How to Charge when Towing

[Fuego14]

Hi,
I’m new to the forum. I recently purchased an F150 Lightning and have a 18’ travel trailer. What is the best way to charge when I’m traveling. Do I have to uncouple the trailer at every charging station or are there any tips and tricks to charging with a trailer.
Thank You

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[Yellow Buddy]

Hi,
I’m new to the forum. I recently purchased an F150 Lightning and have a 18’ travel trailer. What is the best way to charge when I’m traveling. Do I have to uncouple the trailer at every charging station or are there any tips and tricks to charging with a trailer.
Thank You

No you don’t have to.

1) If you find pull through spots, these are the perfect solution. Flying J, Pilot will often have these.

2) In the absence of a pull through spots, find something that’s open and accessible - not as much of a concern with a 18’ but it helps.

3) I have often been able to get away with being a jerk (ie, covering multiple spots) When I do this I always make sure:
- At least 1 other charger is accessible.
- Traffic can get around me safely still
- I do not leave the truck, if that 1 other charger is taken, it’s time for me to move.

4) I avoid as many malls and shopping centers as I possibly can. The more inconvenient a charger seems, the better it is. The less known of a brand, the better it is.

Worst case, yes I unhook. I’ve had to do that exactly 1 time in 8 years of towing with an EV…

 

[Ragman]

All the above from Yellow, also use an App that shows how busy your next stop is - ie Tesla - if it shows 10/12 in use vs a 2/8 go to the less busy one.

Don’t hesitate to unhook though, odds are you can drop trailer, pull straight into a stall, and then back right under hitch. If it has an electric jack talking 60 seconds to unhook and another 60 to hook back up.

Inconvenient sure, but you’ll spend longer trying to maneuver and less frustration.

 

[B177y]

Use an app like ABRP and/or Plugshare where you can toggle a filter to "Prefer trailer-friendly" for the charger choice. They also usually have user submitted pictures that you can examine while planning to get a better idea.

Most of the newer Tesla chargers in my area have a pull-through spot or a pull-up spot that works well for trailering. I have seen a few Cybertrucks using the pull-throughs while pulling travel trailers. I used a pull-up spot where the Tesla stand was on the driver side and aligned perfectly with my charge port while I was towing my 26 foot TT. It was easy to back out a little and make a U-turn to leave. There are all sorts of creative options out there. Most EA chargers that I have used seem less convenient for charging while towing, especially the Wal-Mart locations. The good thing about the Wally World lots is there is usually enough space to drop the trailer if needed.

 

[Dan C]

I always look for the end charger. I have a 23 foot trailer and can mostly get it out of the way if I kind of go in parallel. I have asked and people will trade charges for me if there is another inaccessible one open.

 

[Fuego14]

Thank you. This is very helpful. I’ll make sure I plan my route accordingly. ??

 

[jdmackes]

I've usually had good luck not having to unhook my trailer, but the last trip we had necessitated it. It honestly wasn't as much of a pain in the ass as I thought it would be, only added a couple of minutes to everything and it allowed me to not have to block any of the other chargers/lanes.

 

[Fuego14]

These are some great pointers. I’m so glad I’m a member of this forum. Thank you and I’ll use the ARB app as well.

I've usually had good luck not having to unhook my trailer, but the last trip we had necessitated it. It honestly wasn't as much of a pain in the ass as I thought it would be, only added a couple of minutes to everything and it allowed me to not have to block any of the other chargers/lanes.

thank you, my 18’ trailer is an old vintage 1962, fully restored and easy to uncouple.

 

[user-name-required]

Hi,
I’m new to the forum. I recently purchased an F150 Lightning and have a 18’ travel trailer. What is the best way to charge when I’m traveling. Do I have to uncouple the trailer at every charging station or are there any tips and tricks to charging with a trailer.
Thank You

Some really good suggestions already. I have a 19' class travel trailer, and just did a2,000km round trip 2.5 week camping trip here in BC. Most DCFC sessions, I was able to not have to unhook.


I would add the following, in addition to trying to check apps like ABRP ahead of time:. I have found that some sites that aren't "Trailer friendly" actually are, if you check out the map and site layout ahead of time, and you know you will be hitting it in non-peak times.
1) Map out your route, and see the towns you will need to stop at. I plan about every 175kms to have a charge stop.
2) In those towns, look at the charging options you have, and check them out on Google maps, street view, pics people post at the actual chargers, etc.


By doing the above, I already had a really good lay of the land when I arrived, I knew what direction I was going to pull in, I had a plan for how to approach it to not have to unhook/not block anything, etc.

 

[Fuego14]

Some really good suggestions already. I have a 19' class travel trailer, and just did a2,000km round trip 2.5 week camping trip here in BC. Most DCFC sessions, I was able to not have to unhook.


I would add the following, in addition to trying to check apps like ABRP ahead of time:. I have found that some sites that aren't "Trailer friendly" actually are, if you check out the map and site layout ahead of time, and you know you will be hitting it in non-peak times.
1) Map out your route, and see the towns you will need to stop at. I plan about every 175kms to have a charge stop.
2) In those towns, look at the charging options you have, and check them out on Google maps, street view, pics people post at the actual chargers, etc.


By doing the above, I already had a really good lay of the land when I arrived, I knew what direction I was going to pull in, I had a plan for how to approach it to not have to unhook/not block anything, etc.

Thank you! This is great. I hadn’t integrated checking google maps street view. Fantastic!

 

[user-name-required]

Thank you! This is great. I hadn’t integrated checking google maps street view. Fantastic!

Yea the street view/google maps helped, and then in Google when you click the icon for Tesla Supercharger, or whatever brand of charger it is, often people have posted pics of the site...those are typically the most up to date (i.e. for new locations that aren't yet showing up in satellite or streetview imagery)

So in the image here, I knew that if I looped around the whole parking lot like I did, that I could pull in with the left charging door where I wanted it to be, and I could charge without unhooking. You can see the pics people post in the upper corner, helps a lot. Especially for Tesla sites, Tesla drivers love to take pics of the locations, which is quite helpful.

I also then knew that I had lots of room in the parking lot to maneuver if i needed to drop the trailer, but luckily for us on this trip, that didn't really happen often.

*EDIT* Final piece of advice, truck and trailer takes up 5 standard parking stalls (8' wide x 5 = 40'). So if you are pulling up on a row of say 8-12 tesla chargers, you can plan your parking accordingly so you leave a few stalls still open.

And like others say, stay with the vehicle when you're blocking chargers like this so that you can move quickly if you need to.

Happy camping!

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