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

[Guigsy]

Sounds good, however I would be concerned about the weight? Maybe it is time that the government increased the weight that can be driven on a normal licence? Never understood where the 3500 came from.

It is arbitrary. But there should be cutoff somewhere. Heavier vehicles are more dangerous (and tend to have lower safety standards). So there should be more licensing restrictions on heavier vehicles.

As it stands, even if the limit were increased to 4.25t for EVs, it would be as restrictive to motorhomes as the 3.5t limit for diesels. So electric motorhomes at 4.25t would probably be very payload limited beyond 6m.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

I think a 100Ah leisure battery is only about 1.2 kWh

Yes.
A touch of brain fade and mixing up the units.
Mea culpa.

 

[PG]

Most of us will have experienced that awful feeling when the garage we get to is closed or shut down. At the moment the number of public charging points/ points at garages in the out of the way places just doesn't feel ready for touring campers.

Not sure why campsites should invest in refuelling the entire EV vehicle.

The technology is still developing, mercedes have come up with a solar paint if that becomes available in production en masse it is a game changer. Then there is the hydrogen power that could up end the market.

If you're going EV now you're still a pioneer and hope it works out but I won't be participating until the EV market reaches 50%

 

[AndyPK]

Same restriction might apply if they fitted roofs.

In which case they would not be accessible to MHs other than campers.

Errrrrr……..roofs on petrol stations don’t stop Motorhome access to the pumps though nicholsong.

 

[h8ten]

I'm not sure about hydrogen being the answer. The Hyundai Nexo will do 100km/62 miles on around 1kg of hydrogen at a cost of between £12 and £15 per kg so about 20p - 24p per mile on fuel alone. In the US a hydrogen HGV managed 1800 miles on 175KG of hydrogen so that's around £1750 - £2100 of fuel or 97p - £1.16 per mile. Two of the sixteen hydrogen stations closed last year as well so filling up is going to be bit of a challenge.

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[h8ten]

So you buy an electric MH, going to cost say £100k?

At present depreciation rates for EVs and the vans, its now worth £30k after a couple of years?

Surely not? Also i guess many MHs are purchased through loans/pcps? Will the banks take this risk?

My EV, now over 5 years old, has lost just over half its value since I bought it new, according to WBAC, so far depreciation is less than an ICE equivalent. Minimal servicing costs as well.

 

[Peppadog]

Electric power looks like the future, though I decided against when buying a new car recently, and bought a hybrid electric, which is proving great.
I decided there’s more battery tech development coming which will solve the fire risk issues and extend range while at the same time reducing weight.
This is what UK fire chiefs are concerned about according to an online story today:

Electric cars can 'explode' and public must be warned say fire chiefs | Politics | News | Express.co.uk

An electric car can burst into flames again days after a fire appears to be put out

www.express.co.uk

 

[Guigsy]

The technology is still developing, mercedes have come up with a solar paint if that becomes available in production en masse it is a game changer.

Solar panels on vehicles are never going to give you more than a few percent charge per day. Sunlight in the middle of summer is about 1000 watts per m². The best photovoltaics only give about 25% efficiency (paint on stuff is looking to be considerably less) when directly facing the sun. Even if your whole vehicle is covered, the laws of physics limit how useful it is.

Basically, solar might be enough to keep a car's AC running. But that's about it.

 

[Rick Axon]

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

Extra weight plus a lot of camp sites and indeed festivals prohibit the use of generators. I've been warned of a couple of times for using a small petrol generator.

 

[Peregrinator]

It will be a failure for the first ten years as a motorhome, one campsites cannot afford to update the power requirements, and if they install just a couple of chargers, the extra cost to the customers is going to be over £20.00 at a min at todays prices, of course once the Implementation of electric vehicles become law, electricity prices will go sky high, so every home and vehicle owner will suffer, there will be solar panels and windfarms over every country in the western world, and the cost will be Hugh, and so far the ones we have at this moment have had to be replaced after only 7 years, third world countries won't worry about it, they will still be using petroleum fuel.

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[Bertiethebeast]

I think exactly the opposite. The traction battery can be used to power the hab area.
So you lose things like leisure batteries, gas cylinders etc etc.

Having 120KWh available to the leisure side would make long stays off grid much easier.

Finding a charger these days is no longer an issue.

Trying to find a charging point for an 8.5m, would be hard

 

[Silver aro adamo]

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

 

[Silver aro adamo]

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

Hydrogen fuel cells are the future

 

[nicholsong]

Errrrrr……..roofs on petrol stations don’t stop Motorhome access to the pumps though nicholsong.

