well I think my ICE MH will last another 20 years.

There aren't any good alternatives to ICE at the moment. Battery works for cars because they're relatively light and aerodymic. Battery and hydrogen might be possible for commercial vehicles because the running cost is more important than the up-front cost.

But motorhomes are stuck in the middle. We need huge and expensive batteries or hydrogen tanks, but we can't afford the extra +£50k that it adds to the price of the vehicle.

 

[FrankNicklin]

There aren't any good alternatives to ICE at the moment. Battery works for cars because they're relatively light and aerodymic. Battery and hydrogen might be possible for commercial vehicles because the running cost is more important than the up-front cost.

But motorhomes are stuck in the middle. We need huge and expensive batteries or hydrogen tanks, but we can't afford the extra +£50k that it adds to the price of the vehicle.

The extra weight of the battery will consume most of the payload. Can't see many achieving a sub 3500kg weight limit to give a decent remaining payload.

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[PaulW2]

The extra weight of the battery will consume most of the payload. Can't see many achieving a sub 3500kg weight limit to give a decent remaining payload.

Someone did a conversion a few years ago. They don't go into all the details I would like questions to, and had a number of teething problems with a new product, but they did it in a large-bodied van with a 3,500 kg limit.

Green Travel Journal - Fiat E-Ducato: The Ultimate EV for a Camper Conversion

Introducing our Fiat E-Ducato: the ultimate EV for a camper conversion. We share our electric van’s full specs — including our range and what we paid.

www.greentraveljournal.com

I think payloads will be difficult, unless either battery technology provides much better energy density or there is a recalibration of driving licence weight classes.

 

[chaser]

Mercedes launched an electric lorry tractor unit with a predicted range of 500Km. Their own webpage gives statistics for the average truck travelling 120000km per annum. Assuming the 500Km per charge (we all know it will be a lot less) thats 240 stops per year to recharge. Typically a diesel truck will do around 1000km on a tank full of diesel thats only 120 refills per year. Mercedes state the financial savings in fuel alone and do not take in to account of the fact that the EV lorry is stationary twice as long as a ICE lorry and taking up to 30mins to charge to 80%. 500Km based on 100% charge pulling 40Tonnes at 20DegC. The range will drop dramatically in cold weather. For heavy vehicles EV's just don't stack up.

Edit: Forgot to mention they are almost 3 times the price and the EU offer grants to entice you to buy one.

But there was talk of putting live wires over motorways that lorrys could plug into as they go along much like trains or trolley buses, I am not a big believer in electric vehicles but it seems viable to me, they wouldn't even have to stop at all like filling with diesel's.

 

[FrankNicklin]

I think payloads will be difficult, unless either battery technology provides much better energy density or there is a recalibration of driving licence weight classes.

Can't see them redefining the class weights just to suit a technology otherwise they might as well scrap them now. The older generation can already drive up to 7500kg so why not just scrap the limits as they are now for the younger generation.

 

[FrankNicklin]

But there was talk of putting live wires over motorways that lorrys could plug into as they go along much like trains or trolley buses, I am not a big believer in electric vehicles but it seems viable to me, they wouldn't even have to stop at all like filling with diesel's.

They are already testing this back in 2021, thats said clearly hasn't made much headway as we don't see any on the roads. Might be fine for lorries and buses, cant see it being applied to smaller vehicles or vehicles moving off the main trunk roads.

https://insideevs.com/news/546176/electric-truck-ehighway-overhead-cables/

 

[Spriddler]

Sure, but it is nonetheless clear that say in 20 years’ time, to choose a fairly distant date, any new motorhomes that are sold will need to be electric, not?

Then it’s just a question of the trajectory from here to there. Some say sooner, some later, but the end point is clear.

When I was a medium sized fromage within a vast multinational FMCG manufacturing group we were required to produce 5 and 10 year plans which were sufficiently immediate to satisfy the banks, shareholders, legislators, politicians and campaign groups, but far enough off that we didn't have to do anything now or give precise details as to how the plans would be achieved.
We didn't give ourselves gas doing them and they were all froth because we knew very well that due to advances in technology, changes in the economic environment, to legislation and the turnover of senior executive staff and politicians the aspirations would be overtaken, irrelevant, modified or dropped in the intervening years. It was dead easy as it was in the best financial and career interests of absolutely everyone to admire the Emperor's new clothes.

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[jongood]

Mercedes launched an electric lorry tractor unit with a predicted range of 500Km. Their own webpage gives statistics for the average truck travelling 120000km per annum. Assuming the 500Km per charge (we all know it will be a lot less) thats 240 stops per year to recharge. Typically a diesel truck will do around 1000km on a tank full of diesel thats only 120 refills per year. Mercedes state the financial savings in fuel alone and do not take in to account of the fact that the EV lorry is stationary twice as long as a ICE lorry and taking up to 30mins to charge to 80%. 500Km based on 100% charge pulling 40Tonnes at 20DegC. The range will drop dramatically in cold weather. For heavy vehicles EV's just don't stack up.

Edit: Forgot to mention they are almost 3 times the price and the EU offer grants to entice you to buy one.

If it only charges to 80% in 30 minutes, wont it need to recharge even more times?
I necked the truck I was in last week, 350litres in about 10 minutes and yes about 1000kms worth.

The other issue is where you will find the heavyweight chargers, that will be required? Numerous choices with Diesel.

I still think they're going the wrong way with banning fossil fuels for heavies, petrol hybrid is a much better solution