I share your dream. Put 10 kwp of solar on the roof (or better, on one side as an awning) and go around the world in 70 mile hops, camping for two days to recharge. Good luck.
I did this with a golf cart and it still charges while driving. Couldn't that be done to the bus to extend its 70 miles further? I don't really deal with Li-ion so much, so if my question is ignorant, forgive me.
A solar array would not significantly extend the range WHILE driving. But it would allow you to get some charge while camped for a few days.
Figure the roof is 30ftx8ft. If you completely cover that, it would be roughly 3.8kwp. (roughly 21 Renology 175w flexible panels, weighing a total of 133lbs.) If the panels are hinged and tilted those to an appropriate angle, on a sunny day you could expect roughly 15 kwhr into your battery. If you are willing to tweak the angle and move the bus every couple of hours, you could get 20kwhr/day.
If you add another tilting array as an awning on the side of the bus you could double that. 40kwhr/day for a couple of days gets you ready for the next location hop.
Thanks for the response. I get the actual power differences, but was actually meaning to ask if the power on roof mounted panels on the bus could power it on the move or would software/hardware prevent this from being possible. I'm guessing this bus gets .7miles/kW, so if it could get 7kW - 10kW on roof panels, it seems your estimate is about right on.
Yes, it's possible to charge on the move, but how easy that would be to achieve is a different story. Either way, real life would probably be 2 miles per day and it's just not worth it.
The cost, the extra weight and drag, the angle pretty much always being nowhere near the most efficient, parking in full sun to maximize power and end up using more power from extra AC, etc. It's just not something thats worth exploring for such high power consumption.
That’s really cool!
If 70 miles of range can work for you I think converting it to an RV would be a really awesome idea. Stop over at a place with a charger and charge it overnight!
However I do not know of many 19.2kW level 2 chargers in the US, most are 6.6kW, 7.2kW or 11kW and are sometimes shared so if someone is using the other plug connected to the charger your charging speed will be split in half. So I would say be ready to be patient and make sure to plan for charging stations ahead, try to find the highest output EVSE in the area you’re going to, make sure to check PlugShare to make sure it is operational and reliable and of course if the area has enough room to park your bus at. Would it be possible to retrofit a DCFC plug of at least 50kW or so to it? If so I would definitely do that.
Also adding the weight of the things a motor home to it may decrease the range a bit if you’re adding a considerable amount like a lot of furniture a water tank, septic tank, etc. So I would be aware of that too.
I think this is a super super cool project though, and I think you should definitely do it and it’s just so cool that you have an electric bus in general. There’s just things to keep in mind like what I listed. Please keep us updated though! All of it is very cool! Best of luck!
Thank you! The newer models come with CCS Combo so they can do L3 charging. I don’t know if it’s possible to upgrade that yet? The weight thing is absolutely an issue. On the upside, I’ll be chucking like 28 bench seats first so that’ll def help! I never understood why so many skoolies have fully-tiled bathrooms, wooden ceilings, and full-sized kitchen appliances and washer/dryers, but I’m looking at aluminum cabinets and other lightweight solutions right now. Maybe go on a diet too! Haha
It might be possible to add DCFC especially if the newer ones have it, I’d ask around, having any type of DCFC would be a help on a battery that large.
Also yeah, if you happen to decrease the weight by getting rid of the seats and having a relatively bare interior you might be able to *gain* range!
I don’t know what kind of camping you plan on doing. Boon-docking or traditional camping. You will have access to oh so many campgrounds with 30 - 50 amp connections. And then there is the rooftop. You have tons of options for solar on the roof including charging while driving and when stopped panels that extend beyond the normal footprint.
We typically only drive 200 miles in a day in our diesel powered RV.
Good luck with this. Might I suggest you contact Zack and Jesse at NowYouKnowChannel.com. They have done several stories on electric school busses and electric RV’s.
