Recently a Spanish designer based in Madrid posted a picture on Instagram of an illustrated rendering of a Class 8 Tesla Semi, transmogrified into an RV, reported Torque News. Internet Tesla dreamers would like to make the non-manufactured handful of one-off electric tractors into something that you can park out in the great outdoors, not even within shouting distance of a hookup.
• The illustration includes an extended cab lengthened over an extended chassis and long wheelbase rear axle to become an RV.
• With a bobtail tractor and chassis, there is no limit with what you can do to such a potential RV platform.
• Other OEM companies like Winnebago are rolling out their RV electric versions to see what their customers like and don’t like.
• Tesla may not go into the RV business, but if they ever get their Semi program off the ground they can make the tractor and have someone else built the coach on it.
Tesla seems intent on taking on Ford in one aspect that Ford has never done to the F-150 pickup. Based on their hybrid and EV car offerings, some of which faced failure, Ford has failed to make one full electric pickup truck.
It seems Madrid Motors was not the only company that had its sights on some kind of Tesla motorhome concept. There are other companies already in the motorhome business that are starting to electrify their offerings. Winnebago a few months ago rolled out a new EV on a Winnebago Class A RV platform, offered in 33-foot and 38-foot lengths with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) up to 26,000 pounds. Range options are either 85 or 125 miles. You can tell from the ranges that this vehicle is not suited for camping. But Winnebago is stretching its legs first with the commercial customers, to get a sense of what works and what doesn’t, so that when they get to the campers they’ll have a better idea of what works, especially for EV camping and off-grid living.
After reading this article I wonder why Tesla has not come out with a Powerwall for RVs. These are used for solar powered homes or backup power. Could be awesome for boondocking. Just an idea.
The truck mfgs will have to get much better batteries before any RV’ers will bite because a couple hundred miles on a charge will not make it. And charging stations are few and far between plus generating electricity is not free.
You have to consider differences of usage, Steve. I’d agree with you, but see the benefit for MANY other readers here according to the surveys.
For someone like me, who historically tows 5-600 miles in a day, a theoretical all-electric truck is a nonstarter on range, and even a hybrid loses most of its benefit over long distances because very little travel would be fueled from the batteries, and there’s very little regenerative braking on highways.
For someone with more leisurely milage and schedule, however, electric drive could be HUGE. If I could move only 150 miles at a time, charging driving batteries for “free” from campgrounds, it would be like free fuel. The electricity could easily be worth more than the campsite fee – I often spend $30 for a powered site after spending $200 in fuel that day. As mentioned below, I’d HOPE E-RVs paid a surcharge for extreme power use.
There have been several outfits retrofitting pickups to be electric vehicles (Via motors, Workhorse W15, lots of DIY supply outfits), but Chevy plans to be the first manufactured EV truck with the 2019 Silverado.
What i wonder is, once plugin electric trucks become more common, will campgrounds raise electric fees for all of us to cover the cost of people ‘filling their tank’ from the shore power?