Electric Motorhome Development

[Bugs]

Still in its infancy, electric motorhomes are like hen's teeth currently and of those most have a very limited driving range. 

However, Iridium's second generation electric motorhome now claims to have a range of 400km (250 miles), which is a definite step forward.

https://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/motorh...-motorhome

[David from Suffolk]

Bugs
There is a great deal of comment with CL owners re this type of outfit, I with many others are concerned re the amount of electricity being used by vans whilst on site, many including me will be needing to increase our site fees next year,As this type of outfit develops the need to supply the electricity could put up costs. We have this year seen an increase in electric bicycles being used.

[Navigator]

While many motor caravans can carry sufficient water, waste and habitation electricity to operate for a number of days the same is not so for the traction electricity. So I see it as likely that the visits of electric motor caravans may well become more frequent than their fosil propelled equivalents, if just for the recharging of the batteries.

And there is a multi-faceted problem. The normal 240 volt low amperage supply is only able to provide limited slow charging and adds to the electrical load of other caravans using the supply for traditional domestic purposes, while not really providing sufficient power to replenish the traction batteries for a decent distance the following day. Increased consumption costs for the CL owner, and perhaps even additional capital costs in requiring a heavier supply.

This can be overcome by providing suitable electric vehicle charging points and trying to recoup the installation cost through some sort of charge. But how many points, and of what type? Problems are introduced as to potential visitors having to be able to book the pitch(s) with the charging point(s), assuming they are the right type for their vehicle. And then the quandary of what to do should the electric vehicle pitch(s) not be booked and a traditional fossil propelled user asks to stay.

To charge the battery for my bicycle once it is close to empty requires around 700 watts for a good number of hours, and my girlfriend also has to charge her bicycle battery, so that together is about six amperes, times perhaps all five pitches, so the CL owner is already having a big increase in electricity consumption from the humble bicycle. I'm not able to give accurate numbers for charging as I have been experimenting with a set up for the bicycle of a solar panel charging a battery that supplies an inverter which powers the charger for the battery.  No doubt hugely inefficient and would have been costly if I had not had all the kit already. I wonder if the builders of electric vehicles will ever get to having sufficient solar/light panels on the vehicle to give a usable charge to the traction battery.