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Total EV Travel Trailer/ Caravan

RobertRyan
Explorer
Explorer
Ground-breaking gas-free caravan powers up
Full off-grid, Melbourne-built ERV by Retreat caravan priced from $109,900
Almost unlimited, self-contained power for caravans has become a reality with Melbourne manufacturer Retreat Caravans confirming its solar-boosted ERV model is now on sale after successfully completing a plug-free 20,088km, 176-day trip across the country.
The latest development of the hi-tech 'smart' caravan platform unveiled earlier this year, the ERV built by 15-year-old Retreat in conjunction with Australian technology company OzXCorp, uses a lithium-ion battery 'bank' and extensive roof-mounted solar panels to deliver enough grunt to power a range of appliances simultaneously and for extended periods of time.
The first test caravan is a 20-foot unit that runs on a self-generated 240-Volt system using a special inverter and has no gas system.

11 REPLIES 11

Bobbo
Explorer II
Explorer II
RobertRyan wrote:
Bobbo wrote:
RobertRyan wrote:
Bobbo wrote:
RobertRyan wrote:
Bobbo wrote:
We boondock. A lot. We could do without electric much easier than we could do without propane.

Same here, but they are using solar capture without propane

Great. As long as the sun is out. Or you are not parked in the shade.

I think they would have got some not so sunny days in those 20,000kilometres around Australia

Great. When you know for sure let us know. Also, please explain how you get enough charge to keep an all electric caravan fully functional with several days of those "not so sunny days." Not trying to be a smart a$$, but I would really like to know how someone expects this to work under real world conditions. It would also be enlightening to know if heating the caravan while camping in the winter impacts the utility of the unit. While boondocking in our RV, we often camp in below freezing temperatures. Our propane furnace keeps us warm, but we have to be careful or the furnace blower will drain our batteries.

Well they did for 20,000 km best to get in touch with them. When they release details it will be more intwresting how they did it. Seeing we get pretty cold winter days without sun in Australia

OK, you win. In Australia they can keep a 100% EV fully functioning without a source of electricity to keep the batteries charged. (This is, of course, assuming that they didn't plug in to the electric grid. That the EV was fully self contained. You ARE saying that they did the 20,000km without ever plugging in, aren't you? The whole, entire, point of my part of this discussion is boondocking, where you have no electric grid to plug into.)
Bobbo and Lin
2017 F-150 XLT 4x4 SuperCab w/Max Tow Package 3.5l EcoBoost V6
2017 Airstream Flying Cloud 23FB

RobertRyan
Explorer
Explorer
Bobbo wrote:
RobertRyan wrote:
Bobbo wrote:
RobertRyan wrote:
Bobbo wrote:
We boondock. A lot. We could do without electric much easier than we could do without propane.

Same here, but they are using solar capture without propane

Great. As long as the sun is out. Or you are not parked in the shade.

I think they would have got some not so sunny days in those 20,000kilometres around Australia

Great. When you know for sure let us know. Also, please explain how you get enough charge to keep an all electric caravan fully functional with several days of those "not so sunny days." Not trying to be a smart a$$, but I would really like to know how someone expects this to work under real world conditions. It would also be enlightening to know if heating the caravan while camping in the winter impacts the utility of the unit. While boondocking in our RV, we often camp in below freezing temperatures. Our propane furnace keeps us warm, but we have to be careful or the furnace blower will drain our batteries.

Well they did for 20,000 km best to get in touch with them. When they release details it will be more intwresting how they did it. Seeing we get pretty cold winter days without sun in Australia

Bobbo
Explorer II
Explorer II
RobertRyan wrote:
Bobbo wrote:
RobertRyan wrote:
Bobbo wrote:
We boondock. A lot. We could do without electric much easier than we could do without propane.

Same here, but they are using solar capture without propane

Great. As long as the sun is out. Or you are not parked in the shade.

I think they would have got some not so sunny days in those 20,000kilometres around Australia

Great. When you know for sure let us know. Also, please explain how you get enough charge to keep an all electric caravan fully functional with several days of those "not so sunny days." Not trying to be a smart a$$, but I would really like to know how someone expects this to work under real world conditions. It would also be enlightening to know if heating the caravan while camping in the winter impacts the utility of the unit. While boondocking in our RV, we often camp in below freezing temperatures. Our propane furnace keeps us warm, but we have to be careful or the furnace blower will drain our batteries.
Bobbo and Lin
2017 F-150 XLT 4x4 SuperCab w/Max Tow Package 3.5l EcoBoost V6
2017 Airstream Flying Cloud 23FB

RobertRyan
Explorer
Explorer
Bobbo wrote:
RobertRyan wrote:
Bobbo wrote:
We boondock. A lot. We could do without electric much easier than we could do without propane.

Same here, but they are using solar capture without propane

Great. As long as the sun is out. Or you are not parked in the shade.

I think they would have got some not so sunny days in those 20,000kilometres around Australia

noteven
Explorer III
Explorer III
Check out Everlanders on you toob. Home garage built DIY vehicle with all electric camper equipment.

Bobbo
Explorer II
Explorer II
RobertRyan wrote:
Bobbo wrote:
We boondock. A lot. We could do without electric much easier than we could do without propane.

Same here, but they are using solar capture without propane

Great. As long as the sun is out. Or you are not parked in the shade.
Bobbo and Lin
2017 F-150 XLT 4x4 SuperCab w/Max Tow Package 3.5l EcoBoost V6
2017 Airstream Flying Cloud 23FB

GrandpaKip
Explorer
Explorer
Thatโ€™s very cool.
Kip
2015 Skyline Dart 214RB
2018 Silverado Double Cab 4x4
Andersen Hitch

RobertRyan
Explorer
Explorer
Bobbo wrote:
We boondock. A lot. We could do without electric much easier than we could do without propane.

Same here, but they are using solar capture without propane

Bobbo
Explorer II
Explorer II
We boondock. A lot. We could do without electric much easier than we could do without propane.
Bobbo and Lin
2017 F-150 XLT 4x4 SuperCab w/Max Tow Package 3.5l EcoBoost V6
2017 Airstream Flying Cloud 23FB

RobertRyan
Explorer
Explorer
DutchmenSport wrote:
Based on the current rate of exchange today per the internet - $1.00 us = AU$ 1.47

That makes the price tag: AU $109,900 = to US $74,671.90

That's a bunch!

Prices are not comparable, as it will not be sold in the US but technology most probably will be

DutchmenSport
Explorer
Explorer
Based on the current rate of exchange today per the internet - $1.00 us = AU$ 1.47

That makes the price tag: AU $109,900 = to US $74,671.90

That's a bunch!