Charging at RV sites

[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.

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[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.

 

[Maineiac12]

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.

I’ll have to check that out! I never thought to look under the access tile.

And just so everyone reading knows - silent mode is only available via FORScan changes. You’re not going to find it on a stock truck. I have it enabled on mine.

 

[Firn]

I love the truck but I am frustrated in its RV ability. I'm going a relatively short distance from home (<2hr drive) and already have to put a 30 minute charge session in there, and thats if I'm the slowest car on the highway. Then, I hope I can charge at the campsite, otherwise I need to use the 60kw charger at an isolated dealership 20 min away, or drive 35 minutes for a 150kw, just so I can use the truck during the week we are there.

 

[Maineiac12]

I love the truck but I am frustrated in its RV ability. I'm going a relatively short distance from home (<2hr drive) and already have to put a 30 minute charge session in there, and thats if I'm the slowest car on the highway. Then, I hope I can charge at the campsite, otherwise I need to use the 60kw charger at an isolated dealership 20 min away, or drive 35 minutes for a 150kw, just so I can use the truck during the week we are there.

If you’re staying for a week you’ll have no issues. You can always use level 1 charging from your own camper or the post and get topped up easily during that time.

The needing to stop after 100 miles to stop and charge does suck, but is manageable if you don’t do it often. Hopefully the EREV will solve this in the future.

 

[user-name-required]

I love the truck but I am frustrated in its RV ability. I'm going a relatively short distance from home (<2hr drive) and already have to put a 30 minute charge session in there, and thats if I'm the slowest car on the highway. Then, I hope I can charge at the campsite, otherwise I need to use the 60kw charger at an isolated dealership 20 min away, or drive 35 minutes for a 150kw, just so I can use the truck during the week we are there.

How far are you towing in the <2 hour time? Speed does really matter a ton, driving 55-60mph is way, way more efficient than 65-75 mph.

As @Maineiac12 said if you're there for a week you should be more than fine, I wouldn't waste time driving 35mins to a DCFC or 20 mins to a slower one.

We can stretch it to about 120-130 miles of 19' full width/height RV towing through BC mountains, but yes a bit more towing range would be very appreciated. Something between the battery size of the ER lightning and the Silverado would be a sweet spot.

I don't want to haul around 230kwh of batteries all the time, but maybe 150-160 usable would be that sweet spot of being able to tow that extra 50 miles/80kms or so.

 

[hturnerfamily]

...I'm not sure what the term "RV ability" means, but we've always ENJOYED the Lightning and it's capabilities in the RVing world... especially since we now no longer have to rely on campgrounds for electricity. We park anywhere, and already HAVE our electricity.

or we use any electricity available to charge the truck, and use the truck to power the camper. etc.

the easiest scenario is at 'full hookup' campgrounds and RV parks and the like with the 'full' set of power outlets: 240v 50amp, 120v 30amp, and 120v 20amp... you then have all the options you wish.

as for the 'towing' equation, our PRO SR with 98kwh usable power for about 120 miles works just fine, but planning and conservative speeds are paramount. It's especially nice with the advent of the rapidly growing DCFC infrastructure, with places like Pilot truck stops, Walmart, and especially Superchargers.

 

[hturnerfamily]

as to the concerns of campgrounds and their 'electricity', I find that the talk about how most or many are somehow not properly wired, is way overblown, and, factually incorrect.

I don't own a campground or RV park, but we've overnighted at HUNDREDS in the last 10 years, all across this great country, Canada, and Alaska. I have seen practically EVERY type of setup, and while, yes, there might be a small home-owned 'campground' where the brother-in-law was the appointed 'electrician', I've found that, without fail, there has been one single situation, in the wilds of Alaska, where wiring and breakers were not designed and deployed as you would expect. One.
Yes, the brother-in-law.

There is no 'cheating'... campgrounds and RV parks are not 'excepted' from local rules, ordinances, codes, or electrical requirements. Just like in your older homes, though, if the owners aren't updating or remodeling, they may look like they haven't been maintained in years.

There is no 'sharing' between sites: If you have a 20amp breaker, you have 20amps. If you have a 50amp breaker, you have 50amps at 240v(and that's akin to 100amps of 120volts), etc. Many may assume that since a breaker trips something is 'wrong', but it is doing EXACTLY as it is designed, to protect the wiring. You can imagine, though, that the daily flipping of breakers at campsites can prematurely wear them... meaning that they may start to trip at lower amperages, due to their weakness.
A story to go along with that was when we arrived at a 30amp campsite on a hot summer day... normally able to run both roof air conditioners on 30amps, and successfully many times, this breaker, though, tripped too easily. I caught the maintenance man driving by, and asked him to replace the breaker. He balked and said that 'nobody' could run two air conditioners on 30amps...but, I insisted, nicely. His jaw dropped when he replaced the breaker, and both a/c's ran without fail.

There IS sharing, though, at the Main Panels, meaning that some large panels located at locations throughout the campground each handle 'some' of the various sites, such as numbers 10 - 15, or 5 sites. If each site has 30amp only, they will likely all be handled by a single 100amp Main Breaker, since the sites are 120v, but the main panel is at 240 120v.. which is akin to 200amps at 120v. Still, even then, each site also has it's own breaker WITHIN this Main panel. It's also highly unlikely that EVERY site, simultaneously, will be using their MAXIMUM 30amps at the same time..regardless - that's generally not an issue.
Can a voltage drop from the utility cause excess Amperage? Yes, but that is also rare.

I find that campgrounds or RV parks or the like are not a problem - if you use too much, the breaker trips - that's your sign to lower your AMPERAGE - turn off the a/c while running the microwave, or lower your adjustable EVSE.

I will also admit, though, that Very Few owners or maintenance folks truly understand electricity, or how it works within their own property.

 

[Firn]

How far are you towing in the <2 hour time? Speed does really matter a ton, driving 55-60mph is way, way more efficient than 65-75 mph.

As @Maineiac12 said if you're there for a week you should be more than fine, I wouldn't waste time driving 35mins to a DCFC or 20 mins to a slower one.

We can stretch it to about 120-130 miles of 19' full width/height RV towing through BC mountains, but yes a bit more towing range would be very appreciated. Something between the battery size of the ER lightning and the Silverado would be a sweet spot.

I don't want to haul around 230kwh of batteries all the time, but maybe 150-160 usable would be that sweet spot of being able to tow that extra 50 miles/80kms or so.

70mph highway most of the way there and much of that charging is so i can arrive with enough charge to use the truck and/or get to a charger. Total drive is only about 120 miles.

I would prefer to not waste the time either, but if it's the only way to get a charge that is what I will need to do.

 

[brirr76]

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.

I also did not know this! I was another person doing the duct tape.

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