Electric Motorhomes at Scale, Can't be Far Away Now.

[Guigsy]

You’ve hit the nail on the head there, I think it’s important to clear up the difference between fast and rapid charging, the latter is brilliant but very expensive and leads to increased battery deterioration.

Rapid chargers have a place, but I agree that it's something people have become obsessed by. When the vast majority of the time, you'll use slower Destination chargers. Rapid chargers are only really needed for long road trips, which are pretty rare.

The CEO of Lucid agrees.

https://insideevs.com/news/750380/lucid-ceo-midsize-range-miles/

 

[The Wino]

Rapid chargers have a place, but I agree that it's something people have become obsessed by. When the vast majority of the time, you'll use slower Destination chargers. Rapid chargers are only really needed for long road trips, which are pretty rare.

The CEO of Lucid agrees.

https://insideevs.com/news/750380/lucid-ceo-midsize-range-miles/

We've just clocked up 3000 miles and only used fast chargers ( or any charger away from home) 4 times. I think a lot who haven't got an EV believe that people who have one drive in constant fear of running out of charge and stopping every time they get a chance to charge up it's not the reality. I did visit a petrol station to check the tyres it felt a very strange experience in the ev.

 

[Guigsy]

We've just clocked up 3000 miles and only used fast chargers ( or any charger away from home) 4 times. I think a lot who haven't got an EV believe that people who have one drive in constant fear of running out of charge and stopping every time they get a chance to charge up it's not the reality. I did visit a petrol station to check the tyres it felt a very strange experience in the ev.

My 4 year old EV has been rapid charged 14 times in 40,000 miles according to the OBD2 data. And one of those was a 5 minute charge at a service station by me just because, novelty... It didn't need it. I've only had the car a few months.

 

[Swiperman]

You can just use a diesel generator to charge it up surely?

1200 per day current production wow! I wonder how many end up being motorhomes? I bet the number is quite small and so they won’t bother to design for such outliers like motorhomes.

 

[Swiperman]

If EVs are terrible in winter how do they manage in Norway where they have just reached the point of the majority of vehicles on the road are EVs and over 70% of new registrations are EVs?

Charge them up indoors? I have a plug in hybrid. In the summer I put 55 miles into it but in the winter just 46. The time to charge remains the same, it’s just the ambient temperature that’s lower in winter so indoor charging would make it consistent all year round.

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[BRND]

FIAT Professional has started production of the all-electric E-Ducato at its Atessa plant in Italy, marking a significant step toward sustainable mobility in the light commercial vehicle (LCV) sector.

The Ducato leads Europe’s RV market, with 70% of motorhomes built on its platform and a 16-year streak as “Best Camper Base Vehicle” by Promobil readers. It holds strong market positions across Europe, with a 24% share in Italy and notable rankings in France, Poland, Spain, and Portugal.

The E-Ducato, designed in-house, features a 110-kWh battery delivering a range of up to 424 km (WLTP), rapid charging, and versatile configurations suited for logistics and service industries.

Atessa, Europe’s largest LCV facility, produces up to 1,200 vehicles daily, exporting 80% to 75 countries. This milestone underscores FIAT Professional's commitment to Italian manufacturing and the shift to electric mobility.

View attachment 990001

Interesting, I was wondering about weight as mentioned in other replies but as I understand there have been changes in driving licence rules to allow those with a normal licence to drive alternative fuel vehicles eg electric vehicles, up to 4.25 tonnes?

 

[Guigsy]

Charge them up indoors? I have a plug in hybrid. In the summer I put 55 miles into it but in the winter just 46. The time to charge remains the same, it’s just the ambient temperature that’s lower in winter so indoor charging would make it consistent all year round.

Although it makes a small difference, the range lost is more about where the vehicle is used than where it's charged. Particularly when you're only charging at slow speeds like at home.

Recent data is showing BEVs with heat pumps loose 10-20% range when it drops below freezing. Which is pretty similar to the efficiency loss with petrol and diesel.

 

[SpeedyDux]

That's because the trend said we should be going into a natural ice age over the next few thousand years. Instead the climate did a man made U-turn and has fired off in the wrong direction about 100 times faster than a natural shift.

And while the world has warmed by about 1.5C on average already, that's not guaranteed for the UK and Northern Europe. It might get up to 6C cooler in London and 10C cooler in northern Scotland if the Atlantic Ocean stops the cycling that's largely driven by seasonal melting Arctic ice. Climate similar to Calgary or Moscow does not sound fun.

So how do you explain the other recent interglacial warming periods, if the end result of global warming and melting Arctic ice is that the UK goes into a deep freeze - as though the Roman Warm Period and the Medieval Warm Period in Britain never happened. By your reasoning the British were just very lucky.

This type of dire prediction, based on worst case computer modelling that has been consistently wrong, is climate change scaremongering.