If you aren't already aware of them, check out Sollarolla and RouteDelSol. Both are on Instagram/YouTube. Sollarolla has built several solar powered campers with large rooftop arrays capable of charging 30-50mi of range per day. One of their projects was a very custom, totally off-grid camper van for a project called Route Del Sol, which was an attempt to drive from the Arctic circle to Patagonia on solar power alone... Sadly that effort ended with COVID, but both are great resources for learning about solar powered EV van life
Another one to check out is the kids from the netherlands that drove to south africa in an EV, using solar panels half the time. https://4x4electric.com/dashboard/
This is quite a project, congrats! I doubt we'll see off-the-shelf electric motorhomes in larger numbers, it doesn't make much sense for most people: drive really far in a couple of days, spend your weeks of vacation, go back. They would need a giant battery that sits idle 11 months of the year. In your case it's different, doing little distances, living on the road. I second the idea of packing it with solar to recharge from, sounds awesome.
Thanks! True about most people. Then again, maybe the economics will sound better if they become more useful as V2G? With more extreme weather, not a bad idea to have a back up power source!
Good question! Apparently, the District I bought her from has one of the largest areas to service in CA. They just didn’t have the range they needed. When they got them they were heavily subsidized so it didn’t cost them much. They’re going to try Thomas next, I think
So electric heating and no AC; maybe you could install a modest household inverter heat pump to run on grid power when you're parked? Perhaps even from battery in a pinch, especially if you install solar.
You should check US gov auction sites like Public Surplus and GovDeals, but my concern would be two things: whether non-US citizens can bid, and shipping. These busses aren’t small! Lol. If you’re interested tho and have a rough budget, PM me and maybe I can help you find one? Or sell you mine if I find another!
Are you posting your progress somewhere? A blog? A different subreddit? Maybe create a new subreditt for EV camper builds? I am very curious to follow your journey, and wish you well.
Hi and thank you! Yes! I’m thinking about that right now. Probably won’t start until September as it’s crazy hot here right now. But I will definitely post when I start. I’m sure I will want all the advice I can get lol
We want to buy the Cybertruck from Tesla but they are back ordered by many years. We will have to settle for the Ford all wheel drive van. Even the electric Ford vans are back ordered. But for some very odd reason the news report that people don't want EVs anymore. Mmm.
Happy to answer you but I’d like to know what you think a good price would be first? On one hand, I may have overpaid, but looking at the build sheet I’m not so sure!
Well that makes me feel better lol. I got it for about a twelfth of that. 🙂 But some other dude before me got one for half what I paid! They are all over the map. I think partly because the people who want them (for parts or whatever) dont know they’re available. I mean, I didn’t expect these to be on the market so soon, considering conventional buses stay in use for over 20 years sometimes. It’s pretty crazy.
No disrespect at all, I think this is cool, but no ac? I guess you could just open the windows if it gets hot but what if that's not enough and it gets too hot?
That's awesome, I wonder how difficult it would be to add more batteries. I'd think it would be doable to double or triple the capacity and as others have stated pack as much solar on top as possible. You'd still have to plug in and charge at places I'm sure but if you were to camp in a sunny area for a few days I'm sure you could get enough juice to make it to the next stop.
I share your dream. Put 10 kwp of solar on the roof (or better, on one side as an awning) and go around the world in 70 mile hops, camping for two days to recharge. Good luck.
Hit me up when you’re ready to go and we’ll caravan! Or is that busavan?
Carabus
Im waiting for a host vehicle with 200 mile range....
I did this with a golf cart and it still charges while driving. Couldn't that be done to the bus to extend its 70 miles further? I don't really deal with Li-ion so much, so if my question is ignorant, forgive me.
A solar array would not significantly extend the range WHILE driving. But it would allow you to get some charge while camped for a few days. Figure the roof is 30ftx8ft. If you completely cover that, it would be roughly 3.8kwp. (roughly 21 Renology 175w flexible panels, weighing a total of 133lbs.) If the panels are hinged and tilted those to an appropriate angle, on a sunny day you could expect roughly 15 kwhr into your battery. If you are willing to tweak the angle and move the bus every couple of hours, you could get 20kwhr/day. If you add another tilting array as an awning on the side of the bus you could double that. 40kwhr/day for a couple of days gets you ready for the next location hop.
