Future of Boondocking?

[CBDunkerson]

Originally Posted by jcussen

My mistake, thought this thread was called "the future of boondocking"

It is... which is why you should be thinking about future capabilities rather than past limitations.

Originally Posted by jcussen

Yes you could boondock close to a charging station, use up your battery capacity, but keeping enough to get back to your charging station to refill again.

Can't really see the government, or anyone actually, putting a charging station 20 miles off of some secondary road in the middle of BLM land, which is where I boondock.

...and that distance from charging might be a problem for electric RVs that came out three years ago (past technology). It would NOT be a problem for an RV built on a Tesla semi platform (current technology)... that could travel 100 miles from charging point to boondocking spot and still have more than a month of battery capacity left. Ergo, it should be easily doable with future technology.

Originally Posted by jcussen

My actual real life experience with solar charging [1455 watts] is averaging about 5kwh's a day.

So, again... past experience. There are RVs with roughly double that charging capacity currently... and, as per the original post, thin film solar which can be used on enough extra area to get roughly double the exposure, while also having roughly double the efficiency... working out to a potential 40 kWh per day, with currently existing technology. Ergo, in the future it should be possible to run a boondocking RV entirely on solar and have some excess actually be topping up the batteries over time.

Originally Posted by jcussen

You may be right, perhaps in 5 years all new rv's will be electrically powered, but really doubt it. Just does not work out economically or logistically.

I doubt 100% conversion in 5 years. It could be economically feasible by then, but it would take longer than that to build sufficient EV facilities to meet the demand for RVs.

Originally Posted by jcussen

Electric only cars have been on the market for many years, and last year they made up about 2% of total car sales.

Depends where you look. In Norway, EVs are at 60% of new car sales... primarily because they tax ICE vehicles to the point that EVs have been cheaper there for about five years now. That suggests a transition to near 100% EV sales within 10 years of the price inversion. In the US, the price inversion could come at any time with policy changes or take another 5 years max even with pro-ICE policies remaining in effect.

[jcussen]

Originally Posted by CBDunkerson

It is... which is why you should be thinking about future capabilities rather than past limitations.



...and that distance from charging might be a problem for electric RVs that came out three years ago (past technology). It would NOT be a problem for an RV built on a Tesla semi platform (current technology)... that could travel 100 miles from charging point to boondocking spot and still have more than a month of battery capacity left. Ergo, it should be easily doable with future technology.



So, again... past experience. There are RVs with roughly double that charging capacity currently... and, as per the original post, thin film solar which can be used on enough extra area to get roughly double the exposure, while also having roughly double the efficiency... working out to a potential 40 kWh per day, with currently existing technology. Ergo, in the future it should be possible to run a boondocking RV entirely on solar and have some excess actually be topping up the batteries over time.



I doubt 100% conversion in 5 years. It could be economically feasible by then, but it would take longer than that to build sufficient EV facilities to meet the demand for RVs.



Depends where you look. In Norway, EVs are at 60% of new car sales... primarily because they tax ICE vehicles to the point that EVs have been cheaper there for about five years now. That suggests a transition to near 100% EV sales within 10 years of the price inversion. In the US, the price inversion could come at any time with policy changes or take another 5 years max even with pro-ICE policies remaining in effect.

Think you summed it up quite well, all these thing could and might happen. Hopefully in the future someone might find a cure for cancer as well. Till then I guess we are stuck with what we have...
But then I am the sort of guy that thinks that if you cannot buy it on Amazon, it doesn't exist.

[RVPioneer]

Actually, we can and do learn from past experiences. One of the things we’ve learned over the years is that humans aren’t very good at accurately predicting the future of anything.

Discussing the future of boondocking or any other subject inevitably leads to little more than the exchange of opinions. This is fine and can be both entertaining and occasionally, informative. Provided we understand certain things such as, what a 20% efficient solar panel means, don’t make too many assumptions and are capable of basic math, we can exchange ideas in a respectful manner and possibly, listen to and understand another persons viewpoint without an arrogant attitude.

[radar]

Originally Posted by RVPioneer

Actually, we can and do learn from past experiences. One of the things we’ve learned per the years is that humans aren’t very good at accurately predicting the future of anything.

