All electric coach

[NLOVNIT]

That's the same coach we have. I would not go back to propane now that we have all electric. No having to buy propane AND gasoline. So long as I have plenty of diesel in the tank (& we never go below 1/2) I'm good.

No problems boondocking. The longest we've done it is just over 4 days, but as you can read from past posts, others have gone much longer. Generator is set for auto-start to keep batteries charged if they get too low. All the heat/hot water we could possibly need using the diesel side of the AquaHot. If I need AC, that's what the generator is for. Outlets & residential fridge are powered by the inverter. Fridge uses very little power once cooled to temp. All the lights are LED, again very little power usage.

That coach you linked to has 100gal fresh AND grey tanks. Judicious use of water (i.e. don't use the Thetford toilet, use the gravity one in the half bath....you control more of the water flow with it, don't do laundry, don't use the dishwasher) will last you well over a week before you'll need to dump.

Lori-

[followingsea]

Originally Posted by MikeStarr

The RV we rented in Alaska was a small cheapo 31' Minnie Winnie unit.

So Mike did you have fun in your 'cheap' RV?

The best advice I have read on this site is that your first RV is a learning experience.

What we learned was that we loved the lifestyle. Going full time was not a plan. We enjoyed boondocking. Our first MH was propane as is our second.

What you like is a natter of personal choice based on experience.

[MikeStarr]

Originally Posted by followingsea

So Mike did you have fun in your 'cheap' RV?

The best advice I have read on this site is that your first RV is a learning experience.

What we learned was that we loved the lifestyle. Going full time was not a plan. We enjoyed boondocking. Our first MH was propane as is our second.

What you like is a natter of personal choice based on experience.

Yes, we loved it. Of course we wouldnt want to live in one that small, but it was a nice little test run of whether or not we would really want to full time. We passed the test.


Thanks for all the responses. Ive learned a lot.

[Trapper2022]

A rig this size propane or all electric is going to spend the majority of its life hooked up to a pole. Everyone likes to think they will spend more time boondocking but when you get this long and heavy you will not. Try to pull this off road and you will get stuck. Towing costs to get out will be high. Quartzite is great if you like a lot of dust in and on you and the rig. The big negative of this listed rig is the 10% depreciation you will get every year. Thing about that 28k the first year you own it. By year four around 100 k in depreciation. For your first rig I would start smaller, older, cheaper and figure out if this life style really is right for you. Also realize most newer used rigs have owners that are upside down in the rig they have. They owe more than it is worth. The listed price is very seldom the actual price they will get or what it is worth. Move slowly do a lot of reasearch and make low ball offers. Eventually you will get a rig at a fair price and minimize your depreciation lost. Good luck.

Enjoy the journey

[Jlo11111]

Originally Posted by MikeStarr

https://www.rvtrader.com/listing/201...-IH-5010113324


We are in the process of doing our research before purchasing a motor home about a year from now. We will be full timing. Our RV experience is limited to a 2 week rental in Alaska last year but we have also done quite a bit of research so far.


Can you tell me the pros and cons of an "all electric coach" like the one above?


My worry is that we wouldn't be able to boondook very long at all with no propane. We believe we will most likely be staying places with hook ups at least half the time, but also want to be able to boondock for 5-7 day stretches.

You did not say what size RV you are getting. If Class B or smaller Class C, I would go all electric and completely eliminate the gas/propane/diesel generator. With a good sized lithium battery pack and a powerful second alternator, you can boondock for days/weeks without running out of power. And when you do, start the engine and the second alternator will pump more amps into your batteries in a matter of minutes than your solar array or gas generator can do in hours. You can even run your roof AC for 8 hours or so off the batteries. This will scale to big RVs, but it gets really expensive, especially if you want to run washer/dryers and 3 ACs. I'm a class B/B+ guy myself. I'm in the process of building out an all electric coach. Based on my calculations, I'll be able to go weeks without starting the engine to charge as long as the temps are below 85 degrees. If it's really hot, I'll just go to a place with plugins or drive to where it's cooler. Bottom line is my fridge will be empty or my poop tank will be full, long before my batteries are empty. My round trip drive to the grocery store will fill my batteries and I'm good to go again.

