What do you mean? All EVs, including the E-Transit this RV is based on, have heat and AC. People are already camping in vehicles like the Model Y, leaving the climate control on all night.
There's also typically ventilation to reduce moisture/condensation build-up in cold climates. Even with heat-exchange air circulation, the incoming air does require additional heating.
So, yes, this is a legitimate concern.
Bigger issue is the current range limit of 108 miles. Not really sure why they bothered to design an interior before solving that minor issue.
This van had a 48v house battery that ran air conditioner and inverter and some DC-DC converters for step down from 400v traction battery to 48v house to 12v systems, they had the electrical system layed out on a board which was interesting. Most RV systems are 12v or 120v at this point in the US.
If that’s 108 highway miles, it would cover about 80% of my RV trips. Even when I go on a long trip, I usually don’t drive much more than 200 miles in a day, so with a charge stop in the middle, this could work even for a long trip. Assuming, of course, that I can find a DC fast charger so a charge stop is 45 minutes and not 8 hours.
But RV parks will need time to prepare and put in metered chargers, since most aren’t going to be able to handle many eRVs charging at 240v/50a all night long, many already have trouble keeping up with AC loads on a hot day.
And also, as you say, they will usually be on power (also because they’ll want to charge up for their next leg, which solar will not be sufficient for) so I’m twice over not seeing a reason for concern here.
Most vans max out around 3kWth. I have seen people use a used Tesla battery, but only have seen one report.
Running that heater for 24 hours a day would take 12kWh - or about 1/6 of the battery in an electric van.
That seems feasible to me. Sure, it's a bit annoying - you have to charge more often - but you could get through a couple of days off grid.
There is no reason they could be more advanced with lower temperature support, they would just cost more. Many people put mini splits when making their own RV's because they work better and want to run off battery as much as possible.
12 kilowatt hours of battery is close 10 $10K in cost and takes 6 feet by 6 feet area and weighs 200lb.
Whatever you may think, in RV world:
1. Heat only can be done with gas/diesel/propane 2. AC consistently only on shore power 3. Cooking on propane 4. You will still be not living consistently in cold areas (like the Rockies) or warm areas (like FL). 5. Most of those long term rviers just hang on campgrounds for the electric power reasons (and sewer hookup).
So, electric RV is a dumb idea and will never be here.
Anyway, a lower end Tesla can be bought for around 40-50K. It comes with 60kwh of battery and they make a nice profit on them and you are obviously buying a whole car, not just the battery. So your battery cost argument is simply wrong
Cost of batteries actually dropped below 100$/kwh probably quite some time ago for them. So the cost for 100kwh battery would be less than 10K at this point. You are off by an order of magnitude.
These are not light vehicles obviously. But an RV is way bigger than a Tesla and you could probably easily fit 200kwh of batteries in there. Or more. Which is nice for range but overkill for just running the AC or heating. People drive EVs in the arctic circle in Norway. -18C is a nice warm winter day over there. You'd want the heating on, obviously. This is not a problem. It's a solved problem.
The new tesla semi probably has close to a mwh. I think the F150 has 130 kwh and you can run your house on it for days.
Most electric vans have around 60-70 kwh. Which is pretty modest and enough for a modest range. And yet it's plenty for a recreational vehicle although a bit limiting in range probably. If you are going out camping in extreme conditions, you might want a bigger battery than that. But otherwise, it's completely fine for recreational use for normal people as is.
Electric RV, you just can't, sorry.
And you plug your van in when you get there.
If you're the type to boondock you have solar panels, extra solar panels and a generator.