UK Wasting electricity with electric cars?

[justcurioustwo]

Don't know if this has been said before, but electric cars will bring about the death of the Caravan industry.

I am not sure what you mean by “Caravan industry”-?

In the future you will have a charger in your garage. When you come home for the night all you do is plug in your car to a charger. Have a good night’s sleep and in the morning your batteries will be charged and off you go to another day of work.

Caravan transport will just have larger batteries, but the charging process is the same.

 

[Soi disant]

And caravan sites will have charging points.

 

[Moley]

In the future you will have a charger in your garage. When you come home for the night all you do is plug in your car to a charger. Have a good night’s sleep and in the morning your batteries will be charged and off you go to another day of work.

What if you don't have a garage or driveway?

 

[Mike Johnson]

Caravaners tend to travel a bigger distance that most to get to a site worth staying at, therefore will have to break up their travel to accommodate the very low milage they will get towing a van.

 

[Soi disant]

Caravaners tend to travel a bigger distance that most to get to a site worth staying at, therefore will have to break up their travel to accommodate the very low milage they will get towing a van.

My heart bleeds for them.

 

[Zerax]

Actually... Mike could be onto something here.. it's going to be hilarious watching them reverse a caravan around a petrol forecourt to get to the charger point !

 

[littlespark]

I suppose in the future service stations will cater for caravan users by supplying chargers in areas that we can easily manoeuvre into.

The technology will advance so that tow cars can cover much larger distances on a full charge than now.

Or

Certain vehicles become exempt and we can carry on using nice big diesels to tow our caravans.

 

[Moley]

Back in the day when I had a motorhome I used to enjoy the entertainment at camp sites watching people try to manouver their caravans onto the pitch. Then came the awning fitting. Oh, happy days.

 

[littlespark]

Back in the day when I had a motorhome I used to enjoy the entertainment at camp sites watching people try to manouver their caravans onto the pitch. Then came the awning fitting. Oh, happy days.

All it takes is a little practice and some home grown natural talent.

 

[Moley]

And those remote control motorised caravan mover things.

 

[Mike Johnson]

And those remote control motorised caravan mover things.

Now they where fun to watch, why would you spend that sort of money fitting that facility when you can just use the car, not all caravan towers where so incompetent they could not reverse. ?

 

[littlespark]

And those remote control motorised caravan mover things.

Not got one, don’t need one.
I only use Caravan Club sites which are designed to have flat, level pitches and are easy to push caravans around on, if manoeuvring them with the car is tricky.
Caravans have handles.


I see most people’s viewpoint of caravanners are either tv celebrity “travellers” or have witnessed someone without the experience on their first trip having problems with the nuances of touring caravans.
You need some knowledge in the mechanics off towing, and siting a caravan.... the electrical systems concerning the 230v mains and the 12v from the leisure battery. A little knowledge of plumbing... priming the pipe work and draining down properly afterward.... and of course the gas.
I reckon there should be official training given to caravan users to give them the knowledge required.

 

[telectrix]

to give them the knowledge required not to clog up single carriageway, 60mph limit, roads doing 40.

 

[brianmoooore]

it's going to be hilarious watching them reverse a caravan around a petrol forecourt to get to the charger point !

This is a problem I already have, running my cars on LPG. Forecourt designers, both in the UK and across Europe, seem to delight in tucking the LPG pumps into some inaccessible corner.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Give them the knowledge to load the van correctly so the tail does not wag the dog which force's them to drive sooooooooooo slow.?

 

[brianmoooore]

Now they where fun to watch, why would you spend that sort of money fitting that facility when you can just use the car, not all caravan towers where so incompetent they could not reverse. ?

I used to think this about movers, until I managed to obtain one for £20 (non working - brush spring broken on one motor), and fitted it.
The big advantages of these things are a) the ability to hitch the caravan to the car in seconds with absolutely no effort. b) you can position your 'van on sites in positions it would be impossible to get it into if attached to the car. Important on continental sites, where they are intended for 'vans with RH doors. UK 'vans have LH doors, so you need to drive 'nose in' with it. c) I can park my 'van and get it out of its shed at home in a couple of minutes, with no assistance.
Wouldn't contemplate owning a 'van without a mover now.

 

[brianmoooore]

Caravaners tend to travel a bigger distance that most to get to a site worth staying at, therefore will have to break up their travel to accommodate the very low milage they will get towing a van.

I get slightly better MPG towing my 'van a thousand miles or so than I do just driving the car around locally.
With an electric tow car, I could do the same as I do with LPG - an auxiliary fuel tank (battery pack) in the 'van.

 

[brianmoooore]

Give them the knowledge to load the van correctly so the tail does not wag the dog which force's them to drive sooooooooooo slow.?

I know how to load a 'van, and you'll never find me at the head of a traffic queue. My power to weight ratio with the 'van is still better than a lot of the smaller cars on the road.

 

[nicebutdim]

This is a problem I already have, running my cars on LPG. Forecourt designers, both in the UK and across Europe, seem to delight in tucking the LPG pumps into some inaccessible corner.

That everyone thinks they can use as long term parking...

Edit: Thinking back, I preferred LPG pumps located out of the way as otherwise you had to queue for that one pump.

 

[littlespark]

Good to hear someone else with the experience, @brianmoooore

Just about to change my citroen c4 space tourer to an auto ssangyong rexton to stop the “tail wagging the dog” scenario.