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Now here is a real solar powered camper

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StephenH View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote StephenH Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Now here is a real solar powered camper
    Posted: 15 Sep 2021 at 11:42pm
The problem with looking at it at a cost per KWH is that from what I have read, public charging stations charge by the minute, not by the KWH. How long does it take to charge an EV? That time must be taken into consideration also. Spending time at the charging station is time lost from travel. It takes only a few minutes to pump a tank full of fuel. It takes much, much longer to fully charge a battery. If one is paying by the minute, that can add up if it takes an extended time to charge the battery. Electric is okay for local use where one can charge it at home, but I still don't see it as anywhere near practical for towing. OTOH, Ford's hybrid F150 looks to be a good way to take advantage of the strengths of electric motor torque with the refilling convenience of a gasoline engine. The built-in generator would be a great bonus.

StephenH
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Post Options Post Options   Quote offgrid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Sep 2021 at 12:58am
Older article, things in thys area are changing rapidly. Looks like it varies by state now. For example, Electrify America now charges by kwh in VA, NC, and CA to name 3 I checked, but by the minute in TX. They apparently want to do it by kwh everywhere which only makes sense as the charge rates the vehicles can handle differ greatly. The Taycan can for example charge at an amazing peak of 270kw (over 300A and 800Vdc which is I guess why they chose it for the Cannonball Run). But state regs restrict then from doing that in some places. I wonder why.

BTW, the peak charge rates occur at low SOC so folks doing long distance runs in EVs learn to keep their SOCs low and stop to recharge more frequently. That would also save $$ in the states still on per minute pricing.

As for hybrids, I've owned one for over a decade. I view them as a transition technology on the road map to pure electric. You gain either in efficiency or performance depending on how the vehicle is tuned (but not really both) and the addition of the electric motor seems to improve overall reliability even though the drivetrain is somewhat more complex. But they don't help wean us off fossil fuel use and don't achieve the reliability levels that are possible if the ICE goes away entirely.

As I no longer tow long distances I'm looking forward to seeing how the F150 Lightning shakes out once we can get passed all the marketing fluff.
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StephenH View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote StephenH Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Sep 2021 at 9:09pm
We put on 6200 miles this spring and about 1800 more ending this week. We do tow long distances. My hope is that we can make that Alaska trip next year. That will be around 10,000 or more miles. There is no way it would be possible with an EV. Energy storage just isn't there yet.
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Post Options Post Options   Quote offgrid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Dec 2021 at 2:41am
Just saw a report on the towing range of the new Rivian electric pickup. It has a 139 kwh battery and had a range of 170 miles towing a 10,000 lb car trailer with a van on it. It would do better towing an rpod of course. It had more than plenty of weight and torque to handle the tow.

The F150 lightning long range will have a 131 kwh battery so should be quite comparable in towing range. The manufacturers are wisely choosing to bump up the storage capacity (originally expected to be around 100kwh) a bit to increase towing range. So likely around 200 miles between charges towing a lighter travel trailer.

You could do 350-400 ish mile days with one recharge and lunch break of about an hour, stop for the night at a location with a 50 amp outlet, and get a "free" 200 Miles for the next day. Or reduce you daily runs/make a second charging stop and have a 10kw power source on tap for operating the trailer systems while boondocking.

When not travelling you would have 3-4 days backup storage for power failures and do all your charging at home. Not bad at all. I would personally be quite content with that.
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Olddawgsrule Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Dec 2021 at 8:36am
Hey OG... question for ya.

I'm reading the F150 Lighting uses the J1772 plug. I read conflicting ratings on this plug.. So... Can it handle the 'fast charge' stations? The Ford system can, so I.... assume..... it can.

I just ran a simulation of my Jan trip south and there's plenty of charge stations within 2 miles of the highway using a 120kw station and 200 mile distance. Figuring my drive pace of 3hrs, rest and push on 3hrs more. Looks very doable!


Edit: Looks like it may do both! CCS & J1772..
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Post Options Post Options   Quote GlueGuy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Dec 2021 at 9:29am
We get an easy 400 mile range with no "required" stops on our F150 ICE. Our bladders feel differently though. We are usually good for 3-4 hours on the road for bio-breaks regardless of how the truck feels about it.
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Olddawgsrule Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Dec 2021 at 10:18am
Originally posted by GlueGuy

We get an easy 400 mile range with no "required" stops on our F150 ICE. Our bladders feel differently though. We are usually good for 3-4 hours on the road for bio-breaks regardless of how the truck feels about it.

Very close to the same with mine. I'll be upgrading maybe next year and with all the improvements to EV's, it could be the way I go. My wants may lead to waiting a bit longer and where we go may require a hybrid... We shall see.
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Post Options Post Options   Quote offgrid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Dec 2021 at 10:57am
The J1772 is the standard 240Vac level 2 charging plug. That's what you use at home. It gets combined with two additional pins for DC fast charging while on the road. This combined system is known as CCS (for combined charging system). Its looking like that will be the standard in north america and Europe. The other two standards are the Japanese CHAdeMO (which the Nissan leaf still uses here, but I think that's the only one, might be wrong) and Tesla's. But Europe just ruled that all EVs there have CCS connectors. Tesla has an adapter for CCS.
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Olddawgsrule Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Dec 2021 at 12:09pm
Thanx Bud! The additional info I found sounded like what you are saying. Good to hear it will be the standard! 

Being I still like doing silly stuff like running the BDR,TAT and etc that are way off the beaten path... I may need to see more improvement, like distance & places to charge. I like what I read about BP & Shell jumping in and hope fairly soon it becomes the norm! 

Safe Travels all!
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