Tesla pick-up camper

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Tesla pick-up camper

Postby QueticoBill » Sun Jul 18, 2021 4:12 pm

https://twitter.com/i/status/1411527955981901824


I suspect if you have to ask how much, its not for you. I know it's not in my future.
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Re: Tesla pick-up camper

Postby Squigie » Mon Jul 19, 2021 3:17 pm

Could be fun. Looks pretty small.
But electric vehicles do not align with my lifestyle. I have warmed up a little bit - *little* bit - to hybrids, but not all-electric.
Last time I checked, that 90 year-old Aspen tree by my favorite campsite still wasn't a charging station, even after being struck by lightning.

In 2018, I got into quite a debate about the real world usability of all-electric vehicles with, of all people, hot-rodders.
They could not understand how an electric vehicle could be totally unsuitable for any circumstance, until I spelled out a trip into Wyoming that I take a couple times per year, in explicit detail.

Edit: I like the thought experiment, and the words vomited from my fingertips before I even knew what happened. You may read below, the current state of my thoughts on doing this trip all-electric, if bored enough.
:lol:

Summary:
-389 miles, roughly 6 hours driving time. (Nothing crazy at all for most of us here.)
-No interstate highways after the first 21 miles. (But no dirt, either. 100% paved State and US highways.)
-I cannot make it to the destination on a fully-charged battery, in any current electric vehicle.
-First option for a charging station is a 2 hour detour (to the interstate) - and then back.
-Second option for a charging station is also a 2 hour detour (also to the interstate) - and then back.
-Third option for a charging station is 1 hour 20 mins *beyond* the destination - and then back. ...And really not viable in any sense.
-More than about 40 miles of driving in the area will result in not having the range necessary to get back to the first or second charging stations, and will require local charging.

Okay. So, you find a place to plug in to 110v power, right?
Sure. It will only take about one hour per percent of battery capacity.
Battery down to 50%? You have two full DAYS of downtime while the car charges. (Only 10% remaining? You have four days of charging to wait through.)
And you have to do it at least once on the trip out, and at least once on the trip back.
And the car cannot be used while it is charging. You're stuck in a motel room, or walking to ... well, nothing, because these are tiny towns that don't have motels, anything of interest, and may not even have a gas station or general store. Where do you even find a place to plug in? Just start knocking on people's doors?

So, my trip, under ideal conditions, takes a week to go just less than half way across Wyoming and back, *if* there are places to stop and charge.
But I don't make that trip under ideal conditions. It is either summer or winter when I go.

Summer time range loss depends on the car, but you can knock 10-20% right off the top of the battery capacity to run the AC. That is within range, but requires even more charging time.
Winter losses are notable. Most current production electric vehicles get absolutely knee-capped in the cold. Take 40% off the top, right out of the gate. In extreme cold (like Western Wyoming in January), losses of more than 50% have been seen. Between heating their own batteries and heating the squishy humans inside, the cars just *chug* the juice in the cold.

Even 40% means that I cannot reach the mentioned charging stations unless I detour 3 hours out of my way (to a different charging station) and then follow the interstate until I am 200 miles from the destination, at which point I can finally leave the interstate and charging stations. But then I still don't have enough range to return to the interstate, even after such an inconvenience. So, the car has to be plugged in for at least two days to charge - having to just sit there and not be used for local driving - before doing it all in reverse on the return trip.

The 389 mile, 6 hours of driving time becomes 660 miles and 10+ hours of driving time. And that doesn't include charge time.

Even Tesla, the company most protective of their public perception regarding battery range, tell people that charging on 110v is only good for about 20 miles per day.

But, wait! We're sort of in the RV world here. Why not charge at an RV park? There are a couple RV parks and 30/50 amp service campgrounds that could be viable stops without major detours.
The good news is that charge times are improved greatly.
The bad news is that charge times are still about 1 hour per 10% battery capacity. Unless planned as an overnight stop, it will be a long day.
And more bad news. I checked with those locations back in 2019, and only one of them allowed tents or cars without trailers into RV spots.

For me specifically, that one park that would allow a car in an RV spot is actually *the* destination. I stay in a cabin there when we go. So that is nice. But, they also only allow cars into the 30 amp spots, which means slower charging. Instead of 1 hour per 10% battery capacity, it is more like 1 hour per 3-5% capacity. And, I have to pay an extra $48 per day, just to charge the stupid car.
And, of course, it does nothing for me along the way.

