MyMiatas said:Yes you would have to be creative with the build. And I agree with the solar panel covered roof would be helpful for inuse/camping charging.
That rig pictured would have room for 200-300 watts max on the roof. That will maybe keep a house battery topped up running the fridge if its not too hot and you are in direct sun. Its not gonna run the A/C or chage your main batteries any appreciable amount.
In reply to 93gsxturbo :
I didn't say I'd NEVER seen an Econoline camper. I said I couldn't think of the last time I saw one. They are really rare compared to #vanlife Sprinters and the like.
A 700 mile day...for that sort of use in a big chunky vehicle, liquid fuel is going to have an advantage for a long time because you're burning a lot of it in a big hurry. But this is an example of trying to map existing usage on to new tech. It doesn't lend itself well to blasting across the country as fast as possible. But what can it do better than the ICE? It can run a bunch of house load without the need for a generator, for one. That's a tradeoff I'd take, generators are annoying and exactly what I don't want around me if I'm in the wild. I'd be willing to modify my behavior for that.
Our Vanagon has 100W on the roof, and that keeps up with the fridge quite handily - it's usually recovered the overnight use by mid-morning. That's a 2015-era panel that only covers a small section of roof, given today's panels I've got room for 600-800W up there. It's not going to recharge your traction battery over the course of an afternoon, but you can certainly throw something back into the battery.
93gsxturbo said:MyMiatas said:Yes you would have to be creative with the build. And I agree with the solar panel covered roof would be helpful for inuse/camping charging.
That rig pictured would have room for 200-300 watts max on the roof. That will maybe keep a house battery topped up running the fridge if its not too hot and you are in direct sun. Its not gonna run the A/C or chage your main batteries any appreciable amount.
Like I said solar on the roof would be helpful. You know, need to keep the beverages cold.....
I believe it would do more than that.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Keith... please... If I've been researching RVs for over two decades, of course I know the difference between a Class B camper van and a Class C motor home. Honestly, that was rather insulting.
All I'm really trying to say is that how you camp is not how I have ever camped over the last... over 40 years. You're not wrong, but you're also not necessarily right either. It's always "it depends..." I've been to plenty of campsites with toilets and showers - and that is exactly why I want my own toilet and shower in the camper. Especially when I am often camping at big club gatherings and both facility conditions and access often deteriorate quickly throughout the weekend.
This is not a decision I came to after watching a few #vanlife videos. This is a position I've come to after decades of camping experience here on the East Coast. It's also why things like A/C are non-negotiable. Because I've been on more than a few camping trips that were absolutely miserable due to trying to sleep in 80 deg heat and 90% RH. I usually don't have a choice of when or where I'm camping, so the experience can be enhanced or reduced based on what I have with me. Camping is not the reason for the trip, just an unfortunate means to an end. When the reason for the trip is camping, my wants and needs are entirely different.
Looks like this posting did something!
According to Car And Driver:" Rivian will now sell you its electric commercial delivery vans, even if your name isn't Amazon or Jeff Bezos." Maybe there is some magical powers on GRM Forum??
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a45783032/rivian-electric-cargo-van-fleet-sales/
So, I've crawled around what was left of two of these after being on fire. (Intentionally set as a part of a training/educational exercise). The funny part is I've never been around a non burnt one.
As far as tanks, basically all the floor inside the wheelbase is battery. Can't move it, so I can't see it working. Not sure if you could put the toilet facilities at the far rear and basically hang the tanks between the rear suspension and the back. I don't recall there being much space there either, so now you are looking at above floor grade tanks...
I'll be honest, there was very very little left of them after a fire. Like, frame rails, battery, and a little bit of structure around the dash and drivers seat, not much else. So I don't have much to go on. But the frame rails didn't appear to have the big amounts of free space most heavy duty vehicles you would build off of have. Likely a challenging build.
Insofar as overall concept... I think long haul without infrastructure stops are a big massive part of the attraction for me for an RV. Also towing a race car. Pretty much a non-starter. Now, a bit more of a hybrid setup that would eliminate a noisy generator having to run, whilst being able to be fueled for long highway hauls... that's the ticket
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