Motorhome manufacturers are finally starting to offer lithium packages at a more affordable price point than some of the first offerings. The Winnebago Travato Class B was one of the first I recall, and it added about $20,000.
A few years later, Coachmen introduced the low-cost Cross Trek Class C (B+) with similar design approach but using a very large 330 Amp-hour AGM battery. We discussed it extensively here, but bottom line is that there was no way to power air conditioner for more than an hour or so unless you had shore power or hauled a portable generator.
More recently Winnebago showed the EKKO Mini Class C (B+), which has one 320 Ah lithium battery standard and option to delete 2.8 kW generator for a second 320 Ah battery, for 640 Ah total. Motorhome comes with 455 Watts solar.
The EKKO is no doubt pricey, but I’m not sure lithium contributes that much (proportionally) to the high cost.
I just saw on MHSRV site that they are advertising new Cross Trek with 800 Ah lithium package and it seems to add just under $9,000. That’s more than the cost of 8 X 100 Ah lithium batteries, but I don’t know what else is included in lithium package. There is 380 Watts of solar as part of another package.
The important part I see is that 800 Ah is about 10 kWh of energy, which is more than the original Travato offered for about $20k. I know it’s not apples-to-apples comparison, but it’s pretty close at about half the price.
Thoughts on when a generator-less motorhome will start making sense for your use?
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