I am not anti-electric, aside from the environmental rape that goes into the batteries and the notable expense that comes when a battery pack needs replaced.
I just don't understand how so many people cannot comprehend the absolute pain in the butt that electric cars are once you get out of cities and away from the interstate-based charging networks.

Perhaps the next plague on mountain roads will be dead Tesla trucks, rather than crashed UTVs.
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Re: Tesla pick-up camper

Postby QueticoBill » Mon Jul 19, 2021 4:47 pm

I thought the 4 part telescoping camper was the interesting part of this, apart from the EV. And certainly nothing has changed in the last 20 years nor will it the next 20 I suppose.

Interesting that in Norway, where from personal experience I know its cold for long periods, has reached about 20 percent of passenger vehicles being EV, and no IC car sales after 2025.
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Re: Tesla pick-up camper

Postby Squigie » Tue Jul 20, 2021 3:22 am

I find it interesting and very serendipitous that you mention Norway.
As I type this, I have a friend sending me updates on a 260 km drive with an electric vehicle in Norway - Narvik to Olderalen.
They made it 130 km before the vehicle showed 6% remaining. A surprise, since the range should have been more.
They are now on their *second* charge to 60% power. Even with their equivalent of "fast charging" stations, it has taken an hour or more for each charge to just 60%.

A four-hour drive has taken more than six. They should be very close, if not at the destination already. But adding a 50% time penalty, just for using electric? Not worth it.
We invented and refined the internal combustion engine for a reason. ...Something or 'other about fuel density and recharge times; and ease and quickness of stops to refuel/recharge.

Heck, Cummins has been playing ads all over the place lately. They just saved the world by reinventing the 2-stroke boxer engine as a direct-injection diesel.
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Re: Tesla pick-up camper

Postby QueticoBill » Tue Jul 20, 2021 4:26 am

Well, I guess that's OK if you deny climate change.
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Re: Tesla pick-up camper

Postby tony.latham » Tue Jul 20, 2021 9:04 am

Image

;)

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Re: Tesla pick-up camper

Postby Squigie » Tue Jul 20, 2021 12:50 pm

QueticoBill wrote:Well, I guess that's OK if you deny climate change.

Tongue + cheek
;)
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Re: Tesla pick-up camper

Postby QueticoBill » Wed Jul 21, 2021 2:51 pm

Oh. Only $50,000. As low as $40,000 if you act fast and are in first twenty to reserve. https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-c ... usk-2021-4
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Re: Tesla pick-up camper

Postby gudmund » Wed Jul 21, 2021 3:32 pm

and "U G L Y".................. :oops:
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Re: Tesla pick-up camper

Postby QueticoBill » Wed Jul 21, 2021 6:20 pm

gudmund wrote:and "U G L Y".................. :oops:


Well, I thought so too, but no accounting for taste, or beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I'm sure most of us here have from time to time not had praise for one or another trailers in the build threads.
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Re: Tesla pick-up camper

Postby gudmund » Thu Jul 22, 2021 12:51 am

I just had to say it - just don't know Tesla can design such a beautiful looking car but when comes to a PU??? :shock: :? take care (just my opinion)
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Re: Tesla pick-up camper

Postby MickinOz » Thu Jul 22, 2021 1:22 am

??? I reckon they look kinda cool. No accounting for taste I guess.
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Re: Tesla pick-up camper

Postby Squigie » Fri Jul 23, 2021 12:55 pm

I agree with both sides.
Ugly.
But kind of a good ugly.

Wouldn't buy one, but I like the brutalist approach to styling.

--

If anyone cares, my friend's EV trip in Norway took only the two mentioned stops and clocked just over 5.5 hours total. Only about 3 hours of that was actual drive time.
(They're looking at buying a gasoline vehicle now, since this trip is likely to be made several times a year in the future.)
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Re: Tesla pick-up camper

Postby tony.latham » Fri Jul 23, 2021 1:21 pm

I think Elon will have a tough time competing with Ford's new electric truck.



For those needing a truck that doesn't wander too far from town, I think it would be the way to go.

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Re: Tesla pick-up camper

Postby QueticoBill » Fri Jul 23, 2021 2:09 pm

The tesla top of the line is claiming 500 mile range and 14,000 lb towing (and 2.6 sec 0 to 60! my favorite - and the only one I believe they might achieve.)
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