I drive a sprinter for work as an electrician and I average 1,000 miles a week (6 days) in a loaded van Some days LA to San Jose and back or up & down the grapevine, one day to Phoenix and back (790 miles & 70 MPH average speed). This would never work for the real world for highway travel. If you are just doing a few miles a day around town it would work fine.
Here's why I think that the eSprinter is viable as a camper... First off... I drove my Chevy Bolt EV from California to Brazil without a problem. The Bolt displays realtime kW which I used to help me learn how to maximize range. I just kept my eye on the kW being used to see what ate battery the most. I typically got 25% more range than the stated 259 miles. This meant about 325 miles. The tricks are: 1. Keep the speed down. There's a BIG range difference between 65 mph and 55 mph. On less traveled roads 50 mph is fine which is even better for range. 2. Maximize regenerative braking to slow down so as to not throw away ANY energy with unnecessary braking. 3. Ease up on the accelerator on uphills. Makes a big difference. 4. Maximize regen on downhill. 5. If uphill is about balanced by downhill, then terrain doesn't have much impact on range. If we say that the EPA range for the eSprinter would be around 250 miles, I would expect to get over 300 miles using these strategies. This will be reduced by 25% due the weight of the build. This would mean about 225 miles of range. For people who are in a hurry this might not work. But for people wanting to travel in a relaxed way and enjoy the view it would be just fine. I could make it to the end of the Pan American highway in Patagonia on this. As for charging where there ar eno level 3 chargers... Level 2 charging at a campground might realistically be about 7kW which is about 13.5 miles added per hour for the eSpinter. In 15 hours overnight (typical for my drive to Brazil) you've added 200 miles which is a full battery unless you started with an empty or nearly empty battery (NEVER a good idea). I'm very interested in your strategies for minimizing weight for the build. I'd be glad to share what I've come up with so far on this.
This is super dope. It’s all about perspective. I had a 2014 Nissan leaf that only got 50 miles a charge. It was old technology with a 150’000 miles on it. But I kept an extension cord, and would charge anywhere that had a outlet. Even hotels haha. I’m an urban Van Lifer, so stealth camping around San Diego where’s there’s charging stations and outlets everywhere. This Van / camper build is my dream. I would keep it super minimal and lightweight like the old VW Vanagon builds. Just my two cents
Awesome! My thoughts are similar to your re the build. We will constructing something very minimal and light weight for sure. Thanks for tuning in and commenting
I'd love to find out more about what you're thinking, What I've come up with so far, using the lightest weight materials I can think of, is over 2000 pounds, including water, people, belongings. But its not so minimal. It includes kitchen, cabinets, indoor shower, toilet, table. What are you picturing?
Seemed ok, but suspect with any significant load range would be about half…that’s what I have seen with pickups, but maybe a van different. Add a lot of stuff and see…if I recall correctly the camper-van prototype from Winnebago gets around 100miles, but a different chassis? Great first test,,,second one add some weight!
Too bad the range is so low, and it would be even worse with a built out van with roof rack. It’s definitely not suitable as a camper van which is a shame.
It will definitely be interesting to see what kind of changes we can make with passive solar charging etc to enhance rather than hinder the EV system. For some folks 200 is enough, for others it would seriously hinder their lifestyle. If you, for instance, wanted to van to take surfing to the beach a few days a week I think this has serious potential.
@@roguevancompany I suppose if you only went to campsites with plugin connections it might work. But serious van lifers like me who go boondocking in remote areas would have a serious problem with this range. I doubt solar panels would help since I can’t even keep my house batteries fully charged on solar alone since I use induction cooking & electric water heating. Maybe someone might come up with an extended range battery pack.
@@Blztrls It does require some planning but if you fulling charge before you head into a remote area you'd have a hundred miles out and a hundred miles back. Also you can charge using 220V or 110V with the appropriate adapters so even in remote areas you can charge from whatever outlet you encounter. I drove my EV from California to Brazil, not relying much on public chargers beyond Costa Rica. But I wasn't boondocking. Boondocking if you need to rely on solar you can consider getting a max roof array plus a ground array. You may be able to get up to 1.5 to 2kw. This will add some miles if you're staying somewhere a while. Also keep in mind that you can draw power from the high voltage van battery to cook and heat water.
@@roguevancompany I'm planning to try to do a range test with the eSprinter in the next few weeks. I've done a lot of hypermiling in my Chevy Bolt and I want to see what I can get from the eSprinter when it's not carrying weight. Then I'd like to a weighted range test.
