Motorhome EV Conversion

by Brendan
(Los Osos, CA, United States)

RV becoming an EV

She's just the coolest old gal in the world and I want to bring her into a new age. Basically I want to replace the engine and transmission with an electric drive of comparable torque, using the spare weight and space for the batteries. The added spin is that I have a huge (5 foot by ~9 foot) tilting fiberglass top that would be perfect for some high-wattage solar panels.


I can see someone's already asked the question about the electric generators as well. I've seen the usual address to this question - they point at the rule book and that's it, there's no attempt to try to actually make it happen.

It doesn't even have to count as perpetual motion, but I don't see what it could hurt to gather as much kinetic energy back from those spinning surfaces as possible. Of course the beast would also be chargeable from a land line, but these other recapture sources I hope would increase the drive time dramatically (and refueling on long journeys might be as simple as spending a few more hours at the camping spot)..

The truck is your standard 1/2-ton rear-wheel-drive '82 Toyota and the motorhome is built onto the chassis. There have been problems with these old things before with excess weight on the back axle, but this one is especially light.

The conversion seems like it wouldn't add alot of extra weight but might actually take a bit off.

I would also be looking into using the panels and the batteries to power my fridge in 115 AC mode or propane-aided 12V DC mode as well as my other accessories and maybe even my AC transformer.

I know this might involve a few thousand dollars, and I am short on cash, which is why I'd thought about exploring some green-volunteer options, if such a thing existed. I think the uniqueness of the vehicle and especially all that perfect space for the solar panels might qualify it for a sweepstakes or something, who knows?

Hi, Brendan!
You've got a very good idea there. That roof would seem to be perfect for solar panels, especially the very lightweight roll-out variety invented by Stan Oshinsky of "Who Killed the Electric Car?" fame.

Don't let anyone tell you stuff CAN'T be done, because, as you pointed out, the only way you'll know what can be done is to try it!

Regards,
Lynne

P.S. If you haven't seen this article yet about the amazing potential of solar power, have a look!