Walk thru Video on the new Lithium TRAVATO

[gerrym51]

Originally Posted by BBQ

They have also chosen recycled denim as insulation.


They are an experimental shop.
Everyone one of their RV is different.
Not saying it is bad,
just saying that blind faith is not recommended.

AS usual BBQ-you miss my point.

It's not that i have blind faith in ARV. I didn't have blind faith in Roadtrek. BUT
if you want or need to go into a Lithium system -

who are you going to believe-Jim Hammill or Mike Neudorfer. Haveing read and dissected Jim Hammils disembling over the years-some of it actually in answers to me-i'll go with Neudorfer.

Since i do not have the ability to build my own so have to go with someones building it for me-and I have no intention of paying super big bucks like arv itself.

there are 2 things i won't buy. A Sprinter and an Onan generator. That's a def

[BBQ]

.

The 2nd alternator mounting location is the same.

You can see a screenshot from the FitRv's video.
It is hidden behind the louvered protection shield.
The ground clearance seems to be quite good; it is not hanging down.

.

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by gerrym51

AS usual BBQ-you miss my point.

...

there are 2 things i won't buy. A Sprinter and an Onan generator. That's a def

Agreed.


I should qualify that... I wouldn't buy a diesel Sprinter. I might consider a gas sprinter...

On my second thought, forget the Sprinter, I had a Mercedes Benz S-Klasse, I know the repair hassles. LOL. 99.99% of the time it ran beautifully, which is more than anybody can ask for out of a complex machine. It is the little things that can drive you crazy.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by BBQ

They have also chosen recycled denim as insulation.


They are an experimental shop.
Everyone one of their RV is different.
Not saying it is bad,
just saying that blind faith is not recommended.

They also have Thinsulate insulation. Do you know anything about recycled denim insulation other than what misinformation you read on the Internet? Do you have any experience with denim insulation you would like to impart? I have. I have denim insulation in my van. I've probably have the worst conditions for any insulation in Minnesota. I've taken it apart and inspected it. It is dry. There is no corrosion. I know it is a superior insulator in providing comfort in my van a lot more than any other manufacturer I've seen including DIYers. They are not an experimental shop. They thoroughly test their systems but do push the envelope. Yes, every van is different because of that and they readily support their customers with upgrades if necessary and warranted. Can you say that about any other company?

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by Davydd

They also have Thinsulate insulation. Do you know anything about recycled denim insulation other than what misinformation you read on the Internet? Do you have any experience with denim insulation you would like to impart? I have. I have denim insulation in my van. I've probably have the worst conditions for any insulation in Minnesota. I've taken it apart and inspected it. It is dry. There is no corrosion. I know it is a superior insulator in providing comfort in my van a lot more than any other manufacturer I've seen including DIYers. They are not an experimental shop. They thoroughly test their systems but do push the envelope. Yes, every van is different because of that and they readily support their customers with upgrades if necessary and warranted. Can you say that about any other company?

I knew you would jump in. Calm down. Relax.

I sure know those recycled denim.

I did not say it is bad. I admit the sentence can imply something else. And there are strong opinions on the internet to support either way. Such is the beauty of the internet discussion forum.

[wincrasher]

Originally Posted by cruising7388

Because of the difference in use patterns among the owners, I can't see how degradation can be uniformly quantified. The Bolt has a maximum driving range of 240 miles. Wouldn't an owner that never drives more than 50 miles between recharges enjoy a significantly better degradation profile than an owner that drives 200 miles between recharges?

Faced with a 40% drop off, I think I'd skip the Bolt and go for the series hybrid Volt.

Bolt is not going to experience 60% degradation. I doubt it would be more than 10% over the 8 years. Volts have been in production since 2011 and there are no cases of battery degradation. I deplete the battery in mine twice every day for the last year and it still gives me 54 miles each time - sometimes more. I can point you to people that have 300k+ miles on their Volts and they still work perfectly in every regard. Key to their battery durability is thermal control and using the battery in it's middle range of output - you never truly deplete it as there is always a certain amount of reserve in it. Warranty in California is 10 years or 150,000 miles.

[wincrasher]

Originally Posted by Davydd

You sink money into a lithium ion battery system, second alternator and inverter you are not doing yourself a favor to not go big where no AGM system can go for weight and space restrictions.

Does the Travato Volta system have an auto start and high idle feature for idling?

They say it does. I'm particularly interested in what they are doing for the auto-start as that has been the bane of the Roadtreks. I suspect that WGO (thru the engineering of Volta) has nailed it from the git-go. It's really smart to have this whole system provided by a vendor. They are giving their customers what they've been demanding, yet they don't have extra warranty exposure since they will push it down to the Volta folks.