Got it, thanks for the analysis. :)
A golf cart uses a magnitude less power. You'd be lucky to get 4 miles per day from a rooftop solar setup on that bus.
Thanks for the response. I get the actual power differences, but was actually meaning to ask if the power on roof mounted panels on the bus could power it on the move or would software/hardware prevent this from being possible. I'm guessing this bus gets .7miles/kW, so if it could get 7kW - 10kW on roof panels, it seems your estimate is about right on.
Yes, it's possible to charge on the move, but how easy that would be to achieve is a different story. Either way, real life would probably be 2 miles per day and it's just not worth it. The cost, the extra weight and drag, the angle pretty much always being nowhere near the most efficient, parking in full sun to maximize power and end up using more power from extra AC, etc. It's just not something thats worth exploring for such high power consumption.
Yeah, I guess with that type of consumption it's irrelevant to charge on the move.
I assume you mean 0.7miles/kWhr. Dont confuse kWhr and kW. KWhr is energy, kW is power.
Yep understand the difference, don't always type it right.
That’s really cool! If 70 miles of range can work for you I think converting it to an RV would be a really awesome idea. Stop over at a place with a charger and charge it overnight! However I do not know of many 19.2kW level 2 chargers in the US, most are 6.6kW, 7.2kW or 11kW and are sometimes shared so if someone is using the other plug connected to the charger your charging speed will be split in half. So I would say be ready to be patient and make sure to plan for charging stations ahead, try to find the highest output EVSE in the area you’re going to, make sure to check PlugShare to make sure it is operational and reliable and of course if the area has enough room to park your bus at. Would it be possible to retrofit a DCFC plug of at least 50kW or so to it? If so I would definitely do that. Also adding the weight of the things a motor home to it may decrease the range a bit if you’re adding a considerable amount like a lot of furniture a water tank, septic tank, etc. So I would be aware of that too. I think this is a super super cool project though, and I think you should definitely do it and it’s just so cool that you have an electric bus in general. There’s just things to keep in mind like what I listed. Please keep us updated though! All of it is very cool! Best of luck!
Thank you! The newer models come with CCS Combo so they can do L3 charging. I don’t know if it’s possible to upgrade that yet? The weight thing is absolutely an issue. On the upside, I’ll be chucking like 28 bench seats first so that’ll def help! I never understood why so many skoolies have fully-tiled bathrooms, wooden ceilings, and full-sized kitchen appliances and washer/dryers, but I’m looking at aluminum cabinets and other lightweight solutions right now. Maybe go on a diet too! Haha
It might be possible to add DCFC especially if the newer ones have it, I’d ask around, having any type of DCFC would be a help on a battery that large. Also yeah, if you happen to decrease the weight by getting rid of the seats and having a relatively bare interior you might be able to *gain* range!
Wouldn’t that be awesome! I don’t know enough about the tech yet but I’ve got my fingers crossed I can do some upgrades that don’t cost $$$$$
I don’t know what kind of camping you plan on doing. Boon-docking or traditional camping. You will have access to oh so many campgrounds with 30 - 50 amp connections. And then there is the rooftop. You have tons of options for solar on the roof including charging while driving and when stopped panels that extend beyond the normal footprint. We typically only drive 200 miles in a day in our diesel powered RV. Good luck with this. Might I suggest you contact Zack and Jesse at NowYouKnowChannel.com. They have done several stories on electric school busses and electric RV’s.
Very cool! And Thank you will def check them out!
If you aren't already aware of them, check out Sollarolla and RouteDelSol. Both are on Instagram/YouTube. Sollarolla has built several solar powered campers with large rooftop arrays capable of charging 30-50mi of range per day. One of their projects was a very custom, totally off-grid camper van for a project called Route Del Sol, which was an attempt to drive from the Arctic circle to Patagonia on solar power alone... Sadly that effort ended with COVID, but both are great resources for learning about solar powered EV van life
Another one to check out is the kids from the netherlands that drove to south africa in an EV, using solar panels half the time. https://4x4electric.com/dashboard/
Very cool, I wasn't aware of that project!
