Anyone else looking forward to the FWC Tesla Cybertruck edition?

[Sheltered Mammoth]

Certainly not for everyone...but we own a tacoma-fleet combo and tesla model 3. We dread when we have to fill up the Tacoma with fuel. It's basically relegated to camping only at this point. We'd love to go electric with a camper when the tech is ready. The disappointing thing about the Cybertruck (styling aside) is the bed walls, which doesn't allow for a FWC to sit in the bed.

Having an electric vehicle totally changes your mind about range anxiety, I thought it would be awful, but in reality it's soooo much easier than a gas vehicle. You wake up to a full tank of gas everyday, it's awesome. Plus 110 outlets are everywhere, and even on that you can get a good 50 miles of added range overnight (this is probably less on the Cybertruck). Anyway, yes, I'd love a FWC that fits one.

 

[rubberlegs]

I wonder how an E-truck with camper would work in Death Valley. Say you drive from civilization, maybe 100 miles from a charger, and arrive in DV. Then you wanna go up some cool back country road for 3-4 days. Solar ain't gonna cut it unless you bring 2000W of panels, although certainly it could help. (But you wouldn't need a battery in the camper! Use the built-in). I'd have range anxiety up in the boonies. Maybe instead of $5.50/gal gas at Furnace Creek, you could get some sort of expensive charging station though.

Also the camper weight and aero drag would lower e-mileage quite a bit, say 25%.

Me want electric car though. Prius acting up, time for a change.

 

[ski3pin]

Gas was $4.69 at Furnace Creek a couple of weeks ago.

 

[cwdtmmrs]

A friend of mine and his wife are big Tesla fans. Actually cult like. They currently have a Model X, a Model M and have the Cybertruck on order. I am always hearing about how he NEVER has to buy gas or worry about oil changes again. I tell him that he bought the gas, but just paid for it upfront. He adamantly disagrees. I point out that his 1st Tesla, a Model S, cost him $95K when he bought it and 18 months later when he wanted a Model X, the dealer would on allow $45K on the trade in. Even he thought that was low and sold it outright to CarMax for $56K. He still refuses to believe my math when I tell them the Model S cost him $2,000/month to drive and that would pay for a LOT of gas and oil changes. So, $4.69 at Furnace Creek is still a bargain.

 

[PaulT]

I suspect one could carry a wind generator in addition to as much solar as could be mounted. The wind can be significant in Death Valley at night and if you could stand the whine overnight, a 500 watt+ windmill would mitigate some of the concern. If nothing else, plan to stay in a campsite until solar & wind recharge your battery.

A better approach may be to use the electric vehicle for your daily driver and use fossil fuel for the camper carrying boon-docking truck. I would be pleasantly surprised if electric vehicles became practical for boon-docking in the next 20 years. The only thing that makes sense on a large scale is if you pull into a filling station, drop your dead battery, install a full one and be on your way. That would require a lot of standardization in batteries and significant capital investment in battery testing & recharging equipment.

Paul

 

[Sheltered Mammoth]

I wonder how an E-truck with camper would work in Death Valley. Say you drive from civilization, maybe 100 miles from a charger, and arrive in DV. Then you wanna go up some cool back country road for 3-4 days. Solar ain't gonna cut it unless you bring 2000W of panels, although certainly it could help. (But you wouldn't need a battery in the camper! Use the built-in). I'd have range anxiety up in the boonies. Maybe instead of $5.50/gal gas at Furnace Creek, you could get some sort of expensive charging station though.

Also the camper weight and aero drag would lower e-mileage quite a bit, say 25%.

Me want electric car though. Prius acting up, time for a change.

Tesla has superchargers in Lone Pine and Beatty, easy to fill up prior to entering the park. With 500 miles of range (less range sucked by adding camper weight and less aero) I still think you could hang out for a week. A batwing awing with solar cells? Could be an awesome way to get extra juice.

 

[Andy Douglass]

The Fast Lane Car channel on YT did some objective and optimistic testing of a Tesla hauling a trailer on a long distance trip recently and they found that it was pretty much impractical for several reasons. I think the biggest drawback was how drastic hauling weight lowered their range. That combined with charging times meant that they had to seriously plan their route and their travel time was seriously increased.

Maybe the cyber truck will have better capabilities, but my gut feeling is that it is a lot of "marketing wank" as AvE says.

 

[biggb]

I've been surprised and the level of fear, angst, contempt and shortsightedness for electric trucks (specifically) that I've been been hearing lately ... sounds a lot like the folks who were certain the new fangled "automobile" could never replace the trusty old horse.

This uniquely American "tough" routine must be a big part of why Ford scrapped their smaller Ford Focus EV in favor of the "cool" & "tough" Ford Mustang EV before even whispering a word about the eventual EV truck takeover coming soon to a dealer near you.

Oh well ... change is hard, and inevitable.

 

[Oilbrnr]

There probably won't be as much angst against an electric truck when they are equally or better capable than current gas or diesel offerings in every way regardless of where you are. That means load, range, recharge time vs. fill-up, towing, cost and off-road capability.

Until there is a radical change in electric storage and/or onboard regeneration, I don't see an electric truck as an option for me personally given the way I travel in remote off-road locations in North America and also tow heavy items. Boat, car trailer, etc.

 

[klahanie]

That range for ICE could be more important in the future - I've read there will be a lot fewer gas stations in the coming years.

I'm sure on our travels most have passed abandoned roadhouses, motels, restaurants, filling stations. Once relied on, if they can't make a go of it they eventually close, whether we as individuals want it or not.

In Vancouver's downtown core there are thousands of cars living and commuting but not a single retail gas station (long gone for different economic reasons) but ironically (?) the public can charge an EV for their drive home.

 

[Gknappers]

Just for giggles, I went in SketchUp and played around with this idea, just to get a good mental image. Not a lot of detail, just a rough idea. Disclaimer: I downloaded the Cybertruck model from the 3D warehouse and built off that.

 

[Gknappers]

 

[windy]

https://www.goodshomedesign.com/this-solar-powered-rv-runs-without-fuel-or-charging-stations/

 

[rubberlegs]

Here's an interesting video about towing with E-trucks. Not quite the same as a camper, but not that far either considering campers are kinda heavy.

 

[moveinon]

Towing anything for any distance at all is clearly impractical for an electric. Wouldn’t affect me but I know a lot of people who like to tow a boat or trailer behind their camper. But I would love that huge battery to plug into for a completely electric camper. No need for propane or for a battery system and all the components to monitor and charge in the camper at all because it is already in the truck. Or that extra gas I need to carry just to get to a 500 mile range in my Taco. Solar doesn’t do much for an electric truck either, just a few miles per day charge. But I love our model 3, would not even consider going back to an ICE car after owning it for a couple of years and would clearly switch to the truck if the price was right and the right camper was made to fit it. Don’t really like generators with their noise but one would solve the range issues where there is not a close charger or campground with electric. And being armored, adjustable height, AWD, and amazing low end torque wouldn’t be bad either. Time for 4WC or ATC to get ahead of the curve and start designing one. I know some dedicated overloading folks who have already put in their order for the Tesla truck.