Whats the future for caravanning?
 

With more and more pressure to get away from diesels and on to smaller and smaller petrol and electric powered cars, how will we tow caravans?

Anyone like to put a time frame on the day we wont be able to afford diesel as the government of the day tries to price us off the road?

If I were to say it can't come soon enough, I suspect that won't go down too well. I appreciate this isn't a terribly constructive post, but I had some exceptionally distressing caravan holidays when I was a child. Fifty years later the horror is still with me.

Anyhow, big diesel fan here. Whatever the pressures are to switch away from ICE's, they're going to continue to be around for a very long time.

Engines are becoming much more efficient, 4 ton motorhomes now use 2 litre engines with loads of torque generated by turbocharging and electrics. No need to worry, the only way to get power in the past was bigger capacity, it's now by using smarter technology.

If we all go electric no one will be going anywhere. A few seconds blip at a power station last week caused much of the country to have no power for a day. Where will all the electricity come from to power all the cars ?. I'm 70 so I don't think I will have a problem towing my caravan before I have to give up

Well exactly....

a) Where is the electric going to come from? We're turning off more generation than we are creating, encouraging electric cars and banning all gas heating and cooking in newbuild homes from 2025 - demand is going to soar exponentially.

d) How are we going to get it there? I'm not seeing any evidence of major National Grid upgrades and getting new pylons installed is hugely controversial. Currently I bet most family homes draw 3-5 amps through the night for the heating circulation pump, phone chargers etc. and the odd light. What when a household with 2 electric cars is drawing 60 amps through the night?

Haha! It's alright! They'll use a "smart" network from the batteries of the other cars on the street to charge yours!!

LMAO!!

Seriously, you couldn't make it up. HAHAHA!

Maybe back to the roots for lighter Caravans, Friend of mine bought a 35 years old caravan last week, it is pretty big with two sleeping areas and a maximum weight of just 1100kg, I was very surprised about this low weight.

So I think just a small car like a Polo could deal with such a lightweight caravan and it has everything needed inside.

electric is superior to diesel for towing...

Torque yes, range no.

Towing increases power consumption hugely. Nearly 2x as much

I found myself conducting some electric vehicle towing testing on closed roads recently and was utterly and completely staggered at how capable some electric vehicles are to tow with.
0-60 in less than 8 seconds. For a 2,450kg car. With a 1,100kg trailer. With 2,500kg sand in it. And 4 water dummies over 79kg.
I’ve towed for many years and I couldn’t quite get my little head around how well it performed so I will suggest that with a suitable charging network, it is easily the preferred route forward.