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Old 02-24-2018, 12:34 AM   #12
Chance
Senior Member
 
Brand: Still Looking
State: Texas
Posts: 6,187
THOR #2121
It's already happening. Many Class B motorhomes are eliminating the conventional (Onan) generator and installing a dedicated 2nd engine-driven alternator to charge a high-capacity battery bank. It makes a lot of sense, even for Class Bs which are just as likely to be used for dry camping, if not more so.

I personally think elimination of generator will be much more common when a couple of technologies become more common and/or affordable.

Second dedicated after-market alternators are very expensive, and are limited in capacity for the most part due to 12-Volt system. However, as original equipment manufacturers start to add 48-Volt alternators, with capacities up to 20 kW, it will be much more affordable to get rid of the 4kW or 5.5 kW Onan.

Cost of lithium batteries need to drop a little more also at retail. At $300 per kWh it will be very affordable to have 10 kWh of battery, enough to run a bedroom air conditioner all night. Even with two A/Cs running simultaneously, an RV engine would have to run less than 1 hour to charge the battery bank which is less wasteful than running a generator all night.

While somewhat common on Class Bs today, I expect we will see similar systems on As and Cs to start showing up before too long.

For what it's worth, if Ford makes a second alternator or alternator bracket an option on the new V8 that will replace the V10, I think the process will be much faster. Batteries and inverters don't scare RV manufacturers as much as having to modify the engine. Having a 200-Amp X 56-Volt (or similar) from chassis OEM at a reasonable cost would make getting rid of the Onan an easy decision in my opinion.
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