6000# is about twice the weight of our family's 21' Shasta trailer when I was growing up. And we had 6 people in it, don't ask me how.
Is lack of on the road charging stations really the biggest obstacle?
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Yeah it was a toyhauler, but empty of course. Yes they are common here too.
IME weight doesn't make as big of a difference as wind resistance, by my estimation the GCW of my unit is 8,000lbs heavier than the Sierra and trailer in the video, and I averaged 10.5mpg the last 2 weeks (granted with a more efficient diesel engine). I've looked a few times to try to make my trailer more aerodynamic, and it seems long trailers are more efficient, as are ones with a lower roofline. But a funny point I found was many suggested reversing the trailer body on the trailer frame, because most trailers have a more rounded nose with a flat rear end, where in reality a blunt nose with a rounded rear end would net better fuel mileage.
EV's would actually shine pulling heavier trailers (if the trucks could come with 300kwh batteries to get decent range), because in hilly terrain a traditional truck wastes kinetic energy as heat in the brakes or exhaust brake on a downhill grade, where the EV would recharge the batteries.
I have seen the Alto Trailers (and similar units) lots, a lot of them go by here in the spring with US plates headed to Alaska pulled by smaller vehicles, returning south in late summer. Just recently I was actually curious to know about fuel mileage as well, and was quite unimpressed with what I found. In particular I found a blog where a user was getting 25-28 mpg with a Subaru outback when empty, but pulling an Alto was down to 14-16mpg at 50-55mph, and 11-12mpg at 60-65mph. My big truck and large RV getting 10.5mpg is no impressive feat, but I feel less bad about it knowing downsizing to half-ton gas truck and small trailer wouldn't really net any fuel mileage gains.
We had a 19' Triple E trailer with 5 of us in it, I think it would have been in the 4500lb range.
Times have changed though, its harder to find a family sized trailer with bunks now under 6,000lbs. Much in the same way a standard pickup used to be under 200hp, now many are over 400hp and the Lightning is supposed to be 563hp.
To circle back to the premise of this thread though, charging stations will really be the determining factor in using EV's as standalone RV's or to tow RV's. For the short term it seems a fast charging station would be needed at least every 100 miles to make their use a reality.
What would be really cool would be a rental range extending battery that could be placed in the front of the truck bed (of course with supporting hardware from Ford), an additional 100kwh pack would really help out the lightning.
East of the Mississippi I bet you could have one every 100 miles minus a few spots. I looked how many Tesla chargers are 100 miles from me and was impressed.
As far as towing mileage goes, a 40-60% reduction is normal. My dad get 16 mpg towing an 1800# pop up Alto with his 2019 Sienna. 13 in the mountains. I really think it speaks to the ingenuity that gets high mpgs out of our current vehicles. Really I see towing as recreation. I’ll budget what I can and and fuel usually doesn’t break the budget. The idea of electric two vehicles is really new. And I’m sure once battery costs and weight comes down there will be more options.
As far as towing mileage goes, a 40-60% reduction is normal. My dad get 16 mpg towing an 1800# pop up Alto with his 2019 Sienna. 13 in the mountains. I really think it speaks to the ingenuity that gets high mpgs out of our current vehicles. Really I see towing as recreation. I’ll budget what I can and and fuel usually doesn’t break the budget. The idea of electric two vehicles is really new. And I’m sure once battery costs and weight comes down there will be more options.
I'd also be happy renting an ICE truck for some task like moving houses or pulling a camper a couple times a year.
No vehicle will be all things to all people.
No vehicle will be all things to all people.
That's often a smarter move. Hauling the kids to school and shopping for groceries in an F250 is not the best use of transportation.
Poindexter
Minister of Fire
I would go one further and say no one vehicle can meet any one persons total transportation needs.
One vehicle that meets 85-90% of my needs is a really good match. I am still going to have to rent a moving truck when we move house. I have my cordwood delivered to my driveway, because it makes no sense for me to drive a dually stake bed truck all year to the grocery store so I have it in March when I need 8-10 cords of firewood.
Having a trailer, even a small one, can open a lot of options for a smaller vehicle if you got room for the trailer. With my woodworking hobby, if I find sticks I want that are 14 feet long (my truck has a six foot bed) I can just pay for the wood and bring my trailer next time around. Handy for plywood too if I need more than two sheets for something.
I was killing time and counted 12 Tesla Superchargers within 100 miles of me. I know for a fact there are other DC fast chargers in town. If Tesla only sold affordable cars…..
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Here is a solution for apartments. Tesla will allow paid for charging at level 2 Tesla wall chargers as long as the owner has 6 or more units.
They dropped the price to 400$ a unit. With the ability to set a group of chargers to limit combined current draw this seem like a workable small scale solution.
electrek.co
They dropped the price to 400$ a unit. With the ability to set a group of chargers to limit combined current draw this seem like a workable small scale solution.
Tesla enables paid charging at Destination Chargers, but there's a catch
Tesla is enabling paid charging at Destination Chargers, which have generally been free up to this point, but there’s a...
electrek.co
I left this on another forum, but I've found out why private EV chargers in my province are non existent. The distribution fees for a standalone charger make EV charger prohibitively expensive.
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So as the owner of a commercial property I would have to pay these rates on any chargers I install? Even if it’s just a 240v. ??
The destination chargers are the same as the wall chargers they sell (and I bought and installed). 400$ is just the unit. It’s yours you pay for install. And now I guess you can Register your chargers and have Tesla manage billing. (I’m sure they take a decent cut). You would then get to set rates and get a check from Tesla.
My understanding is that is not the case. If you install a level 2 charger at a hotel for example it would be the standard rates.
This is for a dedicated EV Fast charging station, for example the Tesla Superchargers.
Which after seeing this means Tesla is charging cars at a significant loss in Alberta.
Or consumers are paying very high rates. There is not a lot of free supercharging being offered anymore. It add some value to the used Teslas where it can be transferred via private sale.
I would like to see how that works? Street parking is limited in places like brooklyn (I lived in brooklyn for more than a decade), with alternate parking rules and street cleaning. Let us say if they installed in a few spots on the street and enforced rules that ICE cars cannot park on those spots, It will be a not a happy scenario as those cars are not going anywhere anytime soon and have to compete for parking in a crowded neighborhood. I am guessing retaliatory steps of breaking those would be common. Somedays i had to spend 1 to 2 hours just driving around looking for a spot on street to park or until someone pulls out (anyone who lived in urban areas with an apartment and street parking will understands this)
I am not saying it is not doable, it will be painful for everyone.
How about every spot gets a charger. People will fight over them just like they do now.
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