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Doing Plymouth – N.Pembs yesterday I charged at the Strawberry Fields farm shop & cafe site at Buckfastleigh, which has something like 16 CCS plugs. They also have a long side-on bay for vehicles with caravans etc, which got me wondering. How do those drivers get on? Because I think that’s the first “long” bay I’ve ever seen. Do motorway services have some chargers in the caravan/ lorry parking areas etc?
Cafe at SF does great pasties btw, which when we got to Cardiff Gate for a top up stop were a lovely temperature for scoffing down for lunch!
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There are some about same as there are some chargers designated for disabled use but from I’ve seen really you’re looking at parking unhitching the van moving to charger then rehitching and go. I can’t claim to have visited a lot of chargers but so far I haven’t seen a single on suitable for towing vehicles sadly
Sort of still on topic
World First: Hybrid-Drive Caravan System
GOING HYBRID
In essence, the technology – which is not yet commercially available – comprises special motors on each wheel that ‘drive’ the caravan, offsetting the ‘dead weight’ of the van so that the load in lateral acceleration is reduced or, in some cases, mitigated completely.The motors are powered by an onboard 16kW/h battery, which is charged by the energy that is normally lost in braking. This battery can also be charged off the tow vehicle via a DC-DC charger, as well as solar on the van.
We live near the M5 in Gloucestershire. On Fridays and Saturdays in the summer there are thousands of caravans each day heading to and from Devon, Cornwall and Somerset. The service stations on these days are already packed without everyone needing to stop to charge, let alone with a caravan in tow! Hopefully, by the time we get to a stage where the vast majority of cars on our roads are EVs, battery technology will have improved massively from where it is today and range and charge times will be more in line with the range and time taken to refuel ICE cars!
Things have changed so much in the past 3 years and the new battery tech that’s in prototype right now are mind blowing. You’ve got EVs that have a range similar to a petrol car now well some have.
The hybrid setup with extra batteries in the caravan is a fair idea however it does lead to eye watering costs.
We don’t get as busy as you here but it does get stupid busy when silly season starts totally agree it’s why no matter I wouldn’t touch an EV for pulling a caravan yet a PHEV is far more practical or have an EV and hire an ice tow car for a the couple of weeks a year or have a banger towcar.
I was thinking about getting a small covered trailer for a decent sized tent and all the equipment now the kids are teens and can do the hard work as it’ll have a lower impact than a caravan
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