BEV Lessons Learned

Proof of Concept Sailboat Charter

  1. Having your galley, head & berth with you has more impacts and benefits than we anticipated.
  2. Not having to carry your bags in and out of hotels every night is a very good idea.
  3. Self-contained, self-sufficient and energy-independent are good places to be.
  4. A sailboat is the optimum independent world exploration platform, but you still need a way to explore the land masses.
  5. Steph can't handle the open ocean.

 

Proof of Concept Camper Rental

  1. Short is good. Around 24 ft. / 7.3 m is the maximum length that we'd want to drive around the developing world.
  2. No trailer is very good. The thought of having to back a trailer out of a tight spot or narrow village street is not a good scenario.
  3. A fixed bed that we don't have to make up every night and take down every morning is a good idea and a requirement for us.
  4. A "dry head," meaning a separate shower stall and toilet, is another good idea and a requirement for us.
  5. While there is more storage area than you'd expect in something 24 ft / 7.3 m long, we've got waaaay too many containers in the storage space labeled "go rig," meaning the contents is meant for our expedition vehicle.
  6. We are much more interested in dry/wild/remote camping than any type of organized facility.
  7. An additional vehicle is incredibly important for our desired goals. Aside from the ability to make a quick run to the village for bread, etc. we want to have the capability to scout and explore areas that the rig should not or will not go.
  8. North American built RVs are, by and large, junk. Cheap design, materials and construction methods add up to shoddy products. The upside is that the very few brands that build quality products can easily differentiate themselves. The downside is that most RV buyers are only concerned with price, and will travel hundreds of miles to "save" a few hundred dollars (go figure - with fuel prices at record levels...).

 

Vehicle Research

  1. This segment is a niche of a niche of a niche. There are very few offerings and 99% of them are European and very oriented to the typical European Africa tour.
  2. If you are staying in North America, your range of offerings is comparatively broad.
  3. There are very few suitable global chassis available and fewer than a handful available in North America.
  4. It is very possible to explore the world using a two wheel drive platform, as proven by countless people, but for what we tend to do and where we tend to go, 4x4 is a requirement.
  5. Just as every boat is a compromise, every chassis and vehicle is a compromise.

 

Vehicle Design

  1. Weight is the main limiting design parameter. A chassis small enough to fit into the small villages and narrow streets we tend to seek out will not carry all that much weight.
  2. Our requirements for a fixed berth, dry head and the ability to carry a dirt bike puts us into a weight class that is at the high end of any smaller truck chassis.
  3. With a custom house box it would be very easy to design a 4x4 vehicle that could ship in a 40 ft. / 12.2 m. standard or hi-cube shipping container using simple camper jacks or an automated system such as TruckTransformer.
  4. Between marine and heavy truck systems there is nothing you cannot accomplish, from global high speed internet to hyper-effecient power generation. The challenge remains the weight limits of the chassis.
  5. If you add everything you want in the way of systems you will likely end up being pushed into a much larger class of truck. If you are staying on roads, this will not be much of a problem. If you tend to explore and get off the tourist trail, you must think about how you would ever extract that vehicle should it become stuck or disabled. For a large truck chassis your only option may be the local army.

 

Procurement

  1. While it is very challenging to find anyone working at retail in the US with a clue what customer service means or the ability to perform basic arithmetic the world of industrial and professional component supply still has capable, competent, intelligent and articulate people.
  2. In the 80s a project like this was limited to the universe of your library of industrial catalogs. Whatever was in those catalogs was your entire range of possibilities for your project. The internet enables an entirely new, almost unlimited universe of possibilities for a project. A paper catalog remains easier to browse.
  3. Beware imposed timelines. I was under tremendous pressure to procure everything for the project. As a consequence I made very rushed decisions on several components and did not take the time to fully research the possibilities. We ended up with just about everything sitting for months waiting to be installed.
  4. Just do it. If you wait until you know everything about everything you will never get started, much less done. There will be procurement errors. You will buy things that don't make the final assembly. You will buy things that don't fit or won't work. There will be unused items and returns. But, you will have a finished project in your lifetime.
  5. Keep accurate records. Keep a running journal or log of your orders, the vendor, the manufacturer, the part & model numbers, the quantities, the order date, the ship date, the shipper, the tracking number, etc.
  6. Be meticulous about receiving. Check each item against the packing slip and the order. Be careful about checking the part number of what you received versus what you ordered. Clearly label  the outside of the box on two sides and keep everything received in a specific area.
  7. Test. Test items as they arrive. Don't wait until assembly, which may be weeks or months later, to test. Test all functionality under all pressures, voltages, etc. It is a real bummer to discover that every water valve has a pinhole in the valve body. Especially after you've designed and built the entire water system around those valves. And installed the components. Don't ask me how I know this.

 

Construction

  1. Custom work takes forever. If you look at it and think "this will take an hour, maybe two," it will take a day, maybe two. Everything takes a lot of time and you often do things two and three times to get it right. Plan appropriately.
  2. Quality takes time. If you are going to do this right it will take you and your subcontractors time to deliver that quality. You'll probably only build this once, so make it a worthwhile effort.
  3. Standardize on connectors. One of the biggest mistakes made on this project was wholesale abandonment of the design requirement to use only metric connectors. As it is, I have to carry two complete sets of heavy tools, plus a good supply of US hardware, also very heavy.
  4. Testing is good. One of the best things we did on the project was repeated testing and weigh-ins throughout the build process. Every test and weigh-in produced design and materials changes. Test systems and the vehicle early and often.
  5. If you have a good work space, use it. You'll probably never have as nice a place to work on the rig as you do in that clean, dry, warm, well lighted shop fully equipped with tools and equipment. Don't let your lust to get on the road get the better of you. It will never be easier to do something than it will be in that shop.
  6. Use quality materials. Use them properly, as they were designed to be used. Use adequate amounts. Scrimping during construction will lead to many challenges later.
  7. Pace yourself. This is a marathon, not a sprint. As you get to the point where you think "if I just push hard for a week or two, it will be done," you are probably still a month or two from completion. Burning yourself out will not help the project or get you to the finish line.
  8. Take lots of pictures. You will need them later when you are trying to remember how you did something.
  9. Document everything, especially wiring. You will not remember how you did things after a few weeks, much less months or years.