I want to get an old class B chinook and convert it to an electric, autonomous, solar powered beast that I can just let run wild on the highways while I sit in back and code. Will it happen in my lifetime? Probably not, but it'd be pretty sweet.

pic to avoid confusion ;)

I read that as a Bravo model UH-47, making me wonder what do you want with that hydraulic nightmare.

If it happens in your lifetime I hope you'd opt for a classier paint job.

Obviously.

Probably with a windmill mounted on top.

Your trailer is 6400 pounds?

That's a fair bit of trailer you have yourself there. What do you tow with that?

It is a 30 foot(tongue to tail) camper. When loaded and fresh water tank filled for dry camping I'm probably loaded out to 7500 pounds give or take.

I tow it with an F-150 with the coyote 5.0 V8 and 3.31 gears. Gets the job done but I now wish I got the F-150 with the 3.5 twin turbo Ecoboost or had gone with the 3.73 gears instead. She tows ok, but ends up hunting too much in the higher gears.

Longest trips have been about 2500 miles each... Three of them. Most weekend trips are 400-500 mile round trips on average. I get between 9 and 10 MPG.

Next truck might be an F-250 or some other 3/4 ton, but I don't expect to tow much bigger or heavier... Just more truck is always better when towing.

That's ... a lot of gas. I'm not criticizing - you'd burn more fuel flying, err, probablymaybe - but just in awe of the burn rate: 9 MPG would in my car work out to having to stop and refill the tank ($50) almost once every hour driving on the highway.

I have a 26 gallon tank...Would have gotten the 36 gallon, but it wasn't available on my model.

Last year we took the camper to Florida. Stayed 3 nights at Port Canaveral Jetty Park which is right up to the beach. Then we towed over to Disney World Fort Wilderness for 5 nights. Then we towed over to Polk City for a couple more nights for the Sun and Fun Airshow. We stayed at a friend's yard (literally) on the way down and dry camped on the way back in a travel plaza.

Was it cheaper than hotels? No, but wasn't excessively more. Campgrounds are fairly cheap... Typically 35-42 a night for full hookups (water, electric, sewer). So that part is cheaper. Fort Wilderness Campground was $120 per night during that period of the year. Expensive as fuck for a campground but you are also paying in part for the experience there. Gas obviously was the expensive part. I think I went through $700 in gas total.

The biggest benefit for us was that we had a fridge and freezer in the camper so that cut down on eating expenses and we didn't have to get sick of eating out morning, noon, and night. That saved some money. The other benefit was we packed clothes for two weeks and never had to hit a laundry and take the time to do that cleaning. On top of that we never had to drag suit cases and shit in and out of multiple hotels.

Now... a 30 footer isn't exactly small but there are plenty of people out there pulling 34 footers and up with a 1/2 ton - Something I just refuse to do without moving to at least a 3/4 ton. The 30 is big enough and gives me more choices for campsites that will fit it.

I grew up camping and vacationing via camper, so this is all normal to me. My parents retired and spent 20 years driving a motor home around the country. That won't be me... I think. I have too many other hobbies I want to enjoy in retirement that I can't if I'm away from home six months out of the year.

Well that all makes sense. When you said trailer I thought in terms of something you use to move some furniture or similar. You know, the older I get the more the camper/ caravan thing starts to appeal.

Years of tent camping under my belt...I don't think less of myself for Glamping now.

Let's face it - we are getting soft.

I still get hard man.

Tesla should make a trailer with the same 100kwh battery pack as the floor. That would make up for range problems and the fact that you can't put a cargo box on top of the X.

They should make a trailer that is just a Tesla chassis with a cargo box instead of a car body. A battery and four motorized wheels, with an umbilical connection to the car for instructions on when to apply brakes, etc. Sure, it would be expensive. But it would also be cool as fuck.

Thats a pretty good idea, but its added weight that reduces your towing capacity, but its better than nothing

Eh..but that 100kWh battery weighs a good bit as well. Your range would be higher at the expense of some of your towing capability and the charging would take forever.

Use two superchargers at the same time. How would that take forever?