I'm especially interested in what they will install on the Era line. Will it pose additional challenges than the Promaster setup? Or does all it mean is you can get bigger battery options?

[gregmchugh]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

They say it does. I'm particularly interested in what they are doing for the auto-start as that has been the bane of the Roadtreks. I suspect that WGO (thru the engineering of Volta) has nailed it from the git-go. It's really smart to have this whole system provided by a vendor. They are giving their customers what they've been demanding, yet they don't have extra warranty exposure since they will push it down to the Volta folks.

I'm especially interested in what they will install on the Era line. Will it pose additional challenges than the Promaster setup? Or does all it mean is you can get bigger battery options?

Volta uses state of charge to control auto start so it should not have the issues seen in the Voltstart system in terms of initiating auto start at the appropriate time.

[jon]

Originally Posted by cruising7388

Because of the difference in use patterns among the owners, I can't see how degradation can be uniformly quantified. The Bolt has a maximum driving range of 240 miles. Wouldn't an owner that never drives more than 50 miles between recharges enjoy a significantly better degradation profile than an owner that drives 200 miles between recharges?

Faced with a 40% drop off, I think I'd skip the Bolt and go for the series hybrid Volt.

I bought a Mitsubishi iMIEV EV in 2012 and drove it daily for over four years, I traded it in on a Volt (I picked Volt because I don't trust my wife to plug in) last year and didn't notice any degradation of the 16KW battery pack. 50K miles. I'm sure it degraded some but I really didn't notice. This was the first generation Lithium EV they are even better now. I would buy another EV in a heart beat if I needed to commute daily. I for one love lithium batteries and I can't wait to order my next campervan with Volta.

[Technomadness]

Originally Posted by avanti

We all should hold our judgement, but I am pretty optimistic about fuel cells.

I was optimistic about fuel cells in the mid 1990s. Nearly 30 years later I think they are fundamentally limited.

The science is sound, but that doesn’t always mean a practical product can be brought to market. With fuel cells there’s an efficiency factor and making them cheap efficient and reliable is one of those “you can only have two out of three” things.

There may be a breakthrough, but this invention is stalled until there is one, I think.



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[jon]

Originally Posted by Technomadness

I was optimistic about fuel cells in the mid 1990s. Nearly 30 years later I think they are fundamentally limited.

The science is sound, but that doesn’t always mean a practical product can be brought to market. With fuel cells there’s an efficiency factor and making them cheap efficient and reliable is one of those “you can only have two out of three” things.

There may be a breakthrough, but this invention is stalled until there is one, I think.



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I also thought fuel cells were going to revolutionize the auto industry back in the late 90"s...........But nothing happened and then came lithium batteries. Look what they've done to the EV market.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

They say it does. I'm particularly interested in what they are doing for the auto-start as that has been the bane of the Roadtreks. I suspect that WGO (thru the engineering of Volta) has nailed it from the git-go. It's really smart to have this whole system provided by a vendor. They are giving their customers what they've been demanding, yet they don't have extra warranty exposure since they will push it down to the Volta folks.

I'm especially interested in what they will install on the Era line. Will it pose additional challenges than the Promaster setup? Or does all it mean is you can get bigger battery options?

I suspect fewer challenges considering there is way more clearance underneath for both batteries and alternator. Along with that the GVWR is higher and thus more plumbing tank capacities, battery capacity, etc. will enhance the ability to stay out longer in off-grid situations for which one wants in the first place with the extra cost.

That clearance for the batteries underneath in that Travato was very scary. I don't understand how you would keep the batteries above freezing relying on a scoop and internal heat from the van 24/7. Has WGO tested their system in cold weather? I know the FitRV are testing it in southern California right now but at this time of the year air conditioning is mostly an option having been to Joshua Tree numerous times in the late winter and early spring.

[gerrym51]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

They say it does. I'm particularly interested in what they are doing for the auto-start as that has been the bane of the Roadtreks. I suspect that WGO (thru the engineering of Volta) has nailed it from the git-go. It's really smart to have this whole system provided by a vendor. They are giving their customers what they've been demanding, yet they don't have extra warranty exposure since they will push it down to the Volta folks.

I'm especially interested in what they will install on the Era line. Will it pose additional challenges than the Promaster setup? Or does all it mean is you can get bigger battery options?

unless you are getting a 50 amp system-just a bigger battery. the era is not 37 feet long. a 24 foot sprinter would have bigger battery capabilities. just the rest of the volta system would be fine

[gerrym51]

i stumbled on this video with the head of volta power systems at a class a place

you'll have a lot more confidence after listening to it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw87j5scmd8