A high-torque electric motor on each rear wheel with a quiet, clean, bio fueled constant RPM 150 HP (my guess) diesel under the hood of my Class C should at least double my miles traveled per fuel dollar - maybe triple it or more based on what you say. All this without changing it's wind resistance shape or weight.
Maybe what you mentioned is why one respected investor is putting some $$ into railroads. I seem to recall it was Buffet, but don't quote me on who it was.
The long-haul trucking industry spends millions of dollars to gain a tenth of a mpg. Bottom line: it takes energy to push a big box down the road. Using a different fuel doesn't change that even slightly.
My RV rig NOW gets 19-20 mpg on the freeway at 68 mph. Dual king beds, fridge, furnace, dinette, couch, galley, water pump, toilet, awning, battery power for 4-5 dry nights....
Fleetwood Sun Valley popup powered by a Honda Odyssey minivan. Works for this family of 5! Next up this summer: 3,600 mile round trip to Glacier National Park. I couldn't afford that trip in a 7 mpg moho if you GAVE me one. Popup:$760 in gas. Moho: $2,057. Ouch.
Yes, there IS too much "inside the box" thinking here, as it is in the American auto industry in general, but I'll leave politics and such out of this thread.
I just read of a new gizmo being experimented with for military applications, a fabric that generates electricity from the movement of your body (allowing soldiers the ability to recharge their small electronic equipment while walking).
OK, so a flag mounted to your radio antenna won't generate enough electricity to operate your MH, but, like a solar cell, it'll help!
If most of you don't know what the Tesla is, do a google search. It's a supercar that is run off of lap top batteries. If they can get THAT kind of performance from those batteries, why not load your big, flat walls on your MH with them and drive (or assist) your rig down the road? Hey, it's a step in the right direction, and repairs can be made at any Office Depot/Max!
Maybe part of the solution is try and not push big boxes down the road. Trailmanor (20-33ft), Hi-lo (17-28ft), Chalet, Aliner, the new Fleetwood Tacoma. Hi-Lo used to make a 28ft(?) fifth wheel.
Diesel-electric, by itself, is not any more efficient than mechanical direct drive. Losses through the power conversion cycles of mechanical-electrical and back through electrical-mechanical are at best around 20% and are often as high as 40%.
Large vehicles (e.g. ships, locomotives) use this technology because it is less expensive than building suitable mechanical drives, and because separate electric traction makes it possible to run as many or as few of the power generators as needed to meet current needs (and thus run those at optimum loads), while still running all the traction motors.
To accomplish the same thing in a motorhome, imagine an electric drive with four to six 50 to 100 HP genset, with individual generators starting up and shutting out according to changing load conditions, one running for cruise, two or three for moderate acceleration, six for hard acceleration or to climb a long grade. That's how a railroad locomotive or an ocean liner works, but their power needs tend to be more predictable than the needs for highway driving.
True hybrid combustion/electric vehicles can gain some efficiency by energy storage, i.e. energy captured during breaking is stored to be used for acceleration, and the primary engine can be sized for cruise power needs.
The vaunted fuel efficiency of railroad trains has little to do with the power transmission system, and a whole lot to do with small frontal area relative to the total load, the extremely low rolling resistance of steel wheels on steel rails, and the constant speed of cruise.
If diesel electric were significantly more fuel efficient than mechanical transmissions, the trucking industry would have been using it for years. GM was pushing this technology for trucking in the 1950's and the economics weren't good enough for it to catch on.
79powerwagon wrote: Yes, there IS too much "inside the box" thinking here, as it is in the American auto industry in general, but I'll leave politics and such out of this thread.
I just read of a new gizmo being experimented with for military applications, a fabric that generates electricity from the movement of your body (allowing soldiers the ability to recharge their small electronic equipment while walking).
OK, so a flag mounted to your radio antenna won't generate enough electricity to operate your MH, but, like a solar cell, it'll help!
If most of you don't know what the Tesla is, do a google search. It's a supercar that is run off of lap top batteries. If they can get THAT kind of performance from those batteries, why not load your big, flat walls on your MH with them and drive (or assist) your rig down the road? Hey, it's a step in the right direction, and repairs can be made at any Office Depot/Max!
Right now you can buy a compact pickup (electric Ranger) powered by "laptop" batteries. The converted truck costs only $10,000 to $28,000 over the gas truck, depending on how much range you think you need (e.g. a 200 mile range needs a $21,000 battery pack).
The point is, the technology is being played with out there. Cars and trucks are the way they are because that's the way they were created a century ago (or so). They really never changed. You'd think that after 100+ years, there'd be SOME kind of technology improvement, but there hasn't been, save for some creative inventors.
To think you can get better fuel mileage out of a HOUSE is almost ridiculous. 8mpg is about as good as you'll get in a self contained unit.
Until someone truly starts thinking outside of the box (and this includes the chassis manufactures), nothing will ever change for the better.
And currently, if you cannot afford to drive a 6 ton box down the road, you cannot afford an RV. Sorry, but that is the truth (in general). Rent a Metro and drive to a hotel.
The vaunted fuel efficiency of railroad trains has little to do with the power transmission system, and a whole lot to do with small frontal area relative to the total load, the extremely low rolling resistance of steel wheels on steel rails, and the constant speed of cruise.
.....
Agreed. It's not some kind of magic, just engineering.
There's also the lack of grades, and of competing traffic on the same route.
Most rail lines were laid out more than a century ago, and were made as nearly flat as possible to maximize the abilities of the early under-powered locomotives.
They don't have other traffic to deal with, so there aren't the constant little fuel-sapping speed adjustments we need in traffic.
They're not overpowered, either. Acceleration is typically very slow, and they add extra power when needed by adding extra units.
Given all those advantages, it'd be pretty easy to design a 20 or even 30+ mpg RV without downsizing, or magic.... But I suppose most folks will put it down to some sort of conspiracy theory.
Jim, "Mo' coffee!"
'06 Tiger CX 'C Minus' on a Silverado 2500HD 4x4, 8.1 & Allison ('Loafer's Glory'); '07 Forester 2.5 ( the 'HANDBSKT'); '95 Toyota SR5 V-6 4x4 pickup, ARB locker, Bilsteins, Warn hubs & M8000, etc;
'94 968, M030 swaybars ('DOPPLER')
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But I suppose most folks will put it down to some sort of conspiracy theory.