[Mr.Mark]

Originally Posted by Jlo11111

You did not say what size RV you are getting. If Class B or smaller Class C, I would go all electric and completely eliminate the gas/propane/diesel generator. With a good sized lithium battery pack and a powerful second alternator, you can boondock for days/weeks without running out of power. And when you do, start the engine and the second alternator will pump more amps into your batteries in a matter of minutes than your solar array or gas generator can do in hours. You can even run your roof AC for 8 hours or so off the batteries. This will scale to big RVs, but it gets really expensive, especially if you want to run washer/dryers and 3 ACs. I'm a class B/B+ guy myself. I'm in the process of building out an all electric coach. Based on my calculations, I'll be able to go weeks without starting the engine to charge as long as the temps are below 85 degrees. If it's really hot, I'll just go to a place with plugins or drive to where it's cooler. Bottom line is my fridge will be empty or my poop tank will be full, long before my batteries are empty. My round trip drive to the grocery store will fill my batteries and I'm good to go again.

I've read a little about the Class B's and B+'s which I would like to add to my fleet one day for 'different' type of touring and campgrounds.

What concerns me is that Idling a diesel engine for a long period that uses DEF. Are there any drawbacks mentioned in your research?

Mark

[NLOVNIT]

Originally Posted by Jlo11111

You did not say what size RV you are getting...

The OP linked to a Phaeton Class A diesel. That leads me to believe that's what he's interested in.

Lori-

[RubiconTrail]

These "electric" threads are very common on this forum. Here is how they usually go...

People who have never had an all electric coach talk about how great propane is and that boondocking in an all electric coach just doesn't work and all their electric friends won't go anywhere they can't plug in.

People who have all electric coaches talk about how great they are and how boondocking isn't a problem.

I've done both over the last twenty five years of RV ownership (19 years on propane in a Newmar DP, the rest in all electric coaches). Propane was fine as long as the tank was full, stressful trying to find fuel sometimes. Electric is better because you only have to find one fuel, diesel. It's also better because the coaches that are all electric tend to have bigger water and waste tanks and that is what ends up limiting you.

There is a mindset change that needs to take place. When I had a propane coach I did my best not to run the generator because it sucked up the propane and then I needed to find a fill. When you run an all electric coach, the opposite is true. The generator runs off the diesel tank and uses very little fuel, you need to keep running it to charge your batteries, and you can use that genny time to do other tasks (run the AC, cook, etc).

The most I've boondocked in the electric coach is 12 days, and I know many people have gone much longer so I'm not super experienced. In twelve days I used 28 gallons of diesel (without conserving, ran the AC when I wanted to, heated water, charged batteries, whatever). So I could easily have gone another 24 very comfortable days without fuel becoming a problem. The problem was, my gray tanks were full, and I had no water left!

Other advantages: Full size residential fridge and basement freezer, diesel ot water (very efficient), diesel heat so no worrying about using all your propane in a day or two if it gets cold.

Here's an interesting link: https://ecoa20.wildapricot.org/event-3104597

It's a signup for the Quartszite Gathering, a gathering of 50+ all electric coaches dry camping for a week in Quartszite. You may note that it talks about getting tanks dumped and finding water, but there are no worries about fuel or running out of batteries or heat or AC.

Don't let the all electric naysayers steer you away. IMO if they haven't tried it, they should, it's so much better...ESPECIALLY if you're boondocking.

[Dale70]

I don't have a real stake in this debate, and see both points, although I am not against propane and like the freedom it has provided.

However it does seem that the "all electric" RV's are progressing over time.

One question I have had is what the all electric people do when you are boondocking at a place where they have generator hours restrictions.

Can you time your battery charging so that you would conform to two hours in morning and two hours in evening -- and of course no generator use after 10pm and until 8 am. Would you have to turn off the gen "auto-start?" each evening?

We stay 8-10 days at a time, once a year at a place with that restriction.

thx Dale

[Jlo11111]

You'll get all sorts of opinions on idling a diesel. I only know that Advanced RV has been building all electric Sprinters for years. They're a master MB upfitter and build probably the best (and most expensive) class B's out there. They say they have never had problems. And Winnie and Coachman now have all electric class B's built on the diesel MB so they don't see an issue either. Personally, I'm building off the gas Promaster so I don't even have a dog in the fight.

[RubiconTrail]

In my case, not at all, Dale. But that depends on your battery capacity and what you are using, of course.

The Auto-Gen has timers built into it that don't allow it to run during certain hours (like auto settings on a thermostat) if you want to set it up that way for precisely this reason. So you could program it when you arrive to take into account the "off time". In my case I run it in the morning for two hours and in the evening for two hours and it never gets into the danger zone. It can easily go 24 hours between charges running normal stuff if that is needed.

[followingsea]

Originally Posted by MikeStarr

Yes, we loved it. Of course we wouldnt want to live in one that small, but it was a nice little test run of whether or not we would really want to full time. We passed the test.


Thanks for all the responses. Ive learned a lot.

Bad news Mike. The biggest MH is smaller than a single wide.

I was in the navy so I got used to cramped quarters. Also lived on a sailboat for a while.

When we went to China to work we sold the house, truck, and put the furniture in storage. When we came back to retire I had 30 days in a hotel with a rental car and no plan. I needed a box truck to get the furniture someplace and was limited by time and money.

We headed south with the first snow a month later in a vintage 32' HR gasser with 40k miles for $9k. I may have overloaded the tires using it as a moving van. After visiting family Louisiana and putting furniture in storage. Headed west to see our son.

Boondocked in a casino parking lot and then on the Texas GOM beach. The adventure began.

My late wife was a good sport. She wanted a bigger MH with a slide. As you can see from the tab line we did upgrade. The kids thought I should sell the MH and get something smaller. It is my home with wonderful memories.

Ok then lessons learned. Enjoy the time you have. Wonderful memories have nothing to do with the size of your house or MH.

So when it comes to size what do you need. You need a comfortable place to park your butt in the evening. You need to keep your beer cold. You need a nice bed to sleep in.

The walk was five longer going top bed which was a lot shorter with few stairs in our old house.

You have to learn what you like and do not like which does not help you at all deciding on your first MH. What I like about having a MH, if you are tired of where you are go someplace else.

[Dutch Star Don]

Originally Posted by Dale70

I don't have a real stake in this debate, and see both points, although I am not against propane and like the freedom it has provided.

However it does seem that the "all electric" RV's are progressing over time.

One question I have had is what the all electric people do when you are boondocking at a place where they have generator hours restrictions.

Can you time your battery charging so that you would conform to two hours in morning and two hours in evening -- and of course no generator use after 10pm and until 8 am. Would you have to turn off the gen "auto-start?" each evening?

We stay 8-10 days at a time, once a year at a place with that restriction.

thx Dale

The all electric coaches have large battery banks. If I have to, I can run my coach for 24 hours before running the generator. That includes running the refer, water pump, diesel heat and TV.

Many with propane act like they boondock for weeks on just propane. Guess what, everything in their coach runs off 12 volts and their batteries will go dead, unless they sit in the dark, hand pump their water and don't run their coach heat. So when they poo poo all electric, they're being hypocritical as they run their onboard generator or Honda 2000.

To answer your question.....we camp once a year at Yosemite (Upper Pines) for 5 days during the Thanksgiving week. They have three two hour windows for generator use. We run our generator in morning, for two hours, while showering and eating breakfast. We run it again for two hours in the evening while prepping dinner. We then have enough battery power to watch several hours of TV, run our diesel heater all night at 68 degrees without worrying about running batteries dead, something most propane units can't do.

Lastly, many of us started out in tents, tent trailers, slide in campers and trailers. We later moved to all electric coaches and know EXACTLY how they work while boondocking, yet some on here, like to think that all the electric coach owners never camped in anything else.

[MikeStarr]

Originally Posted by Trapperbob11

A rig this size propane or all electric is going to spend the majority of its life hooked up to a pole. Everyone likes to think they will spend more time boondocking but when you get this long and heavy you will not. Try to pull this off road and you will get stuck. Towing costs to get out will be high. Quartzite is great if you like a lot of dust in and on you and the rig. The big negative of this listed rig is the 10% depreciation you will get every year. Thing about that 28k the first year you own it. By year four around 100 k in depreciation. For your first rig I would start smaller, older, cheaper and figure out if this life style really is right for you. Also realize most newer used rigs have owners that are upside down in the rig they have. They owe more than it is worth. The listed price is very seldom the actual price they will get or what it is worth. Move slowly do a lot of reasearch and make low ball offers. Eventually you will get a rig at a fair price and minimize your depreciation lost. Good luck.

Enjoy the journey

Your math is not very good. The motor home is listed for $228,000. 10% of that is $22,800. Not $28,000.


Most depreciation charts Ive seen show more like 6-7% every year after the first 2 years (and I dont plan on buying new. At this point we are leaning towards a 2016-2018 model but buying it a year to 18 months from now so it will 3-5 years old).



If this particular motor home depreciates 6-7% every year, after 4 years the total depreciation would be more like $47,000, not $100,000.


We are fully aware of that cost.



But anyway, this thread is not about depreciation or what motorhome I can afford. Its about how an all electric coach works.