Morning Cup Of Coffee And Weather

Our local electrical co-op held a EV Show & Tell last night, where they invited a half dozen EV owners of various brands (Tesla, Chevy, Ford, VW, & Subaru) to talk about their experiences with the EV's that they had owned anywhere between about 6 months and 5 or more years in the Tesla's case.
The owners all echoed your sentiments almost word for word. None expressed any regret in having purchased their EV, and also mentioned what you said about the fast Tesla Charging Stations being opened up to other brands as they settle on the Tesla charging plug as the standard. They also talked about several various owner apps that help owners find good working charging stations along their route while traveling, so you are less likely to run into charging issues on a road trip.
Not saying that it is the ticket for all people and all situations, but think it will increasingly become more of the solution for more and more situations as the technology matures, as it is sure to continue doing over the next decade or so.
They had several vehicles that the Co-op owns available to test drive as well. I drove a Ford 150 Lighting, and it was a great drive for the about 5 miles I drove it. Super quiet, and tons of torque. The ride along co-op employee also said he owned one personally too, and really liked it as well, with no regrets.

 

Tesla makes a home backup battery pack that I’m looking at for emergencies. I also want solar panels for charging.

 

If brownouts become more common, it could become an increasing issue to fill up at gas stations as they go dark. Do people top off their gas tanks each day to make sure they don't get stranded with a low tank of gas? This is the habit I've gotten into in owning an EV with plugging in when I get home for a quick top off. Or better yet, home solar/battery system would allow an EV to be charged indefinitely.

Only Florida and Louisiana have regulations requiring gas stations to install back up electrical systems but it's only for new gas stations. Still a lot of issues with older gas stations able to pump gas in these states when power goes out in addition to panic buying gas ahead of hurricanes.

Texas Gas Stations Still Dark Following Big Freeze | Transport Topics

 

Yea, I'm sort of wait and see with the Cybertruck as well. Besides the fact that the original dimensions wouldn't fit into my garage, I want to see price and range. If there isn't an option for 500+ miles of range, it doesn't provide much more utility over my Model Y. However, if it is impressive, there is supposedly 2M+ reservations it could be years before getting delivery on a new order.

Living in SoCal, I'm sure you have tons of desert and mountain adventures! My sister lives in San Diego and her husband has a Toyota overlanding rig but he's not pulling a trailer (yet).

 

I have solar at my house to charge my Tesla. I still have another 8 years until the pay back period is complete, but I will have free "fuel" after that. I considered adding a battery to my system, but just not worth the cost here in Ohio--we haven't lost power to our house in years. A battery backup would totally make sense in places like California with variable electricity cost by time of day.

 

Link to an Escape trailer pulled by Ford Lightning. I like the idea but not there yet.
Videos - Reviews & Lifestyle

 

That Escape trailer looks like a brick on wheels from an aero standpoint. Aero has a much bigger impact than weight. Agreed, to make pulling this trailer convenient over 150 miles would require 500+ mile range EV tuck with access to the Tesla Supercharger network. I’d hope the Camp-Inns are more aerodynamic (I’ll need to test this since I can’t find any data).

 

Living in Wisconsin in the winter is always a gamble with electricity. Payback could never come or it could come in one year if I’m able to keep the radiant heat pipes from freezing.

 

I totally agree with this. I have had two Teslas for the last five years. The fears that people are relating here are in my experience, unfounded. One thing people don't realize until they have an EV is that, for most people, over 90% of their charging will be done at home and at night. It's much more convenient than having to go to a gas station. We have an EV and two ICE vehicles and take the EV on every road trip we take. It's much more comfortable, and charging is not a problem. Our initial range anxiety lasted about a month and a couple of road trips. It's really not an issue if you have an EV with 300-ish mile range.

 

I just met Corbin and his significant other...I talk too much, too often. I hope you got what you needed to make a right decision for you.

Let's welcome him to the Campinn family. No pressure, dude...no pressure

 

Not at all, Sweeney! We came up specifically to learn from you and listen about your experiences with the 560. We really appreciate you taking the time meeting with us and helping us make our decision!!

 

HAHAHA...Guess the pressure is all on me then! LOL

 

No way, you were just lucky enough since you kindly volunteered to give us a in-person tour of your 560!! We've also been learning from Drew (from his videos, including the ones you recommended) and other Youtube Camp-Inn owners! Someday we'd like to also tour the 550 in person (getting up to CICO is looking to be tough to swing for us ).

 

Thanks SLO.
Concur, for me anyway-300-400 range with reliability in hot or cold is about what I expect from my ICE wagon. I'm waiting to hear from Tesla SUV owners how they do in a ground blizzard headed into a 30kt wind, at minus 30 vefore windchill. Thats a pretty typical long drive to get groceries or FleetFarm up in the country I'm from.

And why diesel pickup's are the standard farm trucks to tow stuff.

Note I do see a default to Subaru Outbacks for the second family vehicle (and seeing more of the similar type AWD ICE now emerging in crossover format) for the wife, taking kids to school or other chores...or a first vehicle for adventurous youth for camping on weekends.

A Tesla to me is more like the northerner's "summer car" that you put up in winter once the street crews start speeading anti-ice stuff on the roads.

Sorta like the CI- you can tow in winter no problem- you just gotta hose it off more and plan on more maintenance underneath if you do.

The challenge for EVs comes when towing.
Just Not there yet.
But my use-case/needs are not everyone else'...

My $0.02 and YMMV.

 

This, x2.

Corbin I appreciate you for sharing.
I pm'd ya if interested in more feed back on informal testing on various load and cargo configs, on mileage and handling, on my rig.

And some solar stuff- you've been there done that on house and Tesla, and there are similar considerations for
glamping-->boondocking
if you intend to go there.

Also interested in your bro-in-laws Toyota...at some point, an upgraded true 4x4 tow vehicle will
be my last "CI gear accessory..."

 

Hey, I was just talking to an owner today that is towing his Camp-Inn with a EV. It is a Kia EV6 and he is regular on a EV6 forum and there are some good threads on there about towing. Here is a post he posted on there about regenerative braking:
Theoretical Question about regen/towing

His comment is as follows - you may wish to browse the EV6 forum first (search term = "towing") - there are several threads there that are probably better suited to the Camp-Inn community (my thread is really more about theoretical regenerative braking tradeoffs)

He is towing a Ultra 550 and seeing about a 40% loss in range.

Cary

 

What happened to the concept of plug-in hybrids? Best of both worlds. I would love a plug-in hybrid Ram 1500!

 

It would be interesting to make the same highway/conditions run with the the CI brakes enabled, and disabled to note any change in range due to regenerative braking changes, and also in handling during braking as well. Wouldn't want to disable them if braking situations became difficult because of it.

 

Your question about winter driving, was one of them brought up at the EV Q&A event I went to last week. The drivers all said range dropped anywhere from 15 - 30% in winter driving, and that one way of lessening that was to get the vehicle warmed up while it was still connected to house power. They pretty much said they also installed snow tires for the winter, and with those they handled at least as well, if not better than their ICE vehicles, possible because of the increased weight.

 

I myself would be most concerned about safety. My understanding is that in proper adjustment the CI brakes work to keep the trailer behind the tow vehicle during emergency braking and swerving, preventing jackknifing. They don’t have much effect in day-to-day driving.

Even if the effect on regenerative braking charging is more significant I would still want to elevate safety above economy. There was this deer jumping across the road in front of us a few weeks ago when we were towing. We missed by *so* little, must have been a few inches… could lack of trailer brakes have made it a collision? We’ll never know.