I drive a sprinter for work as an electrician and I average 1,000 miles a week (6 days) in a loaded van Some days LA to San Jose and back or up & down the grapevine, one day to Phoenix and back (790 miles & 70 MPH average speed). This would never work for the real world for highway travel. If you are just doing a few miles a day around town it would work fine.
Here's why I think that the eSprinter is viable as a camper...
First off... I drove my Chevy Bolt EV from California to Brazil without a problem. The Bolt displays realtime kW which I used to help me learn how to maximize range. I just kept my eye on the kW being used to see what ate battery the most.
I typically got 25% more range than the stated 259 miles. This meant about 325 miles.
The tricks are:
1. Keep the speed down. There's a BIG range difference between 65 mph and 55 mph. On less traveled roads 50 mph is fine which is even better for range.
2. Maximize regenerative braking to slow down so as to not throw away ANY energy with unnecessary braking.
3. Ease up on the accelerator on uphills. Makes a big difference.
4. Maximize regen on downhill.
5. If uphill is about balanced by downhill, then terrain doesn't have much impact on range.
If we say that the EPA range for the eSprinter would be around 250 miles, I would expect to get over 300 miles using these strategies. This will be reduced by 25% due the weight of the build. This would mean about 225 miles of range. For people who are in a hurry this might not work. But for people wanting to travel in a relaxed way and enjoy the view it would be just fine. I could make it to the end of the Pan American highway in Patagonia on this.
As for charging where there ar eno level 3 chargers... Level 2 charging at a campground might realistically be about 7kW which is about 13.5 miles added per hour for the eSpinter. In 15 hours overnight (typical for my drive to Brazil) you've added 200 miles which is a full battery unless you started with an empty or nearly empty battery (NEVER a good idea).
I'm very interested in your strategies for minimizing weight for the build. I'd be glad to share what I've come up with so far on this.
This is super dope. It’s all about perspective. I had a 2014 Nissan leaf that only got 50 miles a charge. It was old technology with a 150’000 miles on it. But I kept an extension cord, and would charge anywhere that had a outlet. Even hotels haha. I’m an urban Van Lifer, so stealth camping around San Diego where’s there’s charging stations and outlets everywhere. This Van / camper build is my dream. I would keep it super minimal and lightweight like the old VW Vanagon builds. Just my two cents
Awesome! My thoughts are similar to your re the build. We will constructing something very minimal and light weight for sure. Thanks for tuning in and commenting
I'd love to find out more about what you're thinking, What I've come up with so far, using the lightest weight materials I can think of, is over 2000 pounds, including water, people, belongings. But its not so minimal. It includes kitchen, cabinets, indoor shower, toilet, table. What are you picturing?
Seemed ok, but suspect with any significant load range would be about half…that’s what I have seen with pickups, but maybe a van different. Add a lot of stuff and see…if I recall correctly the camper-van prototype from Winnebago gets around 100miles, but a different chassis? Great first test,,,second one add some weight!
I thought that there was a test with a Ford Lightening that showed about 25% loss of range when loaded.
I think this would’ve been better in aLexus..
An Alexis was in this van during filming. Does that count?
Too bad the range is so low, and it would be even worse with a built out van with roof rack. It’s definitely not suitable as a camper van which is a shame.
It will definitely be interesting to see what kind of changes we can make with passive solar charging etc to enhance rather than hinder the EV system. For some folks 200 is enough, for others it would seriously hinder their lifestyle. If you, for instance, wanted to van to take surfing to the beach a few days a week I think this has serious potential.
@@roguevancompany I suppose if you only went to campsites with plugin connections it might work. But serious van lifers like me who go boondocking in remote areas would have a serious problem with this range. I doubt solar panels would help since I can’t even keep my house batteries fully charged on solar alone since I use induction cooking & electric water heating. Maybe someone might come up with an extended range battery pack.
@@Blztrls It does require some planning but if you fulling charge before you head into a remote area you'd have a hundred miles out and a hundred miles back. Also you can charge using 220V or 110V with the appropriate adapters so even in remote areas you can charge from whatever outlet you encounter. I drove my EV from California to Brazil, not relying much on public chargers beyond Costa Rica. But I wasn't boondocking. Boondocking if you need to rely on solar you can consider getting a max roof array plus a ground array. You may be able to get up to 1.5 to 2kw. This will add some miles if you're staying somewhere a while. Also keep in mind that you can draw power from the high voltage van battery to cook and heat water.
@@roguevancompany I'm planning to try to do a range test with the eSprinter in the next few weeks. I've done a lot of hypermiling in my Chevy Bolt and I want to see what I can get from the eSprinter when it's not carrying weight. Then I'd like to a weighted range test.