High gas prices are causing some recreational vehicle (RV) owners to reconsider their summer vacation plans. Could lovers of long getaways turn to models with electric motors to reduce the bill and pollute less? Not now. This does not prevent some campers from pulling a trailer with their electric car.
Faced with a gas price of nearly $2 per litre, many campers will go less far than expected during their next vacation, reveals a survey by the Fédération québécoise de camping et de caravanning (FQCC). Nearly 17% of group members surveyed on the web will camp closer to home and about one in five campers thinks they will stay longer in the same place in order to limit their expenses.
But not all campers intend to change their summer plans, if the FQCC’s probe is to be believed. On the contrary. Some 20% of respondents will save money elsewhere to offset increased transport costs and 37% will not change their plans. After two summers when their movements were restricted by measures to limit the spread of COVID-19, campers are thirsty for freedom, judge Louise Gagnon, director of communications at the FQCC. “As they can start traveling again, people are not going to help it. Several campsites are already full for the summer. »
Sales director at Horizon Lussier, an RV dealer located in Marieville, Serge Maheux believes that large, motorized buyers are not concerned about the price of gasoline. “When you spend $200,000, $300,000 or $400,000 on a motorhome, I don’t think it has an impact,” he observes.
The fact remains that with the constant increase in prices at the pump, and an ecological conscience accentuated by the climate crisis, small recreational vehicles are gaining in popularity.
And why not turn to RVs with electric motors? Because even if there are some prototypes, we do not find any on the market yet. Technology does not allow products to be offered with sufficient autonomy, underlines Dominique Nadeau, president of Safari Condo, a Quebec company that fits RVs in commercial vehicles.
Even if GM announces the arrival of trucks with greater autonomy, up to 640 km, it will still be necessary to find where to place the water and propane tanks if the batteries already occupy the entire underside of the vehicle. “There are studies to be done to see how we can adapt the products,” says Ms. Nadeau. For now, we have no concrete plans. »
However, Safari Condo, which also manufactures trailers, has been offering one designed to be towed by an electric vehicle for two years already. The A2124 is the result of a collaboration with Redmond Hayes, a retiree who bought a Tesla Model X in 2017 with the intention of traveling around North America while camping. Dissatisfied with the performance of his car with his F1743 retractable roof trailer, and after tinkering with a plastic part to try to improve it, Mr. Hayes was invited to work with the Safari Condo team.
The loss of autonomy is not so much related to the weight you pull, but really to the aerodynamics of the whole.