So, I was researching “RV trends” and the future of the RV industry, and quite frankly I was surprised by one category in particular that kept coming up. Electric RVs. I’m going to go out on a limb here, and I might be wrong, but I do not see electric RVs as the future of the RV industry. Why not, you ask? Let’s examine this topic a bit closer.

Before we look at electric RVs, let’s look at the electric truck market as it relates to RVs.

Towing tests with an electric truck failed miserably! When truck manufacturers began talking about electric pick-up trucks my question, as an RV expert was, wouldn’t the batteries require recharging sooner if the truck was pulling let’s say a 2 1/2 ton trailer behind it? The answer, after manufacturers spent who knows how much on research and development was yes, the batteries would require recharging sooner under a load, such as a travel trailer in tow. All you need to do is read some of the online electric truck testing articles.

Basically, the published EPA ranges for electric trucks dropped to 1/2 the distance when towing a trailer. Now some would argue a gasoline or diesel truck’s range decreases as well when towing a trailer, and I get that, but what is the difference? The difference is, you can almost always find a gas or diesel station before you run out of fuel, but you can’t always find an EV charging station when the electric truck is losing its charge. That to me is pretty significant when it comes to RVing. Imagine taking a cross-country trip with an electric truck! And lots of campgrounds do not allow charging EVs at the campsite.

The mileage range can worsen too, depending on factors like:

• outside temperatures
• how fast you drive
• terrain & driving conditions
• weight of the loaded trailer and truck
• stop and go traffic
• other unforeseen factors

You not only should be concerned about finding a charging station in time:

• you need to be concerned if you can access the charging station when towing a trailer
• if the charging station is operable
• the amount of time spent at the charging station

My thoughts are, if you tow often, and recharge the battery pack often, the life expectancy of the battery pack will decrease sooner. The electric truck itself can cost you $75,000 or more, and replacing the battery pack will cost you anywhere from $7,000 to $30,000. Ouch! 

My truck battery cost $170 to replace and I thought that was expensive.

While researching RV trends, I consistently read statements like, electric RVs are revolutionizing the RV industry, and electric RVs are the future of RVs. Since the Obama era our government has tried forcing EVs on us, but the attempts failed miserably in my opinion. If people did not buy into purchasing and driving small electric cars why would RV manufacturers think consumers will buy into purchasing electric tow vehicles and motorhomes? 

There are several misconceptions about electric vehicles

Some folks claim electric vehicles will save the planet from climate change, or drastically reduce emissions. To counter, I would say the EPA’s stringent guidelines imposed on vehicle manufacturers already resulted in zero emissions gas and diesel vehicles, so how are EVs reducing emissions exactly? And, most of the costly repairs to modern day vehicles are a result of the stringent emissions guidelines forced on vehicle and truck manufacturers to meet Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. For example, I have a 2015 Ram work truck with a 3.0L eco-diesel engine. Every repair, with the exception of one, was emissions related, costing me thousands of dollars to date.

What about the claim EVs are saving the planet?

Did you ever look into the process of lithium battery manufacturing? It is unbelievable, and yet they call it clean energy. I’ll start with the mining process. Metals like cobalt and copper are needed to construct lithium batteries, According to Borrum Energy Solutions, “many of the world’s lithium reserves are in developing countries, where labor standards and environmental regulations are often weak. This can lead to human rights violations, including forced labor, child labor, and environmental destruction.”

If that’s not bad enough, consider that large articulating rock trucks used in lithium mining operations consume approximately 30 gallons of diesel fuel per hour. In one 12-hour shift one truck consumes 360 gallons of diesel fuel. And when pit mining involves steeper road grades for the trucks to use, fuel consumption increases. On average, this equates to 216,000 gallons of diesel fuel per truck annually. At a wholesale cost of $3.60 per gallon, it will cost roughly $770,000 to operate one truck for one year in fuel only. Clean energy?

The average cost to produce one EV lithium battery pack for a vehicle is dependent on numerous factors, but on average a 150 kilowatt of energy capacity battery pack costs roughly $15,000 to produce. 

What most folks do not know or hear about is, in what is touted as clean energy, and climate change benefits of lithium batteries there are hidden environmental costs. To extract and process lithium, and other rare metals like cobalt and copper (required for lithium batteries construction) there are terrible impacts on the environment and local communities where the mining is done. The higher the demand for lithium batteries gets, the higher the negative impact is on these communities. 

For example, cobalt is a key component to lithium battery production. The Democratic Republic of Congo or DRC produces over 70% of the world’s cobalt. China then imports nearly 90% of cobalt for lithium battery construction from the DRC. Thousands of children are used in smaller cobalt mining operations throughout the DRC to extract the cobalt ore from the ground. This is slave labor and child abuse! 

Then there is the disposal of depleted lithium batteries. They are recyclable, but it is costly. The problem as I see it is, lithium battery technology is quickly advancing, and while costs to produce lithium batteries start to decrease it may not be worth it for companies to go to the expense of recycling old lithium battery packs. This might explain the photos you see of hundreds or thousands of older EVs with depleted battery packs sitting in fields, not being recycled. Who knows what dangerous substances may be leaching into the ground and possibly the water supply where these vehicles are stored.

That brings me to electric RVs, motorhomes in particular. I’m not picking on any RV manufacturer, but to illustrate my point I will reference an article I read, written by Robert Annis for Outside Magazine in 2023. The article is based on testing a Winnebago prototype electric RV. In the article Annis stated, “Let’s address the massive elephant in the room right off the bat. Built on Ford’s eTransit platform, the eRV2 that I drove had a claimed range of about 108 miles. That distance quickly shrinks if you speed, accelerate too quickly, or travel uphill for long distances. If you keep the cruise control to 55 MPH, you might be able to stretch it … a little. Because charging slows to a virtual crawl after you reach 80-85 percent, you’re left with an effective range of between 80 and 90 miles (at best) during the bulk of your driving day. Think about it like this: for every 90 minutes you drive, you need to spend around 45 minutes at a fast charger before you can get going again.”  The article goes on to explain challenges at charging stations, driving in mountainous regions, and what the author referred to as “range anxiety.”

The question begging to be asked is, where is the clean energy, zero emissions, and and climate change benefits said to revolutionize the future of the RV industry, when you factor in:

• Lithium battery mining expense
• Impact on local mining communities 
• Child labor/child abuse
• EV range for RVs (range anxiety)
• Cost to replace a lithium battery pack
• Lack of charging stations/inoperable stations
• Lithium battery disposal challenges
• cost of EVs

Last but not least is the 7.5 billion in taxpayer money designated in 2021 for EV charging stations. The result, only 7 or 8 charging stations produced to date.

To close, I would encourage you to ask a tractor trailer driver what their thoughts are on electric over-the-road trucks revolutionizing the trucking industry. I guarantee you will get another perspective on EVs to consider.

Happy Camping,
Mark Polk
RV Education 101
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