Charging at RV sites

[Maineiac12]

We charge at every campsite we stay at. I typically only plug it in after dark when everyone else's ACs and whatever else isn't drawing current, and then unplug it at ~7am when the kids get up and we start making breakfast.

The main concerns i've heard is that while each site may have a 30a 240v plug or whatever, that the whole system can't handle powering that all the time. So, that's why i only plug in once the campground folks are done their rounds, and once the overall power draw at the whole site is down considerably. Typically, around 10pm is late enough.

I also dangle a shirt or something over the truck charge port so it isn't flashing bright blue all the time, which helps folks not to notice. That, and park in a way so that it isn't super obvious that the truck is charging.


We run the trailer most times from our Ecoflow, so the powered site basically charges the truck up, tops up the ecoflow if solar wasn't enough, and can be a direct load if it's a scorcher and we need AC a ton.

This is exactly how I handle charges at campgrounds. Did it this past weekend.

I always book a 20/30/50 site. 30a to the camper, 50a to the truck using a 15-ft extension and the OEM mobile charger. Wish my 2024 could adjust the charge rate down a little. Would also be nice to have an option to turn off the charge port lights. Maybe someday we’ll get that update?

Sponsored

 

[K6CCC]

A 50A breaker will deliver 50A continuous up until the moment it senses it is overloaded.

Partially true. A 50 amp breaker that is delivering 51 amps will trip in a time measured in HOURS. And that time will vary A LOT depending on several factors - temperature being the largest one. Even at 75 amps, will take a long time to trip. To get a 50 amp breaker to trip in a second will take hundreds of amps. Most people don't realize that it takes this long for an overloaded breaker to trip. Don't believe this, take a look at the time / trip curves for your favorite breaker.

With all this said, I AM NOT recommending planned overload of breakers or more importantly the wiring. As previously said, electrical code specifies 80% of breaker rating for continuous loads such as EV charging.

 

[djryan13]

But we are talking about RV park breakers which tend to trip at below rated amperage….

 

[MidAtlanticLightningClub]

We run the trailer most times from our Ecoflow, so the powered site basically charges the truck up, tops up the ecoflow if solar wasn't enough, and can be a direct load if it's a scorcher and we need AC a ton.

I always book a 20/30/50 site. 30a to the camper, 50a to the truck using a 15-ft extension and the OEM mobile charger. Wish my 2024 could adjust the charge rate down a little.

I book a 20/30/50 site when I can and when I need to charge overnight. If I'll be at a site for several days, a 20/30 will do: 30 for the trailer and charge the truck off the 110/20.

I've had cases where there was only a 50A or the 20/30/50 tower was run off a 50A circuit. In that case the 50A goes to the truck and I run the trailer off the ProPower Onboard.

For the last trip I switched to an adjustable L2 charger. It was so nice to dial the charger back to only as much as I need and avoid stressing the system.

 

[MidAtlanticLightningClub]

But we are talking about RV park breakers which tend to trip at below rated amperage….

That was my thought when I read @K6CCC 's post as well.

 

[K6CCC]

But we are talking about RV park breakers which tend to trip at below rated amperage….

A breaker that is tripping at below it's rating is failed and should be replaced. Does not mean that an RV park actually will do proper maintenance... Off hand I would be more inclined to believe that the RV park is NOT properly wired / breakered. For example a 30 or 40 amp breaker feeding a 50 amp outlet. Or maybe several 50 amp outlets wired to a single 60 amp (for example) breaker.

BTW at my house not long after I bought it, I kept having the 40 amp breaker on my central AC tripping. At one point I had a clamp on amp meter on the wire to the AC and was measuring 27 amps when the 40 amp breaker tripped. I replaced the breaker.

 

[Lightning Rod]

Easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. I have found the general public knows absolutely nothing about EV's and so you might get an easy answer of "no".

Get an EV charger that lets you downgrade the amperage so you don't knock some old timey RV park off the grid.

No one is going to know the difference between an AC running at 4-6kWH vs a EV charging.

 

[Lightning Rod]

We've pulled 3 different camper trailers in 3 years to a State Park with our Lightning. Each time, we plug the RV into the 50A plug and we charge our Lariat with the 30A plug. I always keep several adapters just in case there's different style plugs. Each time, we use our Ford mobile charger and we charge every day while we're camping. We always stay 3 days and we always leave with 100 percent SOC. We love camping and charging with our Lightning.

 

[islandgirl54]

I do exactly the same thing. I plug in the mobile charger to 30 amp plug at our favourite oceanside campsite. Love it!

 

[21st Century Truck]

This is exactly how I handle charges at campgrounds. Did it this past weekend.

I always book a 20/30/50 site. 30a to the camper, 50a to the truck using a 15-ft extension and the OEM mobile charger. Wish my 2024 could adjust the charge rate down a little. Would also be nice to have an option to turn off the charge port lights. Maybe someday we’ll get that update?

