By Russ and Tiña De Maris
Interest is high in shifting away from fossil fuels as motor fuel. Still, a practical real-world alternative fuel vehicle for the RV lifestyle has so far been elusive. Enter Marcus Lemonis of Camping World fame. Marcus wants you to get an electric truck from Camping World.
Camping World has Endurance
A new partnership between the RV giant and Lordstown Motors, maker of the forthcoming electric-fired Endurance pickup, is now in place. Lordstown will make the truck, Camping World will service it, and presumably become a selling-point for the ‘lectric trucks.
With the usual level of braggadocio, the Camping World CEO spouted, “We can sell more than [they] can make!” The company says it will have a mock service call center up and running next June to support the truck, which will lead the release of the new rigs.
How many miles between “fill-ups”?
Will you want to get an electric truck from Camping World? With a suggested price point of less than $53,000, the American-built Lordstown Endurance costs less than plenty of other dino-fueled pickups. But what’s the real endurance of the Endurance? The company says they’ll be shooting for a between-charges range of 250 miles, a tow weight ability of 6,000 pounds, and a motor kicking out 600 horsepower.
That’s not a lot of tow capacity for folks looking for rigs suitable for something other than perhaps weekend adventures. And while 250 miles is “doable” for getting to the RV park, a question that always arises is this: What happens to the vehicle range when weight is put on the towball? And for those who plan on heading out not for an electrified RV park but for a boondocking adventure, what then?
Marcus Lemonis has an answer for that: A network of charge stations across the country. Where? At Camping World, of course! And to make the whole press release even more enticing, there’s the added hint of Camping World and Lordstown working together on an electric RV. That’s still “down the road” – but a teaser is always good to keep the interest going.
Electric RV?
Just what is an “electric RV”? Visions of motorhomes with charge cords dance in your head? Nope, apparently the idea is an “electrified” towable unit. Car and Driver reports, “The first vehicles will be ‘Class E’ electrified travel trailers that are powered via battery packs instead of the traditional generator when hookups are unavailable.”
Now there’s a “gee-whiz” idea: Imagine, not using a smelly generator when out in the wilderness. Seems like boondockers have been doing that for quite awhile. These new rigs will sport lithium-ion batteries, standing ready to tote the electrical load. But unless solar or wind is available to recharge them, users will still need to bring their “electrified” trailers back to a shore-power hookup.
You can visit Lordstown’s Endurance website here.
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##RVT979b
What A Joke!
Camping World can’t even service the campers they sell! What makes anyone think they can do this?
That was MY first thought too, Bill. People have trouble getting their Teslas serviced, and currently that is the EV leader.
BAHAHAHA
We live near where the truck is going to be built. Yes they need a network inplace to sell and service their new truck,but I believe CW was not the company to partner with. They have a terrible record for repairs in a timely and repair the first time mindset. In the RV world they can get away with it due to no legal recourse but that is not an acceptable nor is it the standard in Auto world . Taking your unit back to get the same thing repaired more than three times,in the automotive industry, you fall into the Lemon Law guidelines no matter how minor the issue may be. I believe the new electric truck is a great product and they already have orders in the service/delivery sector for over 50,000 units but due to the past repair record of CW in unit could be tagged as a bad product when it is not.If CW becomes a retail outlet for the truck,their used car salesmen tactics and lowball on trade ins is something I believe will sour the product.
I pray this not the downfall
Maybe they should rename it the Lemonis law.
It’s an interesting concept, I have visions of the truck sitting for four weeks till the technicians get around to fixing whatever is wrong. I would prefer half the power at twice the range.
This is a pipe dream to the greatest level. The Fast Lane(TFL) car on YouTube road tested a Tesla model X which is the only one rated for towing (5000 lbs),towing an off road aerodynamic camping trailer from their headquarters in Boulder, CO to Portland, OR. They barely got 100 miles before the car was critically low on battery power, they had to call back to the office and have one of the pickup trucks come out to get the trailer so they could limp into the next charging station to spend over 4 hrs waiting for the batteries to recharge to 80% so they could continue. As I have said many times EVs make great commuters as long as you don’t need any work done. Just as working an ICE car/truck reduces fuel mileage the same happens to EVs, the difference is the abundance of gas stations and less than 10 minutes to refill. Some day when the infrastructure is in place and technology allows a recharge in less than 15 minutes they will be feasible.
250 miles probably without a load is not a truck for an RV’er as most us go more that 250 on a single day of travel. Also 250 miles is when the truck is new, like all of us know from using our smartphones, batteries degrade with usage, so that 250 becomes 200 in a few years. When they start talking about 600 mile or more on a single charge, then that’s when this gets interesting.