We might yet go into a mini ice age again relatively soon anyway. In which case all the sacrifices and hardships imposed on us will have been futile. Pointless. Catastrophic, even, in terms of excess deaths from cold that have always been orders of magnitude higher than deaths from heatwaves.

We don't need to make all UK surface transport battery powered and get rid of diesel ICE. Especially for motorhomes.

 

[Lampwick]

Still to be convinced. I was talking to a Sky engineer who has a Merc EV van. So not loads of heavy equipment except his ladders really. He gets 100 miles distance on one charge or when he put the heater on 80. He has to charge it once or twice a day. When he needs a service he has to take it 35 miles to a Mercedes garage as that is the nearest one with trained engineers for EV vehicles. He does no work that day. I don't think Motor Homes are suitable yet. Real world experience ia always useful.

 

[Guigsy]

Still to be convinced. I was talking to a Sky engineer who has a Merc EV van. So not loads of heavy equipment except his ladders really. He gets 100 miles distance on one charge or when he put the heater on 80. He has to charge it once or twice a day. When he needs a service he has to take it 35 miles to a Mercedes garage as that is the nearest one with trained engineers for EV vehicles. He does no work that day. I don't think Motor Homes are suitable yet. Real world experience ia always useful.

I'm assuming that's a first gen eSprinter. The current ones get nearly double that range in real world testing.

Don't get me wrong, BEV isn't right for motorhomes... yet.

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[enark]

Still to be convinced. I was talking to a Sky engineer who has a Merc EV van. So not loads of heavy equipment except his ladders really. He gets 100 miles distance on one charge or when he put the heater on 80. He has to charge it once or twice a day. When he needs a service he has to take it 35 miles to a Mercedes garage as that is the nearest one with trained engineers for EV vehicles. He does no work that day. I don't think Motor Homes are suitable yet. Real world experience ia always useful.

Same here - DPD delivery man has to wrap up as he cant put heater on, he reckons 80 miles of stop start journeys in his 100% electric…

Mind you ‘Eric’ used to manage in 1971 to deliver all the milk on his round….

 

[Guigsy]

Same here - DPD delivery man has to wrap up as he cant put heater on, he reckons 80 miles of stop start journeys in his 100% electric…

Stop start is fine for BEVs. Barely affects the range at all. It's sustained high speeds aren't good for range.

However, having the heater on all the time because the door is open so much might not help. Probably takes a few miles out, which makes a big difference on the older vans. Especially as they didn't have heat pumps.

 

[The Wino]

Charge them up indoors? I have a plug in hybrid. In the summer I put 55 miles into it but in the winter just 46. The time to charge remains the same, it’s just the ambient temperature that’s lower in winter so indoor charging would make it consistent all year round.

The amount of charge is most likely the same unless you are on a fixed charging time because of the tariff you are on. It the miles per kWh that's a lot lower in winter. It will charge slower at low temperature so I'm surprised that time to charge isn't longer in winter unless you plug it in as you get home and the battery is pre heated

 

[jess12]

FIAT Professional has started production of the all-electric E-Ducato at its Atessa plant in Italy, marking a significant step toward sustainable mobility in the light commercial vehicle (LCV) sector.

The Ducato leads Europe’s RV market, with 70% of motorhomes built on its platform and a 16-year streak as “Best Camper Base Vehicle” by Promobil readers. It holds strong market positions across Europe, with a 24% share in Italy and notable rankings in France, Poland, Spain, and Portugal.

The E-Ducato, designed in-house, features a 110-kWh battery delivering a range of up to 424 km (WLTP), rapid charging, and versatile configurations suited for logistics and service industries.

Atessa, Europe’s largest LCV facility, produces up to 1,200 vehicles daily, exporting 80% to 75 countries. This milestone underscores FIAT Professional's commitment to Italian manufacturing and the shift to electric mobility.

View attachment 990001

I guess a lot will depend on price for the fiat if its like most ev s it will be way overpriced which would put alot off they struggle to sell second hand ev cars so i wonder what the second hand market will be like for a motorhome

 

[AndyPK]

You really have the science wrong here. I know you disagree that climate change is a human made issue, that’s fine and completely up to you, but to say CO2 is CO2 is just plain incorrect.

Spatially resolved CO2 carbon stable isotope analyses at the microscale using Raman spectroscopy - Scientific Reports

Measuring the carbon stable isotope ratio (13C/12C, expressed as δ13CCO2) in geogenic CO2 fluids is a crucial geochemical tool for studying Earth's degassing. Carbon stable isotope analysis is traditionally performed by bulk mass spectrometry. Although Raman spectroscopy distinguishes 12CO2 and...

www.nature.com

errrr…..no, it isn’t - as I said before, the climate has/is always changing, the only doubt is the amount of influence mankind (can I even write that now?) has on the rate of change…….