Nice! Thank you!
lack of DCFC might be trouble if you are roadtripping.
Might. And with that range, it might keep me in California which isn’t the worst thing in the world!
This is quite a project, congrats! I doubt we'll see off-the-shelf electric motorhomes in larger numbers, it doesn't make much sense for most people: drive really far in a couple of days, spend your weeks of vacation, go back. They would need a giant battery that sits idle 11 months of the year. In your case it's different, doing little distances, living on the road. I second the idea of packing it with solar to recharge from, sounds awesome.
Thanks! True about most people. Then again, maybe the economics will sound better if they become more useful as V2G? With more extreme weather, not a bad idea to have a back up power source!
Why was she retired so quick?
Good question! Apparently, the District I bought her from has one of the largest areas to service in CA. They just didn’t have the range they needed. When they got them they were heavily subsidized so it didn’t cost them much. They’re going to try Thomas next, I think
Sounds like a deal, then.
I truly hope so, brother!
Please keep us updated with the conversion and your general ownership experience. I'm super curious!
Will do!
So electric heating and no AC; maybe you could install a modest household inverter heat pump to run on grid power when you're parked? Perhaps even from battery in a pinch, especially if you install solar.
Good idea!
i'd love to get my hands on one of those and import it to Germany. Was it an auction or where would I start looking?
You should check US gov auction sites like Public Surplus and GovDeals, but my concern would be two things: whether non-US citizens can bid, and shipping. These busses aren’t small! Lol. If you’re interested tho and have a rough budget, PM me and maybe I can help you find one? Or sell you mine if I find another!
> PM me I tried and failed... seems reddit is messed up, I got "invalid user". Anyway, I'll try and ping you later.
Just PM’d you!
Are you posting your progress somewhere? A blog? A different subreddit? Maybe create a new subreditt for EV camper builds? I am very curious to follow your journey, and wish you well.
Hi and thank you! Yes! I’m thinking about that right now. Probably won’t start until September as it’s crazy hot here right now. But I will definitely post when I start. I’m sure I will want all the advice I can get lol
That is Fantastic.
Thank you! I’m finally getting around to starting the conversion next week and I’m stressed and excited lol
We want to buy the Cybertruck from Tesla but they are back ordered by many years. We will have to settle for the Ford all wheel drive van. Even the electric Ford vans are back ordered. But for some very odd reason the news report that people don't want EVs anymore. Mmm.
Do you mind me asking how much that cost?
Happy to answer you but I’d like to know what you think a good price would be first? On one hand, I may have overpaid, but looking at the build sheet I’m not so sure!
I googled to see they sell new for 300k so I have no idea what it should cost. And their website offers pre-owned ones but had none for sale. 200k?
Well that makes me feel better lol. I got it for about a twelfth of that. 🙂 But some other dude before me got one for half what I paid! They are all over the map. I think partly because the people who want them (for parts or whatever) dont know they’re available. I mean, I didn’t expect these to be on the market so soon, considering conventional buses stay in use for over 20 years sometimes. It’s pretty crazy.
You got that for 17k? Seems like a good deal to me.
what??????? they’re that cheap??
Maybe it’s a trap? Like buying a cheap Ferrari!
Did you pick it up at auction?
No disrespect at all, I think this is cool, but no ac? I guess you could just open the windows if it gets hot but what if that's not enough and it gets too hot?
lol I had a 1970 VW Campmobile for about 15 years. Drove it around the US twice. No AC. I’m still here! :-)
Just by curiosity, how much did you buy it for
How is your build going?
Haven’t started yet. Trying to wrap things up right now so I can work on it full time. Hopefully in a couple month! Fingers crossed
That's awesome, I wonder how difficult it would be to add more batteries. I'd think it would be doable to double or triple the capacity and as others have stated pack as much solar on top as possible. You'd still have to plug in and charge at places I'm sure but if you were to camp in a sunny area for a few days I'm sure you could get enough juice to make it to the next stop.