Discussing the future of boondocking or any other subject inevitably leads to little more than the exchange of opinions. This is fine and can be both entertaining and occasionally, informative. Provided we understand certain things such as, what a 20% efficient solar panel means, don’t make too many assumptions and are capable of basic math, we can exchange ideas in a respectful manner and possibly, listen to and understand another persons viewpoint without an arrogant attitude.

Well said....even though I’m always right. I’M KIDDING I
I’M KIDDING.

Totally agree though. Discussion is fun.

[MBrant]

Here's a couple more ideas to float: extendable solar arrays (auto-retractable in wind, of course!) on both sides of the vehicle. It can be retrofitted now. Sorta taking the place of awnings, the extensions retract beneath the main top solar panels.

Another: the advent of solar will enable high-efficiency DC refrigerators which actually keep stuff cold. New insulation products will help, and lexan or fiberglass shells instead of metal shells.

How about Dump hoses with Kevlar on the outside? LOL.

Blowout Prevention Cameras. Computers can watch video faster than we can, and warn of impending tread separation.

Dinettes replaced by video gaming recliners.

Clearance-boosting pneumatics and a built-in winch.

A towable bear-proof (it's a concept, not a reality) dumpster with a campsite Roomba? (Ye Gods, some campers are slobs!)

RV Trip Wizard in virtual reality.

To quote a favorite movie, "You keep thinking there, Butch. It's what you're good at."

[theoldwizard]

Originally Posted by MBrant

Another: the advent of solar will enable high-efficiency DC refrigerators which actually keep stuff cold. New insulation products will help, and lexan or fiberglass shells instead of metal shells.

Those are available NOW ! Not cheap, but they work well.

[CBDunkerson]

Originally Posted by MBrant

Here's a couple more ideas to float: extendable solar arrays (auto-retractable in wind, of course!) on both sides of the vehicle. It can be retrofitted now. Sorta taking the place of awnings, the extensions retract beneath the main top solar panels.

Yes, this has been mentioned a few times and seems possible. May be a tricky decision between having these 'solar awnings' vs covering the sides of the EV in solar. The awnings would have more surface area exposed to sunlight at any given time, but they couldn't be used while the vehicle was in motion.

Originally Posted by MBrant

Another: the advent of solar will enable high-efficiency DC refrigerators which actually keep stuff cold. New insulation products will help, and lexan or fiberglass shells instead of metal shells.

This falls under the whole 'fully electric' category... electric RV batteries should be big enough to handle standard appliances rather than the, often less effective, versions specially made for RVs.

Originally Posted by MBrant

Blowout Prevention Cameras. Computers can watch video faster than we can, and warn of impending tread separation.

I've wondered if self-driving vehicles won't lead to 'automatic servicing'. That'd be easier with regular cars that sit empty for long periods, but even with RVs it might be possible to have the vehicle drive itself to a repair shop whenever the occupants are going to be away for a day or so.

Originally Posted by MBrant

Clearance-boosting pneumatics and a built-in winch.

Already found in 'expedition vehicles' and probably a good bet for the more extreme boondocking vehicles going forward.

Originally Posted by MBrant

A towable bear-proof (it's a concept, not a reality) dumpster with a campsite Roomba? (Ye Gods, some campers are slobs!)

Campsite Roomba seems likely to be too much of a 'niche' product to be available any time soon. That is, it would need a similar level of pattern recognition as self-driving vehicles (e.g. is that object trash or a flower?) without the financial payoff to make that kind of investment practical.

[CBDunkerson]

Hymer's idea of a 2030 RV

Personally, I don't think they've thought through the 'hamster ball' look. The easier you make it to see out the easier it is to see IN also.

Other than that, seems within reach of modern technology and has some good ideas.

[Pyropete]

Originally Posted by theoldwizard

Those are available NOW ! Not cheap, but they work well.

I was going to buy a couple of those flexi panels on wish.com or Alibaba.com and let y'all know how good they are. They are claiming high wattage at VERY LOW prices.. As in $5 for each panel which comes with a meter or converter as well.. Crazy stuff.. I will let y'all know.