Yup, that’s just what I want, a truck that can’t tow much or go more than 250 miles (maybe) and then you get to sit for 8 to 12 hours for it to charge before you might get another 250 miles. All for 53K (bet it’ll end up being much more than that). Gee, sign me up! NOT.
Having experienced Camping World’s so-called “service” department, that alone is a deal-killer for me.
My last experience was 4 months in their shop for a repair estimated to take 2 days.
Nope. Sorry, Marcus, but no, no, no.
whatever it takes to accelerate the electrified RV concept. Once they have full big rigs rolling as EVs, RVs will be coming soon after. This will a welcome revolution of gas guzzling hogs. Bring on the EV RV. Everyone tweet to Elon and he will put it on the roadmap.
And where does all of the electricity come from to power all of this stuff? You may say solar, but I have my doubts. You say wind, and I say probably not. Electricity, the “cheaper” option. That’s why we heat our homes with natural gas, not electricity. It has to be generated, and there is a cost to that.
It will be a long time until enough electricity can be cleanly generated to offset coal, natural gas and fossil fuels.
Well, when and if it happens, Marcus will be smiling all the way to the bank. Sell the trucks and then do their normal 2-6 month wait time for repair. Sure hope Camping World designates a large area to put the trucks ‘waiting’ to be repaired.
Camping World?? A big NOPE on that one!!
Apparently no one at Lordstown has heard of Google. A quick search of Camping World would have sent them searching for other partners.
That last thing you need is for “that” service to include your pull vehicle as well….NOPE
Camping World’s Service….. as I have read reviews is “the worst service for RV’s out there” from many people who have had the pleasure of their service department. Now they can’t fix an RV correctly and they want to take on service for Lordstown Motor’s electric truck!!! Lordstown is doomed before they start if they partner with Camping World…..
Well, for us, anyway, there will be no recharging at the “campground” (remote boondocking spot, unless we plan very poorly), so the “range” has to be round-trip. Figure *maybe* half the claimed range with a large brick sail in tow, and that gives us a sixty-mile radius. Anybody want my place in line?
Camping World should focus their efforts on improving the sales and service experience they currently offer as it is woefully in need of improvement.
this! ^^^^^^
There is only two charging stations in 30 miles of my area. What do I do if I am low and need charge,only to get to charge station,and there is 5 trucks waiting for someone to get off the charger so the next in line gets to use charger. How many hours does it take to fully charge a vehicle? Is camping world going to put in chargers at their stores to help handle the load?
Call your Representative and Senators offices and tell them to stop giving tax breaks to billionaires and start investing in solar/electric charging infrastructure. It’s time to get them off the fossil fuel campaign finance teet, and make them answer to the voters/consumers/
I hope you’re not saying the government should get into building charging sites. I don’t want MY tax money paying for this. The government doesn’t build gas stations.
Let us know when the towing limit doubles and the battery capacity sextuples. Until then, I’ll stick with my F150 and 37 gallon tank. I don’t want to plan my entire trips around finding charging stations and calculating recharge times.
ditto!!
Ditto for me too.
I would love this! I may not live long enough to see more HP and longer range, but it’s a good start.
Electric vehicles. Otherwise known as Coal Powered Vehicles.
i would need to trust CW in order to make that sort of purchase, so no.
Camping World Servicing an Everyday Vehicle? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Good one!
He’ll turn this into a “Lemon” is for sure!
Why in the world would any company, run by actual sane people, want to get in bed with a company that has the worst follow-up, worst customer service, and highest disregard for after-sale customer in the history of RVs? Boggles the mind. Endurance evidently doesn’t employ anyone capable of a simple web search.
How many months will trucks be sitting for repair like the RVs that Camper World can’t fix now. And I would assume your not devoting this truck to just tow your RV. I’ll stick to the fossil burning and auto dealership for repairs. Haven’t bought anything from camper world before why would I want to now. I read somewhere that 80% of electricity is produced by fossil fuel and location for recharge is nil to none existent so why would I purchase a EV anything especially living in a cold climate.
The entire market has changed in the last few years, led in part by Tesla and their network of (super)charging stations. You can’t go to a Target or Walmart without seeing a charging station, and many shopping centers, hotels and business parks are adding them.
Solar/wind/electric is the new recreational marijuana for investors, as people who were on the bleeding edge of the technology are now starting (AMERICAN) businesses. Sure, Leemonis is trying to get into an emerging business, but Lordstown needs a sales network and electric vehicles need far less ‘maintenance’ and repairs compared to ICE powered or hybrid vehicles. Plus, LiFePO4 (and the other flavors of Lithium batteries) have better cold weather performance than lead acid ones (but you definitely need a garage in cold weather to prevent freezing).
