Now here is a real solar powered camper

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   Solar RV

No range anxiety worries, just set up camp and wait for your batteries to recharge.

You could put that slide out solar array on an rpod if you took all the junk off the roof. 

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offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Post Options Post Reply Quote offgrid Report Post Quote Reply Topic: Now here is a real solar powered camper Posted: 12 Sep 2021 at 1:31am
	Solar RV No range anxiety worries, just set up camp and wait for your batteries to recharge. You could put that slide out solar array on an rpod if you took all the junk off the roof.
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold

jato Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Feb 2012 Location: Kewadin, MI Online Status: Offline Posts: 3324	Post Options Post Reply Quote jato Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 12 Sep 2021 at 5:59am
	Interesting and would probably work in a lot of areas in our country. However in our neck of the woods we get a lot of cloudy days, and during the months of November through April the sun is in "hibernation mode" where we can go days without seeing it. So it probably wouldn't work here in northern Michigan. Price tag?
	God's pod '11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."

Olddawgsrule Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 20 Sep 2017 Location: New Hampshire Online Status: Offline Posts: 1014	Post Options Post Reply Quote Olddawgsrule Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 12 Sep 2021 at 6:17am
	Love the pop-top design! Course I'm bias a bit..
	Byways no Highways 2017 Tacoma Truck Camper Build 2004 F150 My Overlander

offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Post Options Post Reply Quote offgrid Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 12 Sep 2021 at 10:55am
	I like the pop top too. With the slide out wings and radical teardrop it's pretty interesting. Probably produces about 3.5kW. I'd really like to know what the drag coefficient is. Europe is pretty dark in winter too. But in Europe camping is a summer activity, the whole place pretty much shuts down in August. Distances are relatively short too so this kind of vehicle could work. I'm sure you can just charge it like a regular EV if you had a longer trip or cloudy weather. Cost? It's a one off university student project, free labor and mostly donated materials, so cost really doesn't mean much. These kinds of projects are a great learning experience for the kids though.
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold

Olddawgsrule Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 20 Sep 2017 Location: New Hampshire Online Status: Offline Posts: 1014	Post Options Post Reply Quote Olddawgsrule Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 12 Sep 2021 at 2:55pm
	Cost? You need to get on a 'Maker's Site'! So much is being done and it's still growing knowledge. The main cost I see is the mechanicals involved with the panels deploying. Being one that has (and built) one extremely light weight.. those mechanicals are going to add up pretty quickly. Does it really need the extensions? I guess if the vehicle is also battery powered. I may be an Olddawg, but I still love seeing the youngin's teach me a thing or two!
	Byways no Highways 2017 Tacoma Truck Camper Build 2004 F150 My Overlander

offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Post Options Post Reply Quote offgrid Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 12 Sep 2021 at 5:25pm
	Yeah it needs the slide outs. With them it will still only produce about 12-15 kwh/day on a good day. Assuming it has about the same EV efficiency as a regular EV car (it's very effiently built but it's big) that would take it about 50-60 miles a day on solar, if nothing is being used in the RV itself. So probably more like maybe 40 miles a day. Stay a week at a campsite, go around 250-300 miles, do another week. It works if your not trying to be somewhere in a hurry.
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold

Olddawgsrule Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 20 Sep 2017 Location: New Hampshire Online Status: Offline Posts: 1014	Post Options Post Reply Quote Olddawgsrule Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 13 Sep 2021 at 3:51pm
	To me that strikes out a full EV vehicle. We're just not there yet... Hybrid is is as close to a reality we have for now. There is a guy that ran a Telsa with a Alto Safari camper and traveled across Canada. Something like $300 to run Vancouver to Newfoundland. Oh that was the early days... These youngin's should be able to do so much better!
	Byways no Highways 2017 Tacoma Truck Camper Build 2004 F150 My Overlander

StephenH Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Online Posts: 6417	Post Options Post Reply Quote StephenH Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 15 Sep 2021 at 8:47am
	That must have been in the early days. From what I have read, it is rather pricy to use the chargers when you have to pay. I think it ends up costing more than gasoline if I recall the article I read accurately.
	StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Post Options Post Reply Quote offgrid Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 15 Sep 2021 at 1:13pm
	Not sure what article you read but there is lots of negatives information out there, like there seems to be on most every subject nowadays.p Here are actual numbers I checked as I am considering getting a Chevy Bolt to replace my 2010 Prius. They are overall pretty comparable vehicles other that the Bolt's off the line torque makes it a whole lot more fun to drive. Electrify America charges 31 cents a kwh hour for DC fast charging in VA. The Bolt uses about 250 watt hours per mile so that is about 7.7 cents per mile. My Prius consistently gets 45 mpg and gas in VA is around 2.97 right now so that is about 6.7 cents per mile. So yup, slightly more expensive to use DC fast charging on the Bolt vs gasoline in the Prius (the most fuel efficient car on the road). But fast charging is pretty rare for most folks, who charge at home nearly all the time. Last time I checked I pay around 11 cents a kwh to Appalachian Power so I should wind up with a vehicle energy cost around 2.8 cents per mile. Not bad at all, especially considering that there is pretty much zero other maintenance cost on an EV other than tires.
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold

offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Post Options Post Reply Quote offgrid Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 15 Sep 2021 at 1:49pm
	Speaking of coast to coast runs the fastest Cannonball Run EV record currently stands at around 44 hours by a Porsche Taycan using public charging stations. This was done in winter conditions BTW. Not bad. For comparison, the current record for ICE vehicles is around 25 hours. They are usually highly modified with huge aux gas tanks and don't stop for refueling more than once or twice. The solo record was set last year by a guy in a rental Mustang (with a Coyote V8, just thought I'd throw that in there). He took out all except the driver's seat and installed fuel tanks everywhere he could. Made one fuel stop, his only stop on the way. I hope no one at the rental return place drank out if all those funny looking Gatoraid bottles when he turned in the car... The Cannonball record was shattered many times last year during the Covid lockdowns, far less traffic and police on the highways.
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold