Interesting post by Brett Davis

[Old-RV'er]

Wander, we have had 5 RV's, no perfect floor plan, or size everything is a compromise, large kitchen, lose LR space, large LR, lose kitchen space. Are you hampered physically? That will make difference on doing setup and teardown prior to travel. Storage compartments in all models are not tall enough, but, that then reduces the height of the house part. My biggest concern today, is driver safety and correct training to drive RV. So if never done so, take a driver safety class because you do not want to hurt you or BH. Renting RV will not give you exactly what you want. They mostly have been USED to death. Will not be like a new one, and to my knowledge won't be able to get 40' in diesel if that is important. Some people rent RV's as way to make income, I personally would not do that, but If I like something or need something enough, I buy it. I would ignore Thor products, quality is very poor unless they have changed in last two years. Winnebego/Newmar are still at top of food chain for quality, but in today's world, that is not a given. Be very careful, and make sure your insurance covers you renting RV, and in case of gotcha. Good Luck.

 

[Wander on]

Thanks to you !
No physical issues and years of trailering experience ( mostly hauling horses ). You're so right about the rentals compared to just getting something new... even just going to the RV shows and walking into the various units gave me an immediate reaction to my question of " Can I live in this space". And where will the dog fit in ?
Like the Winnebago recommendation !
Wander on

 

[Old-RV'er]

Assume you and BH, plus dog, so what size were you thinking? Are you eat at home or eat out lots people? If second, you can get by with smaller kitchen, if eat in, larger kitchen. Skip dishwasher if anything smaller than 40, or you will not have any cabinet/drawer space. We had DW in 40, but biggest kitchen in any MH, NM Ventana 3407 has tiny kitchen, but we make do. But BH complains about what we had, versus what we got. We had nothing but trouble with DW until I paid 145.00 for new part, which fixed most of it's problems. They need to be installed into space perfectly level, or will never work correctly. Some kind of alighment with drawer. IMHO, more trouble than worth, I wash dishes in MH, so, I don't mind doing them, since DW was PIBackside. Love all electric option in ours, no propane to deal with, but, also no real oven, and convection is challange since we use it so infrequently, have to read book every time. Hope they have put lighted panel in new ones, as touch screen is almost impossible to see even in good lighting. Go to dealers lot, and spend time inside models you are considering, and I don't mean 15 minutes, I mean hours if necessary. Try all the appliances as much as thay will allow. Get the STACKED washer and dryer, not whirlpool but splendide brand. You can PM me with other questions, and lots of folks here have as much or more time in RV"s than me, only been doing this since 1983.

 

[Wander on]

Good morning ! My choices are on the smaller size. I'd like a small kitchen ... dog and I don't eat a lot so I can do the dishes. Can hand wash or stop at the occasional laundromat for my clothes so no washer needed. More interested in seeing the sights so dependable , fuel efficient unit. Easy to maneuver... Plenty of battery back up for heat/AC and comfortable living and sleeping space.
25 ' is big enough... Like the Atlas but not the price tag ;-). Thank you for talking to me... you are such a valuable resource . Hope our paths cross one day !
Wander On

 

[Voyageurs]

It will be interesting to see how business models change with the advent of low maintenance EV’s. Suspension and steering components will still need maintenance, but lots of the staples like brakes, exhaust, transmissions, motors, emmision sensors, plugs, oil changes, filter changes, transmission and rear end fluid changes etc etc. That all has to be a significant part of it. EV’s still need tires and even 12 volt batteries etc. But overall a lot less shop time. We are 6 years living with EV’s and other than a tire rotate and 3 or 4 jugs of washer fluid it’s been pretty maintenance free other than a recall inspection on the leaf. Auto parts stores are going to see some changes as well.

Interesting times.

 

[Old-RV'er]

Everyone, says EV's will take over. I can prove they will not, actually, in CA, they are currently about 6000 MW's short of suppling all the electrical load they currently have, when I scheduled energy back in the mid 80's, then they were 3-4,000 short. They will not build power lines, will not build new power plants, and think that solar and wind will provide enough, guess, what, the wind don't always blow, and clouds and night time, stop solar.

I urge all to check out Germany's situation, since they turned off all the nukes and coal powered plants, and are now dependent on Russia. Putin has said, fine, you will pay our price for all that Natural Gas. EV"s are nothing but a flash in the pan, and will only penetrate into less than 10% of the market, until a Technology comes along which can supply enough electricity for all. You want completely clean energy, then Nuclear power is it, aside from the waste by products which have half life of 50,000 years

CA is not alone, TX tried to redesign grid with wind, this past winter that did not work so well did it? A solar system for the average home, with inverter and battery's in the 8000KW range is 50,000 dollars or more. Probably more with all the supply chain disruptions. You can purchase a lot of electricity with 50,000 dollars, even at .20 cents KWH. Solar currently is not cost effective, and the cells lose about 15-20% of their rated output over a 15 year period. The efficiency factor is only at best 23%, that will have to double or triple to be effective in any kind of commercial venue. Gas Powered plants may use 10 acres of land, and produce 1000 MW of energy. A solar power venue in GA for 480MW took close to 500 acres of land. Now exactly who houses/apartments/ and residences are you going to confiscate and tear down for solar, there is not enough open land, which is accessible, to completely replace the current installed generation in the USA. EV's are a pipe dream, and they well may, have lower maintenance. I urge you to drive through St Paul, MN, during rush hour, and the outside temp at 10 degrees. Now think what happens if everyone is stuck in that mess with an EV? Thousands would be frozen and die. Have you seen the emergency electrical charger they use in China, a mule hauls around a diesel generator to charge the electric cars who have run dry. I rest my case.

 

[Voyageurs]

Everyone, says EV's will take over. I can prove they will not, actually, in CA, they are currently about 6000 MW's short of suppling all the electrical load they currently have, when I scheduled energy back in the mid 80's, then they were 3-4,000 short. They will not build power lines, will not build new power plants, and think that solar and wind will provide enough, guess, what, the wind don't always blow, and clouds and night time, stop solar.

I urge all to check out Germany's situation, since they turned off all the nukes and coal powered plants, and are now dependent on Russia. Putin has said, fine, you will pay our price for all that Natural Gas. EV"s are nothing but a flash in the pan, and will only penetrate into less than 10% of the market, until a Technology comes along which can supply enough electricity for all. You want completely clean energy, then Nuclear power is it, aside from the waste by products which have half life of 50,000 years

CA is not alone, TX tried to redesign grid with wind, this past winter that did not work so well did it? A solar system for the average home, with inverter and battery's in the 8000KW range is 50,000 dollars or more. Probably more with all the supply chain disruptions. You can purchase a lot of electricity with 50,000 dollars, even at .20 cents KWH. Solar currently is not cost effective, and the cells lose about 15-20% of their rated output over a 15 year period. The efficiency factor is only at best 23%, that will have to double or triple to be effective in any kind of commercial venue. Gas Powered plants may use 10 acres of land, and produce 1000 MW of energy. A solar power venue in GA for 480MW took close to 500 acres of land. Now exactly who houses/apartments/ and residences are you going to confiscate and tear down for solar, there is not enough open land, which is accessible, to completely replace the current installed generation in the USA. EV's are a pipe dream, and they well may, have lower maintenance. I urge you to drive through St Paul, MN, during rush hour, and the outside temp at 10 degrees. Now think what happens if everyone is stuck in that mess with an EV? Thousands would be frozen and die. Have you seen the emergency electrical charger they use in China, a mule hauls around a diesel generator to charge the electric cars who have run dry. I rest my case.

Well, I won’t touch most of that post mostly because I have no idea of the condition of US grid infrastructure. From what I gather from most of the posters on this board and others is that the US has some kind of 1955 grid that can’t now or ever be improved. Hard to believe but that seems to be the general concensus.

But re EV’s getting stuck in traffic. It’s generally the opposite of what people think. A EV uses very little energy sitting in traffic wether it be summer or winter. EV’s use most of their energy for motive forces. An EV like a Tesla model 3 or Y with a 82 kWh battery or whatever can sit in a traffic jam with the heat pump or AC on for days. Pretty good place to be in a traffic Jam.

JMHO.

 

[Old Bubblehead]

Brett would be the guys to answer the question best, as I am reasonably confident he will have accurate hard data available. That said, I would venture a guess that the majority of their service work has more to do with House defects rather than chassis failures. Beit manufacturing defects, effects of poor road conditions, or just wear and tear, I notice many more requests for aid in the forums around the house part of the coach.

Whatever motive force drives these beasts, there will be Preventive and Corrective maintenance that will be needed to keep them on the road. I don't foresee the collapse of the repair industry for automotive or RV service providers coming.

I believe that the enterprising group that can put out a reliable and capable EV RV will have no trouble selling them. Plenty of demand and early adopters out there.

 

[Old-RV'er]

Yes, the electrical grid is in marginal shape, and really is our fault. XYZ Utility, needs to upgrade a 250KV line to 500KV because, of the increase of houses/apartments/industry/ etc. (now you won't believe this, but, cell phones, and internet devices have also caused this issue-10 years ago, the refer did not make the grocery lists and forward to the store so customer can drive by and pick up). So they announce the open hearings, hundreds show up, and about 80% of the comments are NEGATIVE, we don't want the new higher power line, the noise, the disruption in construction, the EMF/EMP, whatever. But the biggest reason, well simple really NOT IN MY BACK YARD, no one wants that "sight in their yard, or ruining the view". This country needs, a total revamp of the grid, new Right of ways, wider, so higher capacity lines can be built, oh, but why cannot we build them underground, well you can, except the costs go up about 500-1000% and those costs will be passed on to you and me, either in higher rates, or in higher taxes if a state or federal fund us used. I am sure FEFC's website can outline the issue for you. I worked for the second largest federal provider of electricity and transmission in the nation, I worked there for 28 years, and I did the "digging the ditches and in the office working on the computers" so I have a fairly exposed knowledge of things. You see it everywhere, "HELP WANTED", well this winter is going to tell the tale, as the electrical utility also has labor issues, and if aint got no one to fix the existing stuff, well, expect to be cold, and the lights go out lots, ageing equipment, and not enough people to keep it working.