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[Terry]

We as a nation are not going to alter anything. I was reading our contribution to global warming is less than 1% so until the rest of the world alters the difference we make is next to nothing. Perhaps because we are making an effort whatever happens will miss us
Meanwhile we will continue to pay higher prices for things we have no control of.

 

[Plumberz]

Well so far all my friends that had electric cars have now gotten rid of them as wouldnt charge and manufacturer couldnt repair so all gone back to diesel or petrol. New Jaguar, New Mercedes and New Kia to name a few of them so I definately dont want electric.

 

[Googlebot]

errrr…..no, it isn’t - as I said before, the climate has/is always changing, the only doubt is the amount of influence mankind (can I even write that now?) has on the rate of change…….

Okay, more rapid climate change than would naturally occur. There isn’t any doubt about that, the scientific consensus is that we are accelerating it.

Anyone who disagrees is free to go against the evidence as they wish.

 

[SpeedyDux]

Okay, more rapid climate change than would naturally occur. There isn’t any doubt about that, the scientific consensus is that we are accelerating it.

Anyone who disagrees is free to go against the evidence as they wish.

Or, we might say that the jury is still out and there is not enough long-term evidence yet.

 

[PaulW2]

I agree that the evidence for it is clear.

What is to my mind much less clear are the answers to the many questions that flow from that.

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[Googlebot]

Or, we might say that the jury is still out and there is not enough long-term evidence yet.

How much evidence do you want? There isn’t anyone I have heard or read that knows the science that agrees with you.

This is a news report from today.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr5304n1313o

When is acceptable to acknowledge we are accelerating the damage? 10 years? 20 years?

If you think the current refugee issues are bad, wait till climate change shifts people around.

 

[AndyPK]

Yes - when the Gulf Stream ceases, we’ll all be moving south to warmer climes…….!

 

[SpeedyDux]

How much evidence do you want? There isn’t anyone I have heard or read that knows the science that agrees with you.

This is a news report from today.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr5304n1313o

When is acceptable to acknowledge we are accelerating the damage? 10 years? 20 years?

If you think the current refugee issues are bad, wait till climate change shifts people around.

In climate change terms, relying on anything less than (say) a century of average measurements looks a bit like picking the bit that suits the popular theory. I'm not sure that what we are supposed to agree with is proper science. It's all rather hasty and premature. Jumping to conclusions before all the results are in.

I expect you to disagree. Carry on.

 

[Googlebot]

In climate change terms, relying on anything less than (say) a century of average measurements looks a bit like picking the bit that suits the popular theory. I'm not sure that what we are supposed to agree with is proper science. It's all rather hasty and premature. Jumping to conclusions before all the results are in.

I expect you to disagree. Carry on.

All sounds a bit like the tobacco industry through the latter half of the last century.

If only we had the time to wait and see, genuinely I hope you are right.

 

[PaulW2]

Yes - when the Gulf Stream ceases, we’ll all be moving south to warmer climes…….!

But only for 90 days in every 180

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[SpeedyDux]

All sounds a bit like the tobacco industry through the latter half of the last century.

If only we had the time to wait and see, genuinely I hope you are right.

I have been reading that the 1.5C rise limit is gone and 2C is expected before the end of this century. The Paris Accord will have failed whether Trump pulls the USA out or not.

Buckle up for the ride. Although personally I expect it will be quite smooth and and in many ways beneficial.

 

[PaulW2]

Here are just a few of those questions that are to my mind neglected.

How much of the climate change that we are going to see is already baked in based on current emission levels?
What difference will the current plans make, given that we will still see carbon increasing for many years?
How much money would it then be prudent to spend on dealing with the consequences of the change rather than to attempt to stop it?

 

[The Wino]

Here are just a few of those questions that are to my mind neglected.

How much of the climate change that we are going to see is already baked in based on current emission levels?
What difference will the current plans make, given that we will still see carbon increasing for many years?
How much money would it then be prudent to spend on dealing with the consequences of the change rather than to attempt to stop it?

Why can't the world do both? There's a constant demand that we should just carry on as before because it's cheaper is it really? It sounds very much like the same people would have liked to continue pollution like we had in the 1970,s and ought to just pump raw sewage in the sea as it's going to cost more to treat it. What an unpleasant country to live in.

 

[Guigsy]

Here are just a few of those questions that are to my mind neglected.

How much of the climate change that we are going to see is already baked in based on current emission levels?
What difference will the current plans make, given that we will still see carbon increasing for many years?
How much money would it then be prudent to spend on dealing with the consequences of the change rather than to attempt to stop it?

It's not an either/or. We need to spend money on both.

 

[PaulW2]

So how much is already baked in? Any ideas at all from anything anyone has read?

And given that it's going to increase for most of this century, any authoritative projections at all of the difference that it makes?

(I'm bad at religions and received wisdoms but like to think I am open to persuasion )

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