J did say mjght, see below. Have you deen the low roofs in CPs in Southern Europe for sunshading? I often cannot find a spot to park my 3m high MH in the open area.

Opposite us is a LeClerc s/market with 4 x Tesla charging stations in the CP. This s/market has no height barrier but I wonder how many s/markets have height barriers, restricting access to charging points?

Same restriction might apply if they fitted roofs.

In which case they would not be accessible to MHs other than campers.

 

[EuroTrotters]

Electric vans need to be designed from scratch. No point in putting batteries into an ICE vehicle.

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[Guigsy]

Hydrogen fuel cells are the future

Hydrogen fuel cells for road transport is a dead end.

 

[Guigsy]

Electric vans need to be designed from scratch. No point in putting batteries into an ICE vehicle.

I agree that it makes a large difference to cars. ICE chassis that have EV'd tend to have the batteries crammed in non optimal spots with lots of wasted space under the bonnet.

But I'm not sure there's as much difference in a van. The batteries will go in the same place. As will the motor and inverter. And it'll still be an aerodynamic brick. One benefit might be that you make the battery structural as part of the floor. So you'd not lose much mass. Maybe you'd try to make the driver lower and forwards to improve the aero. But the overall height would still be similar.

 

[PaulandChrissy]

We don’t actually need super high powered charging points in campsites. Just a 2kw charger would do the job. If your camped up for 2 days on site that’s 96KWh. There’s no rush to fully charge on site.

 

[Gromett]

Trying to find a charging point for an 8.5m, would be hard

Now it is but the future they will be catered for.

 

[enark]

Think the whole EV thing is dead in the water…

“Drill baby drill”

Surprising as his no 2 runs Tesla though?

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[autorouter]

Not sure why campsites should invest in refuelling the entire EV vehicle.

The technology for refuelling ICE vehicles is expensive and dangerous. Big underground fuel tanks, metering pumps, card readers, fire precautions, trained staff etc. However EV charge points are only glorified hookup posts, of which there are dozens in the average camp site. Once the metering and payment arrangements are sorted out, it would be easy to run. EV charge points run automatically from an app and/or card reader. Obviously the site owner would have to decide if the likely returns merited the work to bring a boosted supply onto the site.

 

[autorouter]

Think the whole EV thing is dead in the water…

There was a Prussian general who gave a speech in public about how powered flight would never happen, it was impossible. That was six months after the first powered flight by the Wright brothers.

 

[The Wino]

Hydrogen fuel cells are the future

Basic physics says no!

 

[enark]

There was a Prussian general who gave a speech in public about how powered flight would never happen, it was impossible. That was six months after the first powered flight by the Wright brothers.

Um, maybe?

Many politicians have sad the 2030 ban on ICE powered cars was madness - seems they were not away with the fairies though….2040? 2050?

 

[Wee Bold Davy]

the converters will use sky hooks and air walls to save weight. Mind you saying this you only have to look at what Zeppelin did with thier old airships beautiful interiors (of the time) and light weight furniture



View attachment 990017

Great idea, strap a Zeppelin to the roof, take some of that weight off the tyres, increase payload and give a smoother ride

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[nicholsong]

Now it is but the future they will be catered for.

Would you like to put a date on that Karl?

 

[Tombola]

Typically, they last about 3 years. There is no way to check the health of your 12v on your own

Tesla are using lithium for the 12v now since about 2020.
The system monitors the 12v and alerts if it need changing or if the dc to dc chrager for it from the main battery fails.

 

[Gromett]

Would you like to put a date on that Karl?

Nope. It won't be overnight, but it will be faster than anyone predicts.

 

[Guigsy]

BEVs still have two electrical systems. There's the system driven by the huge traction battery that drives the wheels. And then the 12v system that acts like the 12v system on all cars, it runs all the electronics and gizmos. The 12v system also controls the safety contactors (high voltage switches) that enable and disable the traction battery. As BEVs don't have an alternator, there's a DC charger that periodically charges from the traction battery to the 12v.

Several older BEVs had the issue that the DC charger only worked while driving, and was relatively weedy. Meanwhile the 12v electronics are permanent on and connected to the car's app... which killed the 12v battery. And without the 12v, the contactors can't be closed, so the car won't drive. Designs are a bit smarter now.

 

[The Wino]

Um, maybe?

Many politicians have sad the 2030 ban on ICE powered cars was madness - seems they were not away with the fairies though….2040? 2050?

Some countries are almost there already. Are they away with the faries or just forward looking?

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