[flybymike]

In the good old days most campsites were occupied by caravans. These days I would say that maybe 50 or 60% are campervan or motorhomes.

[JoeC]

So the Forums's predication for the future of motoring is Tesla powered caravans.



Great.

[morticiaskeeper]

The week after next, I will be going on holiday. I will fill up as I leave, do 150 ish miles, towing a trailer with two kayaks on the roof and a lot of camping gear. During the week, we will do about 200 miles just pottering around, then we will drive back home again.

There will be no opportunity to charge an EV on the campsite, we prefer to keep away from the "glamping with mains" brigade. The Motorway runs out halfway into the journey, and the services do not have any charging points where we could park with trailer.

So, 500 to 600 miles, fully loaded, towing. I will probably average about 43mpg of diesel. The large car is probably worth under £2k, and cost me £10k ten years ago.

Visiting my daughter requires 150 miles each way, again with no way of charging when there.

At the moment, other than a daily commute, EV still doesn't make sense for me.




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[Pete L]

So the Forums's predication for the future of motoring is Tesla powered caravans.



Great.

Solar powered multirotor 'copters. Think of the saving on road maintenance alone.

[malcolmfrost]

At the moment, other than a daily commute, EV still doesn't make sense for me.

So probably something like 90% of your usage by days.
Personally I will probably hang on to a petrol car for exactly the things you describe, with the EV for the Tesco trip we've just done, driving to work etc.
Maybe by the time it becomes an issue, we will have vastly different batteries and/or hydrogen power.

[nallen]

It's worth looking at a current map of charger locations -- there are already a lot more than you might suppose, even some of the remoter corners of the British Isles seem to have a decent quota.

This one allows you to filter by type: https://www.zap-map.com/live/ (even includes the hydrogen refuelling points!).

[JoeC]

even some of the remoter corners of the British Isles seem to have a decent quota.

Yep, there's 3 in the centre of Sheffield

[Lindsayp]

Since Macron committed France to the same target (before the UK govt said it) I presume the charging points will exist in France as they will in the UK by 2040

[OCB]

Since Macron committed France to the same target (before the UK govt said it) I presume the charging points will exist in France as they will in the UK by 2040

...yeah, but they'll have those silly little 2-prong plugs....and you'll have to remember to buy an adapter at Boots before you go....

[Melanie Moxon]

I climb into my Mustang on a morning and fire it up, there is the initial bark as the cold start flares the rpm to about 1800, this settles down quickly to a fast idle as the engine clears the excess fuel and then once in gear 650rpm where it emits a wonderful off beat bassy thrum (think old motorboat), you can feel it all the way through the car, the steering, the seat of your pants, it feels alive. Get out into open roads and floor it and your ears are met with some of the best music ever created: the thunder of a big (by UK standards) displacement V8 with a cross plane crank. The feeling of life in the machine is with you until you shut down and climb out, a quick glance back as you walk away with a smile.

Sure a Tesla Model S will eat my 2006 Mustang GT alive on road or track in terms of performance and the technology in them is mind boggling but they are lifeless, no vibration, no noise no sign of anything happening under the hood, the only noise being the tyres on the road, the hum from an electric motor and the wind noise.

Oh and the Mustang also gives me:
250 mile range (driven normally) with everything switched on
less than 5 minutes to 'recharge'
No monthly rental fee
I can fix it on the drive with relatively basic tools.

Still if they stop selling petrol, I'll buy industrial methanol and run it on that instead (being an engineer I should be able to figure it out), might need more frequent oil changes though as that stuff tends to get past the rings easier than petrol.

[Rob P]

I think those of us who will live through the transition are incredibly lucky, we have had all the sub-Clarkson experiences as above (though my heart will always belong to Stuttgart flat sixes,), and yet we'll go on to experience the different but even better world of pure electric driving (if we are allowed autonomy and the legislators don't emasculate them)

Rob P

[avtur3]

Drag isn't going to be a large component. I suspect weight is though! How much does a draggy tin house on wheels "all-up" weigh?

Most are rated between about 1 to 1.3 tons, but if you start to load them with additional batteries, goodness knows. You also need to bear in mind that the towing car will probably also be heavily loaded.

I think you'll find caravan weights have been moving upwards in recent years, we have a modest single axle four berth that tips the scales at 1400kg; once you get into the larger singles and then the twin axles weights can be up around 1800 to 1900kg. Payloads in caravans are surprisingly low, sure they have space but often you'll find payloads around 150kg or even less that. There is little spare capacity available in existing payloads to accommodate the caravan carrying extra batteries to help with motive power.

The trend for cars manufacturers to remove weight from cars to make them more efficient has not been matched by caravan manufacturers, quite the opposite in fact as more vans are supplied with even more equipment van weights have been increasing forcing people to buy bigger cars to tow them.

[OCB]

I climb into my Mustang on a morning and fire it up, there is the initial bark as the cold start flares the rpm to about 1800, this settles down quickly to a fast idle as the engine clears the excess fuel and then once in gear 650rpm where it emits a wonderful off beat bassy thrum (think old motorboat), you can feel it all the way through the car, the steering, the seat of your pants, it feels alive.

I was getting quite excited - until I realised you were talking about a mere car.

Here was me hoping it was the "original" horsey named ride - powered by a Merlin 12 cylinder....top speed around 500mph and range of a 2000 miles

[morticiaskeeper]

On the subject of the Tesla, the USAF have replaced the Dodge Charger with the Tesla S as the U2 chase car.

It was mightily impressive.


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[Miscellaneous]

[I think you'll find caravan weights have been moving upwards in recent years...

I'd be surprised if numbers are not hugely down though, replaced, then some, by an influx of owned and hired motorhomes. And to be honest the motorhomes are more often than not a bigger nuisance.