Changing times

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   A couple of things to add to what jato is saying. 
First, an EV makes a whole ton of sense if is mainly a commuter or get around town kind of vehicle. Save your ICE vehicle for longer trips, but if your round trip is < 180 miles or so, the EV is a great way to go. You will never have to stop at a gas station again.

How much of the energy you use depends a lot on where you live and/or if you have solar panels on your home. Several of the people we know with an EV recharge their EV for free (sort of) with the solar they get from their roof. If you don't have solar of your own, a large percentage of it is from renewable sources if you live in California (wind, solar, and hydro).

The technology to recycle lithium batteries is evolving. Clearly if they are not recyclable, that is a loser in the long term. I believe recycling will become viable in the next few years.

Finally, the cost of lithium batteries has come down by more than 50% in the last 5 or so years. It's following a similar curve as solar (which is now < 50 cents a watt in usable quantities).

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GlueGuy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 15 May 2017 Location: N. California Online Status: Offline Posts: 2630	Post Options Post Reply Quote GlueGuy Report Post Quote Reply Topic: Changing times Posted: 11 Jan 2022 at 4:21pm
	A couple of things to add to what jato is saying. First, an EV makes a whole ton of sense if is mainly a commuter or get around town kind of vehicle. Save your ICE vehicle for longer trips, but if your round trip is < 180 miles or so, the EV is a great way to go. You will never have to stop at a gas station again. How much of the energy you use depends a lot on where you live and/or if you have solar panels on your home. Several of the people we know with an EV recharge their EV for free (sort of) with the solar they get from their roof. If you don't have solar of your own, a large percentage of it is from renewable sources if you live in California (wind, solar, and hydro). The technology to recycle lithium batteries is evolving. Clearly if they are not recyclable, that is a loser in the long term. I believe recycling will become viable in the next few years. Finally, the cost of lithium batteries has come down by more than 50% in the last 5 or so years. It's following a similar curve as solar (which is now < 50 cents a watt in usable quantities).
	bp 2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost

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: 3227	Post Options Post Reply Quote jato Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 11 Jan 2022 at 7:04am
	At this point I have great doubts about the sensibility of owning an electric vehicle. Using a lot of rare earth materials to produce, they have a much higher carbon footprint on our ecology than the old gas powered vehicles. Where and how does one recycle all these batteries when they expire? Seven years ago a neighbor of ours had to get new batteries on his 8 year old Prius. Pricetag back then (2015) was just south of $ 6000. Those batteries don't just evaporate or go away. Also if you're an American citizen who owns an electric car 80% + of that electricity comes from non-renewable resources (or fossil fuels) such as coal, oil, and gas, you're most likely going to be charging your electric car using resources that damage the planet. Not an easy fix regardless of which path you take. I appreciate the concerns about camping. Until retirement 3 years ago we only camped April-May or September-November and until the last couple years never had problems going to national parks or having to reserve to get a spot. Not any more unless you boondock or go to national forest campgrounds or similar which is what we normally do now.
	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."

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: 11 Jan 2022 at 3:05am
	The more people there are the more congested the parks are going to be. When I was a kid my family could just drive up to Yosemite Valley from the CA coast and get a campsite, no reservations required. You can't get within miles of the place now. The population of CA has more than doubled over that time. I agree those behemoths will likely go the way of the dinosaurs. I for one won't miss them at all. The little Tab and Tag trailers from Nucamp are very nice if you want to go smaller. Depending on what your expectations are they have everything a couple would need. Most of the energy use towing is due to aerodynamic drag not weight. The teardrops, Airstream, Casita and rPod shapes are not really very aerodynamically efficient, so there is going to be a new generation of highly aerodynamic trailers as we transition to electric vehicles. Check out the Alto line from Safari Condo as an early example of what is possible. I particularly like the A2124 model. Designs like the smaller Hi-Lo's might make a comeback, and the old standby tent trailer isn't a bad way to go for family camping.
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold

David and Danette Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 24 Nov 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1215	Post Options Post Reply Quote David and Danette Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 11 Jan 2022 at 12:13am
	While camping I met a older couple who have been coming to Florida for many years from the New England area to camp for the Winter. And we talked about the restrictions and changes that have been made for camping in the Federal parks like reservations only and limited days you can camp and this past week a $7.00 rate increase per night for camping. They don't own a computer and now they have to call and make reservations and take what ever site is given to them. And I thought about all this and the direction camping at campgrounds is going with greater restrictions. With higher prices for campers and fees to camp I thought camping is becoming less accessible for some campers especially older retired people with limited income and younger families. Then I thought about with more government restrictions with vehicle emissions in the amount of pollution they produce campers will become smaller liter weight with smaller vehicles with less power to tow them. The big fifth wheeled campers will become like dinosaurs fading away in the past and small campers will become more popular and maybe more people choosing to camp in a tent rather owning a trailer to camp in. I am curious as to the direction camping may go in the future I myself have been giving thought to a smaller liter weight camper than we have now. The older couple that I met from New England have been camping in a old 13 foot Scamp camper towing it with a Hyundai 2.0 engine and they are very happy with their camper and do not want to change.
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