SeaDawg

That would have been really handy when we worked on the small boat trailer last year.

I have struggled with that, too. Our mpg drops, with the trailer in tow. Offsets? At home, our ac and/or heat in our larger home runs less than when we're home. Though we are very careful with water and power at home, we're even more conscious of our use, with the trailer. We run our trailer primarily on solar. (But that's also true of our home, and our sail boat .) We do some long runs, driving, and typically stay a bit. Sometimes days. Sometimes weeks, or longer. During that time, we rarely "go to town," so those short runs eliminate some of the daily drives we would do at home. Both our current tow vehicles are over 14 years old, and our trailer is now in its 15th season. Boat is 45 years old. Durability/longevity is also part of eco economy. We try very hard to leave a small footprint. We all have to live within our conscience confines. I'm pretty much ok with ours, though I'm sure we could also do better.

Thor is working on a self- powered design, too. https://cleantechnica.com/2022/01/12/thor-zf-partner-to-develop-battery-powered-towable-rvs/

Looks like some folks at Lippert may have read your post, and took it to heart, @Overland https://rvbusiness.com/lippert-developing-edison-ev-towable-chassis-prototype/

@Liana, I saw this on the Facebook page, and wondered if it were you? If so, you've been experiencing some charging issues since October? I omitted the full name, but liana was first name.

@John Welte curious. When you do the long distance bicycle trips, do you have a chase vehicle? Do you travel in a group? We've met several bike campers, solo, doing long trips ( a couple trans Canada, one was aanchorage to San Francisco, via the Yukon, etc ), and it seemed to be a long and lonely road . Sherry

Fwiw, in the early days, only Pete got Solar, as original. (Scubarx was a bit later, I think.) We added it 5 or 6 months after picking up our trailer, with Oliver's help, when we realized we actually needed the energy from the solar to camp the way we do. Since then, we've doubled the panels , and changed up other equipment, but stayed with BlueSky. We've used victron on the boat , and had a few issues, a few years later. The Zamp system that Oliver installs is pretty much bulletproof, and easy for new users. I can see the reasons why they chose it. usa built, stout, simple. Those of us who went a different (unwarranteed ) path of choosing, live with our own results and resources. Not everyone has the same skills, nor the same desires to do the research and work, or live without warranty. It's all good, either way. We're still living with agm on the trailer, and making do. Not sure we'll make the upgrade to lithium. My husband wants to build his own lithium battery pack. We'll see. I'm not as enthusiastic. It's really all about your comfort, and skill level, and risk level. We went sailing this weekend on our 45 year old solar powered boat. I hope I'm around to see the results of our 45 year old Oliver. And its experiments. Only 30 years to go...

Welcome to the forum. My husband and I have camped a lot in Alaska, four trips. We loved the experiences. Please ask away with your questions. We're all here to help. Ps, what part of Alaska? Only cree lake i know is in Canada

@Bobber, just curious. What's your tow vehicle? Thanks.

So, you only mount the crane when you plan to use it? Not permanently? It must weigh 50 or 60 pounds, on its own?

Speaking of batteries, this may just be the one to first answer the majority of remaining objections to evs. ONE (Our Next Energy) just released a video of their new battery technology, retrofitted into a Tesla S. It drove (in cold December Michigan) a real world 752 mile trip without recharging. The car averaged 55 mph. The battery used the same physical space as original Tesla battery. No, it wasn't towing anything, but it didn't have to stop for charging. At all. Backed by BMW, Gates, and Bezos. You can scroll down to see their video on the website main page: https://one.ai/range/

Frankly, not surprised. Rivian's already made it first to the line, Ford's soon to come. What's the rush... My guess is they're still perfecting the new battery.

Well, that's how you get that big Westingouse out of the truck bed. Care to share the info on the crane?

Btw, you don't have to stay in a hotel, just because your camper is winterized, especially in milder winter temps. You can still use the toilet. Just flush with rv antifreeze. I feel bad for you, as new campers picking up in winter. But, you'll gain some new experience. I'd be on the fence, too. It would be nice to be able to test every system, without winterizing.