Tracking
We’re developing a dashboard to describe some of the things we are doing. Here is what we have so far.
[Last update = January 2, 2025]
1. Our progress toward being all-electric:
We started with diesel for powering the truck and propane for a percentage of cooking, heating (hot water and air), refrigeration, and sometimes generator power. We are now running all of that on electricity, some of it solar from our roof panels.
As the electric grid gets cleaner, our fossil fuel footprint gets smaller. Our main fossil fuel usage happens when we fly, cruise, and rent ICE (internal combustion engine) cars.
Here is a brief timeline of our conversion to all-electric living:
2. Electricity in:
The amount of electricity used for living in Howie; does not include charging our electric truck.
3. Electricity usage:
A break-out of electricity used in our travel trailer. “EV charging” is Howie solar charging only (not an RV park post or charging stations). “Howie-other” includes cooking and other appliances, lights, fans, charging electronics, and the inverter.
4. Percentage of days we are not plugged in:
Of all of the days in the month, the percent that we are living off-grid without plugging Howie into an external energy source. Note – living space energy only; does not include electric vehicle charging.
5. EV charging sources:
Where electricity comes from for charging our truck. The grid is powered partly on renewables and partly on fossil fuels, hopefully changing for the better every year. The fossil fuel portion is included in the chart below. Some charging stations like Rivian and EVGo are 100% renewable. We’re happy to charge directly from our solar panels on Howie whenever possible, even though it’s a tiny drop in the EV bucket.
6. Miles driven:
The number of miles driven in the Rivian, with and without the travel trailer on tow.
7. EV Efficiency:
Number of miles we drove per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in the Rivian truck. These are rather rough numbers because the total charging energy (used to calculate efficiency while not towing) includes non-driving uses such as AC/heating and battery conditioning, while the kWh used for the towing data is driving only. Real effects on efficiency include driving speed, city vs. highway driving, elevation changes, temperature, wind, and driving style. It’s all distilled down into average numbers, but they provide the basic idea.
8. Fossil fuels:
This is a (very) rough estimate of our fossil fuel usage. Diesel conversion to kWh is based on a bit of research suggesting about 38 kWh per gallon. Gasoline converts to around 33 kWh per gallon. Jet fuel seems to be about 85 mpg per passenger, and 34 kWh per gallon. Grid data is based on % coal/gas/renewable electricity generation in whichever state we’re located at the time.
9. Percent renewable electricity generation in the US:
Across the country, the amount of solar, wind, hydro, nuclear, and geothermal electricity generation compared to total electricity production.
Info to be added…
A variety of possible metrics:
Money spent – Both on this project and on energy purchased.
Weight reduction – Removing stuff, in order to (hopefully) improve the range while towing with an electric truck.
Amount of solar installed – possibly tracking (by # of panels or kW’s) what John installs on other roofs every month.
Carbon cost of solar panels – how much CO2 is generated with the manufacture and shipping of panels, and how long they need to be in use before they break even.
EV truck cost – for all available models.
EV battery lifetime – when this can be quantified.
Solar system cost – prices of panels, charge controllers, inverters, and batteries as they evolve over time.
RV/trailer conversion cost – perhaps getting some commercial quotes for converting to all-electric for anyone not wanting to DIY the project.
Take a tour!
If you’d like to get a first-hand look at what we’re up to, we would love to talk more about it and show you what we have accomplished to date. We are always looking for new ideas and feedback.
We are currently traveling around the Southwestern US. Contact me if you’re interested in seeing our electric trailer/Tug-E setup.