Charging at RV sites

[Firn]

Finally looking to get out with our RV and I'm wondering what everyone's experiance with charging at the camp sites have been?

Allowed or banned at the sites? Any luck talking to the owners/managers?

Luck with chargers, pedestals, charging at lower rates?

Chargers around the location we will be at are fairly sparse. Pretty sure simply using the mobile charger on 110v would cover us but 10a at 220v would be a lot better. Won't need a lot, but do want to top off before heading home, and to cover the various day trips.

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[lslick23]

I always dial it down to 24a and have never had a problem.

 

[halfbakedenchilada]

I've done it three times, most recently at a state campground in Utah, never had a problem. At this site in Utah I saw 2-3 other EVs doing the same thing. I imagine it's becoming more common ... but probably wouldn't hurt to call ahead if possible, especially if you don't have DCFCs close by.

 

[hturnerfamily]

Charged at RV parks and campgrounds many times, sometimes using two 30amp 120v outlets to create 240v 30amp with an adapter, even... never concerned about whether anyone would care or not, it's my site... but, if you don't 'announce' it loudly, likely no one will care, or even know.

Many times I've plugged my truck's EVSE into the 240v 50amp Campground outlet, and powered my camper from the truck. Sometimes I've used both the 50amp outlet for the truck, and the separate 30amp outlet for the camper... and well, for those campsites where there is only 30amp power, meaning the slower 120v speed, I would charge the truck with the 120v EVSE, while powering the camper from the truck, or vice versa...although it's generally harder to pull off the later, since plugging your 120v EVSE into the camper's electrical system would certainly limit other usage, or quickly trip the breaker, etc.

Campgrounds, and even RV parks, are not standardized...meaning, you will find a varied electrical outlet offering depending on where you land - some have NONE, some have only a 120v household outlet, though generally 20amp, and GFCI, some have 120v 30amp, and 20amp, and still others, thankfully, have the full gamut : 50amp(240v), 30amp, and 20amp.

 

[jobofly79]

I just did a YouTube video about this. I charge at every campsite I go to. I get 6.5kw/h when using my ford mobile charge.

 

[CD4TNF]

I've done RV site charging. I use a J+ Booster.
https://jplusbooster.com/

Benefits:

Swapable adapters (TT-30 and NEMA 14-50)
Downrate the amps with a press of a button

I downrate to be considerate of the campsite grid. If things look ok, then I'll ramp it up as needed.


There's this website that was making a list of campsites that allow EV charging.
https://campandcharge.com/

 

[21st Century Truck]

We have NEMA 14-50 charged at 240V at many state parks, and at many military RV camp sites (all four services) and at a Corps of Engineers dam RV camp on the upper Missouri in South Dakota, and at National Forest sites (the electric pedestals in National Forests are rarer but they do exist). I frankly avoid the KOA-type RV camps... not my cup of tea.

Only at one state RV site, with a late arrival after dark, did we find a 240V pedestal damaged enough to be faulty... and that's out of 100+ times at such sites.

I use the Ford OEM 32 amp EVSE until it breaks, as these eventually do seem to break down. My alternate GO-TO is the old EVSEUpgrade variable-amperage (its max is 20 amps) and auto-switching voltage EVSE with an L6-30 whip, to which I have multiple accessory plugs. If ever in doubt about a 240V circuit's amperage, I use this old EVSE.

Between these two EVSEs, it's been a nearly faultless camping & refueling adventure over the years. With the EVSEUpgrade unit I've charged at welder's 240V receptacles and at HVAC 240V receptacles as well on our trips. Every town and village in the most remote areas seems to have a welding shop around. When in need, they do come in handy, and the operators are always willing to lend a hand for a small user payment of sometimes just for free.

 

[Jseis]

We have two RV parks within our port ops area. Both had ancient 30 amp systems 40 years old with bad wiring/junction boxes “under ground “ cable that isn’t. When we took them over, my crew spent serious $$$ upgrading the RV parks. Wiring, utility cabinets, water line & waste line service (45 units). Here’s the kicker, with full shower, bathrooms, laundromat, boat launch, fire rings, firewood, certified public water, waterfront sites… the daily summer rate for similar sites is $72 per day June-September. As our power is $.064/kWH…. A 100 amp charge is cheap by itself. Pull into a tent site ($25)… no power. But our manager is chill..

Our two 19 kwh ChargePoint dual port chargers (Tesla/Nacs) located adjacent to a main highway are $.28 per kWh and that charge rate ($.25/$.28 per kWh) is pretty typical for that type of charger. We would’ve added in DCFC except for new service extension/transformer costs and… standby charges…are $$$$.

 

[djryan13]

Make sure your EVSE or truck can dial down the amperage. My 23 doesn’t have the ability so I got a Wolfbox adjustable that works great.

sometimes you encounter old/worn electrical that can’t handle full power rating.

if Ford allowed 30amp TT charging at 24amp, the truck would be so much better. I stick with 50 amp sites if driving far from home.

best sites have 50 for the truck and 30 for my camper. Happy times

 

[jpatt2020]

Definitely dial the current down...no more than 30A. 24A preferred. Especially at older campsites with aging electrical systems. If you start causing electrical issues at the campground, they will start banning charging!

 

[srspring551]

I just did a YouTube video about this. I charge at every campsite I go to. I get 6.5kw/h when using my ford mobile charge.

Not sure which video that is in... got a specific video YT link? Thx

 

[johaanryberg]

We've charged many times. No issues ever with management. Just be ready to get creative with your adapters (50 amp, 30 amp, even a 110).

 

[Firebelly]

We just finished a 70 day trip. Only 2 campsites out of 20+ did not let us charge. The first one was a private campground and when we got there, we saw why - their entire electrical system was shaky. Wires sticking out everywhere, some pedestals didn't work, extension cords running from site to site. The second was a state park and rules clearly stated no EV charging, so we didn't charge there. In both cases, it was clearly stated in the rules - so if you read the rules then you should be able to tell ahead of time.

If they were to give you any grief, you could try to point out that electrical systems are designed to handle AC loads. An RV with 2 AC will draw about 240V / 12A, and with 3 ACs, 240V / 18A. So you might say that you will charge at less than 18A, and only at night, when the AC is not working as hard. You could also say you can see the kWh in the Ford app, and offer to pay them for the juice. Still be a lot cheaper and more convenient than a public charger.

An adjustable current EVSE is mandatory. Here's one https://www.amazon.com/Plug-Play-Connector-Waterproof-Adjustable-Electric/dp/B0DSJD5ZQG/?th=1

You'll also want an extension. This is for the case where the pedestal is at the back of the RV https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CB277RGB?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_3&th=1

Finally, you may want a Y. This is so you can plug the truck and the camper at the same time. For a while, I would plug in the truck, and then plug the camper into the truck. That worked fine, but was a bit of a hassle to set up every night, and I had to leave the hard tonneau cover cracked open, which was OK except when it was raining. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQC24BC3?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1

Since then I added a 240V L14-30 to the rear bumper. The main point of this is so that I can plug in the camper while we're driving. We travel with pets, and when we go down south in the summer, we don't want them to fry. I wrote up the build here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/...EHSdljp20/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.w3h6lipgn6se

 

[djryan13]

Which State Park doesn’t allow it at campsites? That seems insane… I would make sure I charged only in the dark of night in that case…

 

[SomeStupidDriver]

I've charged at texas state parks in the RV site and never had a problem, but I do lower it to 24a.

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