Will Oregon Ban Motorhomes

By Darrel Smith

Several of my EV and RV newsletters blared variations of this question over the past few weeks.  As several of my extended family members have suggested I consider retiring the Travel Trailer / Truck combo that brought us from the MidWest to Oregon in favor of a Class B or C motorhome, I was very curious about this.  The truth appears to be yes and no, but my research has opened my newsfeed to an impressive amount of misinformation and disinformation, some of which is quite spectacular in its production quality even if not true.

First the scope of the possible impact;  The California Air Resources Board has published an extensive set of regulations that will increase the percentage of Zero-emissions vehicles that must be included in the sales mix of vehicle manufactures from now through 2035.  For truck chassis that is slated to start in 2025.  Class A, B, and C motor homes which are currently on the road are based on these same chassis, from Class A behemoths to the more subtle class B camper vans.  New RV sales in six states are slated to be impacted; California, New York, Oregon, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Washington.  As written these rules require 7-11%, depending on the Vehicle GVW Group of new vehicle sales starting in 2025 to be zero emission.  These percentages rise to 40-75% by 2035. Over the past week even mainstream media had reported different outcomes of recent attempts from industry representatives to delay the start of these restrictions.  My review of the State of Oregon Department of Environmental Quality made it look like the restrictions were still on, ready to roll in.  My inquiry to a local RV dealer led to no definitive answers, other than to confirm that a number of their Class B offerings would fall within the GVW ranges to be regulated.  It might be amusing to attend one of the upcoming major RV shows to see if the Dealers or Manufacturing reps present have solid knowledge of what legislation is in place and their plans to deal with it.

It appears that at least a few of the major RV manufacturers have prototype programs in place for either full EV or at least hybrid entries to their mix, although launch details are still not widely published that I could find. That said, it becomes likely that at least some of us will be considering an EV for our next RV.  The first question is: “Is the World ready for this”.   There is a level of concern that is getting a bit more attention about the ethical / viability of sourcing and disposal supply chains, but let’s consider that another day.  Basic question is whether today; I could bop over to the coast for a few days, let alone traverse the continent in an ERV.  I spoke with a representative of one of the high end, ultra efficient travel trailer manufacturers, and they assured me that their customers were already logging trips from southern California up the coast into Canada with appropriate EV tow vehicles.  Although that certainly requires frequent charging on the road there are options in place to enable that.  

Some of the commercial RV parks and a few of the State Parks have EV charging stations segregated from the campground.  That sort of works for campers with travel trailers, but it does not seem as acceptable for Motorhome travel.  I stopped to discuss that with the ranger at a State Park in Oregon who drives an EV himself so is familiar with some of the challenges.  Although the emerging policy does not seem to be published on any websites, he was about to apply stickers to the Power Pedestals informing campers that although the pedestals have 50 Amp, 30 Amp and 20 Amp outlets, usage much over 50 Amps would blow the Pedestal circuit.  This would mean that Level 2 charging of the vehicle while simultaneously powering the trailer could easily blow the individual site circuit.  Even more ominous was the news that most of the individual loops of sites within the campground maxed out at 200 Amps.  With no organized coordination of who was likely to draw how much power, it is easy to envision these circuits being blown frequently with a greater mix of Electric Motor Homes on the scene.  Some Utilities are already experiencing something similar when their rates drop and hordes of residential EV chargers kick in.  It seriously overloads local distribution, let alone overall system power availability, forcing more natural gas powered peaker generators into the mix.

So while Motorhomes will not be banned next month there may well be significant disruptions.   Perhaps several of the states involved cave and extend their individual deadlines.  Perhaps the Federal Government steps in to override these state initiatives.  Or perhaps new Motorhome sales are restricted to the few manufacturers able to field at least a few zero emission chassis into their mix.  Since any of these outcomes are at this point possible, I began to busy myself running analysis of the likely ERV options.  I used two distinct scenarios for my study; first a quick trip to one our favorite State Parks on the coast.  That requires either a 150 mile or 250 mile range.  The more extreme test would be a repeat of our 2020 migration from Michigan to Oregon, that would require something between 200 to 250 miles every other day, and more significant storage.  

Thor, Winnebego, and EarthCruiser have prototypes in serious testing.  The Thor entry is a class A hybrid, and the Winnebego based on the Ford E-Transit is limited to 108 mile range.  The EarthCruiser does not have a range announced yet, but it is based on the GMC Hummer which has an EPA range of 329 miles, without the additional weight and aerodynamic drag of the truck bed camper, and is likely toward the overlander / high end of price range.  I am personally hoping for something based on the Brightdrop Zevo 600 chassis, which has the size and range I need, but the only thing I can find so far is  RollAway, which although based on that chassis, is more of an AirBub restriction avoidance tool than available for purchase or general purpose lease option.  

Perhaps on balance it is a good thing that the Recreational vehicle industry is not prepared to meet the state mandates that are in place, because those same states are not prepared to accommodate the results of these policies.  State Parks are not equipped to charge very many ERV motor homes, and the in transit options are still limited.  So perhaps it is best that new motorhome sales are restricted to the midwest states that build most of the motorhomes with those of us on the coasts left to purchase used vehicles for the time being.  It is perhaps overly optimistic to hope that state regulators would consider the full impact of some of these “Green” policies prior to enacting them.