Can I recommend you watch some of the videos from Matt Ferrell, who talks about these topics. Undecided with Matt Ferrell – YouTube
Where I may agree with the comments about the future of electric, we are miles and years from this being a realistic event. People tout 250 mile range but that is not pulling and the tow capacity is a baby camper (6000 lbs)
I am not adverse to renewable energy (in fact I want to add solar to our camper), but when and if the industry is able to pull 10000 lbs for 300-500 miles and recharge in 30 minutes, then you can start talking “electric trucks” to campers.
Look at this! “($7,500)Federal tax credit 4″ They want taxpayers (you and me) to help offset the cost. Quit spending my money.
get back to us in 4 years and let us know how it`s going.
You know how many repeat customers camping world has? Virtually NONE, because they have the world’s worst customer service attitude on the planet for any company their size. They are ‘profitable’ because they spend zero dollars on customer service, once you sign the contract you can pizz off for warranty service & satisfaction. Add in the totally unknown / unwanted market of ‘lectric pickup trucks, all you’re going to have is a massive corporate bailout by taxpayers on a boondoggle bust of a merger.
The article mentions using batteries rather than a generator when boondocking. This will be costly and inconvenient. A Tesla Powerwall 1, for example, without installation expense, costs $3,000 and holds 6.4 KWh. Assuming you can run this down to 20%, that gives you 5.1 usable KWh. That’s like running your Honda 2200 (1800 watts sustained) generator for less than 3 hours at full load. Just something to consider…
Interesting,but Camping World? I think not.
Is there enough lithium in the world for all the cars/trucks they plan to build?
Can lithium be recycled to make new batteries like lead acid can be?
Is there really an electric fairy who, with the wave of her wand makes electricity or to recharge the batterys without using some sort of fossil fuel. We haven’t built any nukes for years, and even then it takes energy to mine and process uranium. That doesn’t come energy free.
Great minds WILL figure it out but in the meantime
“Beam me up Scotty”
Ever heard of renewable energy. Wind and solar is the way to go
Renewable energy provides about 12% of US energy and is not reliable. It may be the way to go, but it has a ways to go.
Buy a truck from Camping World?? Not me. In fact, I will not buy a bicycle from them due to the poor customer service at many of their locations.
CW??? Seriously?? After the way we’ve seen them handle camper issues I think no trust there from us.
No thank you.
OMG no way would I buy anything from CW, and have to bring it to them for service, absolutely not!
This makes me laugh. I wouldn’t buy a tarp from CW!!
I will not be buying anything from Camping World or its affiliates.
I link to RVTRAVEL.COM whenever I see a post on “thinking of getting an RV”. regardless of whether I know the person or not. I can’t help but wonder how it is that so many people remain unaware of Camping World’s horrible no good very bad record of servicing RVs. 55 years ago I read extensively on childbirth and trending practices bevore I had even met my husband to be. I lurked on the RVtravel.com site and forums (yes, we used to have forums) before buying my towable RV. I read up on energy star appliancesfor 2 YEARS before going with Splendide all in one washer/dryer in my block built house. Why don’t more people research before committing themselves? How can one reach the sleeping masses before the suddenly rise up, mutter Must…have…EV… and shamble off to Camping World?
Shhh! Reading and comprehending consumer and investment information is a secret way to live a better life. Don’t spread it around!
My question to Marcus is this-where do they plug into to recharge at the campgrounds they are going to? campground owners are looking to try be ready for this, and what are the requirements for the truck. Will they be able to be recharged from the camper being plugged in and being connected to the truck? Will they plug into the 50 amp plug in the box and the camper uses a 30 amp plug or the other way around? A lot of campgrounds don’t have all 50 amp sites on every site. You better start getting info out to all the campgrounds so they can plan for this.
Campgrounds will have to either invest in separately metered electric connections or go way up on the overnight rate. No way they are going to “give” you that energy.
Does anyone remember the Jarvek 7?
As I do, I wonder what happened to Jarvek 1 through 6. Now, if anything new comes to the market place, I wait until all the ,I need it,want it souls help get all the bugs worked out. Maybe by then,I maybe in limbo waiting for a spot in God’s RV Park. I feel the same way about the vaccine, I’ll let others go first, work out the kinks. At 69, a retired bomb tech, my advice is no hurry, take your time, don’t be an expert, become a well informed individual.
I live near Lordstown motors and I don’t want Marcus Lemonis anywhere near anything in our community. GM is building their new battery plant for electric cars here and Workhorse is to build electric trucks. BTW Winnebago has been working on an electric powered Motorhome for a couple years.
And exactly what is a ‘mock’service call center?