2026 Edit: Wanting to make cargo vans with generator as a engine

[nakedfrog]

Maybe I could get a electric cargo van that has its giant lithium battery removed and put in a generator.

How much experience do you have working on cars?

 

[Gizmo j]

How much experience do you have working on cars?

None, but maybe this project would GIVE me experience.

 

[nakedfrog]

None, but maybe this project would GIVE me experience.

Just so you know, it would be verging on insanity to take this on as a first project with your level of electrical and mechanical knowledge and no tools or garage.

 

[Gizmo j]

Just so you know, it would be verging on insanity to take this on as a first project with your level of electrical and mechanical knowledge and no tools or garage.

My uncle has a garage and he used to work at autozone.

 

[sdifox]

Just so you know, it would be verging on insanity to take this on as a first project with your level of electrical and mechanical knowledge and no tools or garage.

Op is good at thinking up random ideas that make no sense. That is it.

 

[WelshBloke]

Just so you know, it would be verging on insanity to take this on as a first project with your level of electrical and mechanical knowledge and no tools or garage.

The chances of him actually doing anything to make this happen is slim to zero so the insanity of it is a bit irrelevant really.

 

[Chaotic42]

We might need a new scroll

 

[Ken g6]

I wanted to be able to go off the grid.

IMHO, needing gasoline means you're not off-grid yet.

A generator takes up space too, and fuel for the generator takes space, and a generator is much heavier, and I already told you to just put solar panels on the roof of the van.

I imagine fixed solar panels on an electric van can get you up to 8 miles of range on a sunny summer day, or about 24 laptop-hours. (Meaning 5 laptops would get ~5 hours worth of solar per day.) More if you could tilt the panels, but I wouldn't attempt this:

You'd probably need at least one 2 Kw/KwH power bank (the two units tend to synchronize) to convert the solar into a form the van would take.

 

[WelshBloke]

I like that the "solution" being debated is to solve the problem of Gizmo taking a 5 random homeless people that happen to have gameing laptops but no where to charge them into the outback!

 

[WelshBloke]

And, as far as I know, he doesn't know 5 homeless people with laptops, own a van or generator, know if said imaginary homeless people want to go live in the woods, have a driving license, have the funds to buy van, generator or laptops...

 

[WelshBloke]

This is actually pissing me off now! 😆

 

[WelshBloke]

Also! No internet in the woods!

 

[brianmanahan]

We might need a new scroll

i wonder what jerboy is up to these days

 

[Red Squirrel]

Also! No internet in the woods!

Stick a Starlink antenna on the van.

Actually Starlink has really gone down in price. $70/mo for 100mbps now, that's actually pretty decent considering that's what I pay for 80mbps fibre.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I like that the "solution" being debated is to solve the problem of Gizmo taking a 5 random homeless people that happen to have gameing laptops but no where to charge them into the outback!

That or he hopes coworkers at his construction job will want to hang out there instead of, actually working. Although it would be kinda cool to have an off grid van build that you can stay overnight in if working a construction job at a site that's far from home, but I doubt they would let you do that. Liability and all that crap.

 

[WelshBloke]

i wonder what jerboy is up to these days

View attachment 136964

Where did you find that?!

 

[WelshBloke]

Stick a Starlink antenna on the van.

Actually Starlink has really gone down in price. $70/mo for 100mbps now, that's actually pretty decent considering that's what I pay for 80mbps fibre.

For $70 a month he could pay someone to run an extension lead into their property!

Or he could go the classic route and pay someone to crack open the bottom of a lamp post and steal the electricity from there!

 

[Red Squirrel]

For $70 a month he could pay someone to run an extension lead into their property!

Or he could go the classic route and pay someone to crack open the bottom of a lamp post and steal the electricity from there!

Good point, all you really need for that is a socket set. Free power! Just test it to make sure it's not 240v or higher as some lights run on higher voltages. That's going to ruin your day when you plug in you laptop.

 

[WelshBloke]

Good point, all you really need for that is a socket set. Free power! Just test it to make sure it's not 240v or higher as some lights run on higher voltages. That's going to ruin your day when you plug in you laptop.

All our stuff runs on 240V!

I'll make a note to use a UK power brick if I'm stealing electric from lamp posts in NA!

 

[brianmanahan]

Where did you find that?!

i can't remember which thread, but i saved it for posterity's sake almost 10 years ago when i found it

 

[Gizmo j]

Also! No internet in the woods!

Stick a Starlink antenna on the van.

Actually Starlink has really gone down in price. $70/mo for 100mbps now, that's actually pretty decent considering that's what I pay for 80mbps fibre.

I'm actually considering this.

 

[WelshBloke]

I'm actually considering this.

When you say considering it you mean that's the ChatGPT prompt you're considering using next?

 

[lxskllr]

I might use dialup before I gave Musk money to pollute the skies. That would be a real debate if those were my choices.

 

[Kaido]

I might use dialup before I gave Musk money to pollute the skies. That would be a real debate if those were my choices.

My friend is a professional astronomer & loathes Starlink:

How astronomers cope with all those Starlink satellites.

SpaceX has launched over 7,000 low earth satellites that have disrupted astronomical observations. Another 70,000 LEO satellites are expected to launch before 2031 from SpaceX and its competitors including three 10,000 mega-constellations originating from China. Scientific American explores how...

www.theverge.com

As of this month, SpaceX has over 9,500 Starlink satellites in orbit, holds authorization for 12,000 so far, and has plans for up to 42,000 total. Light pollution is quickly becoming a real issue:

Starlink and Astronomers Are in a Light Pollution Standoff

On one side are astronomers who use ground-based observatories to gather starlight from the depths of the universe. On the other are technologists, military planners and captains of industry who are rapidly cocooning our planet in ever growing swarms of starlight-spoiling satellites. This is...

www.yahoo.com

These multi-exposure images shows streaks from satellites

 

[Red Squirrel]

I figured it would be an issue but did not realize it was THAT bad. Been a while since I took long exposure shots of the sky.