FYI - On my 2023 XLT the blue charging ring can be easily turned off via a toggle switch at the Sync screen main panel ACCESS tile. I habitually do this while we're camping when I also turn on the Sync SILENT MODE.

 

[Lightning Rod]

FYI - On my 2023 XLT the blue charging ring can be easily turned off via a toggle switch at the Sync screen main panel ACCESS tile. I habitually do this while we're camping when I also turn on the Sync SILENT MODE.

I didn't know this. I always put duct tape to hide the blue lights around the charge port at night, ha ha. I will check this out. Thanks.

 

[21st Century Truck]

I didn't know this. I always put duct tape to hide the blue lights around the charge port at night, ha ha. I will check this out. Thanks.

it's not in an expected place, like in the VEHICLE tile where the SILENT MODE is. BTW, there's also a tiny "night light" white LED above the charging handle receptacle which will stay on regardless, it's very weak so we don't bother hiding it.

 

[EV Engineer]

Conclusions:
1. Lower the amperage. If you're going to do this the onus is on you as an EV driver to understand the electricity draw and what a site can tolerate. 80% for continuous draw would be 40amp off a 50 amp. Or 24 amp off a 30 amp plug. I agree even that is "pushing" it on an RV site where they may or may not be maintaining the system up to code. If you're truly camping or spending the day you should have plently of hours where 4-6kWH will fill you up.

2. Be mindful of the resources of the site. Try to charge during off hours or even lower amperage during peak hours.


Just a great thread overall. Gets me excited for travel this summer.

"bUt tHe eV tRuCkS cAn'T tOOOWWWW anything!!!!!".

Leaving your driveway with 125 miles of range and leaving a camp site refueled with 125 miles of range actually covers a LOT of American travel. Add in a stop on the way for restrooms / refreshments and you're covering 250 miles.

Sure it's not going to win a cross country cannonball test hauling a 30 ft trailer. ---- but this vehicle is great for what the average American actually does!!!

I LOVE MY TRUCK.

 

[21st Century Truck]

Conclusions:
1. Lower the amperage. If you're going to do this the onus is on you as an EV driver to understand the electricity draw and what a site can tolerate. 80% for continuous draw would be 40amp off a 50 amp. Or 24 amp off a 30 amp plug. I agree even that is "pushing" it on an RV site where they may or may not be maintaining the system up to code. If you're truly camping or spending the day you should have plently of hours where 4-6kWH will fill you up.

2. Be mindful of the resources of the site. Try to charge during off hours or even lower amperage during peak hours.


Just a great thread overall. Gets me excited for travel this summer.

"bUt tHe eV tRuCkS cAn'T tOOOWWWW anything!!!!!".

Leaving your driveway with 125 miles of range and leaving a camp site refueled with 125 miles of range actually covers a LOT of American travel. Add in a stop on the way for restrooms / refreshments and you're covering 250 miles.

Sure it's not going to win a cross country cannonball test hauling a 30 ft trailer. ---- but this vehicle is great for what the average American actually does!!!

I LOVE MY TRUCK.

^^^ YES ^^^

...and some of our trailers are a perfectly good 17 feet

 

[user-name-required]

Conclusions:
1. Lower the amperage. If you're going to do this the onus is on you as an EV driver to understand the electricity draw and what a site can tolerate. 80% for continuous draw would be 40amp off a 50 amp. Or 24 amp off a 30 amp plug. I agree even that is "pushing" it on an RV site where they may or may not be maintaining the system up to code. If you're truly camping or spending the day you should have plently of hours where 4-6kWH will fill you up.

2. Be mindful of the resources of the site. Try to charge during off hours or even lower amperage during peak hours.


Just a great thread overall. Gets me excited for travel this summer.

"bUt tHe eV tRuCkS cAn'T tOOOWWWW anything!!!!!".

Leaving your driveway with 125 miles of range and leaving a camp site refueled with 125 miles of range actually covers a LOT of American travel. Add in a stop on the way for restrooms / refreshments and you're covering 250 miles.

Sure it's not going to win a cross country cannonball test hauling a 30 ft trailer. ---- but this vehicle is great for what the average American actually does!!!

I LOVE MY TRUCK.

I second this, it's basically what I tell everyone that's curious about ev trucks. I saw "if your towing use case is towing a full 8' wide 8' tall RV 500+ kms per day while you're using it, then it's not the best tool for the job. If you're towing under that per day, it's fantastic."

And I'd add to your list:


3: aerodynamics matter more than weight. I tow a 19' full size trailer that's 4500lbs, and towed an (empty) 29' trailer that was 7500lbs, and the difference was very minor since the frontal area was the same.

Sponsored