B177y
Well-known member
- First Name
- Bill
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2024
- Threads
- 16
- Messages
- 778
- Reaction score
- 1,072
- Location
- Olympic Peninsula, WA
- Vehicles
- '24 Pro SSV ER Max Tow, '23 MME Premium, '20 Bolt
- Thread starter
- #1
Last weekend I towed my 24 foot travel trailer with my 2024 Pro ER Max-Tow to camp at a youth soccer tournament in Burlington, WA. The route was from Sequim, WA to the Port Townsend - Coupeville ferry, then to Burlington.
Since Western Washington has lots of peninsulas, islands, and other water/landscape features that make travel slightly difficult, I opted to use the ferry system to save time and miles. Taking the ferry eliminates having to make a charging stop somewhere in the Seattle metro area, which would be a nightmare while towing. For this case, the approximately $130 ferry crossing due to the size and weight of the truck and trailer is money well spent. Driving to Port Townsend and Coupeville to Burlington involves lots of great scenery and easy highway driving as well.
Charged to 100% at home and arrived at the soccer field with approximately 45%. I towed with all tanks empty and filled the water tank when we arrived at the field at a designated spigot. After filling and setting up the trailer, we drove to get some groceries for the weekend and charged at a local Tesla charger to 80% (trouble free charging experience as is usual for Tesla). On returning to the field/camp site, I used the 240 volt 30 amp twist plug of pro-power and through a couple of converters and cords, used pro-power to supply the trailer's 120 volt 30 amp system for 3 days using only one "side" of the 240 volt supply. I have a 120 volt refrigerator in the trailer as well as a microwave oven. We also used the power for the hot water heater to supply the sinks and shower. It also ran the trailer's 12 volt converter and charger for three days which runs the lights, water pump, awning, and slide-out. Of course, phones were charged using 120 and 12 volt usb chargers too.
Here's the view after setting up my trailer. The empty spot to the rear filled with a motor home so I ran the power cord along the white line to the left. After everyone arrived, all of these spots were filled two or three deep with trailers, campers, motorhomes, pop-up canopies, etc... Soccer family mayhem but it's loads of fun.
Pro power ran Thursday afternoon - Saturday night uninterrupted. I drove back to the Tesla charger a few miles away in Burlington again on Saturday night in preparation to tow back home on Sunday afternoon. That charge went from 59% - 92%, since I wanted at least 90% for the Sunday drive home. Roughly 80% down to 60% while running the Pro Power for 48 hours which allowed "camping" to basically be like living at home. I originally planned to use the air conditioning as the weather at this tournament is usually hot and sunny, but this year it was cool to cold and rain on and off for all 4 days. I actually ran the propane heater one morning for about 10 minutes to drive out the morning cold.
Saturday afternoon had a nice sunny weather window and my son's team joined us at the campsite for a team BBQ of burgers, hot dogs, and plenty of Gatorade and water to rehydrate after a tough game (1-1 draw).
Son's team made a good showing in a tight bracket but did not make the top two to advance to the final's match. My daughter's team went undefeated and won their finals game, so she got the medal and podium.
After breaking down the campsite on Sunday after the final game, we dumped the trailer tanks at a nearby RV dump station provided by the Lions Club charities (thank you Lions!) and made our way back to the Coupeville ferry for the ride back to Port Townsend. Low and behold, there's another Lightning pulling a horse trailer heading home from a weekend trip with his family. We both got loaded first in the front of the ferry. We rolled our windows down and gave the thumbs up to each other. The other driver greeted me with a jovial "These trucks can't do anything!"
We chatted a little, but I needed a restroom and food break and by the time I got back, the other driver and his family had dispersed in the ferry as well. They also worked to keep their unhappy horse calm during the ferry ride, so there wasn't much time to actually chat. We both snapped quick pics of our rigs on the ferry though. Here's my picture... I had to use the wide mode to actually capture both of the trucks and trailers so it's a little distorted.
Overall, great weekend at a great tournament! Having Pro-Power available to power the trailer has totally spoiled me and the family. Instead of needing a generator to power up during the day, I can silently stay powered 24/7 as long as a DCFC is reasonably accessible nearby. Pro-Power used about 10% per day. I originally planned to power my trailer and a friend's trailer, but by the time they arrived, the spots next to me had been filled so I couldn't make it happen. Even if I had needed to run the trailer air conditioning during the day, there was more than enough capacity in the battery to easily power for the 3-day tournament.
I haven't yet taken a trip with the Lightning and trailer where I needed to DCFC while towing, I keep wanting to and have planned some trips, but ultimately due to a lack of available time I have either stayed in hotels or "campground cabins". The charging network, especially here in WA is getting to the point that even if towing, DCFC are spaced appropriately to get to some great rural spots.
Since Western Washington has lots of peninsulas, islands, and other water/landscape features that make travel slightly difficult, I opted to use the ferry system to save time and miles. Taking the ferry eliminates having to make a charging stop somewhere in the Seattle metro area, which would be a nightmare while towing. For this case, the approximately $130 ferry crossing due to the size and weight of the truck and trailer is money well spent. Driving to Port Townsend and Coupeville to Burlington involves lots of great scenery and easy highway driving as well.
Charged to 100% at home and arrived at the soccer field with approximately 45%. I towed with all tanks empty and filled the water tank when we arrived at the field at a designated spigot. After filling and setting up the trailer, we drove to get some groceries for the weekend and charged at a local Tesla charger to 80% (trouble free charging experience as is usual for Tesla). On returning to the field/camp site, I used the 240 volt 30 amp twist plug of pro-power and through a couple of converters and cords, used pro-power to supply the trailer's 120 volt 30 amp system for 3 days using only one "side" of the 240 volt supply. I have a 120 volt refrigerator in the trailer as well as a microwave oven. We also used the power for the hot water heater to supply the sinks and shower. It also ran the trailer's 12 volt converter and charger for three days which runs the lights, water pump, awning, and slide-out. Of course, phones were charged using 120 and 12 volt usb chargers too.
Here's the view after setting up my trailer. The empty spot to the rear filled with a motor home so I ran the power cord along the white line to the left. After everyone arrived, all of these spots were filled two or three deep with trailers, campers, motorhomes, pop-up canopies, etc... Soccer family mayhem but it's loads of fun.
Pro power ran Thursday afternoon - Saturday night uninterrupted. I drove back to the Tesla charger a few miles away in Burlington again on Saturday night in preparation to tow back home on Sunday afternoon. That charge went from 59% - 92%, since I wanted at least 90% for the Sunday drive home. Roughly 80% down to 60% while running the Pro Power for 48 hours which allowed "camping" to basically be like living at home. I originally planned to use the air conditioning as the weather at this tournament is usually hot and sunny, but this year it was cool to cold and rain on and off for all 4 days. I actually ran the propane heater one morning for about 10 minutes to drive out the morning cold.
Saturday afternoon had a nice sunny weather window and my son's team joined us at the campsite for a team BBQ of burgers, hot dogs, and plenty of Gatorade and water to rehydrate after a tough game (1-1 draw).
Son's team made a good showing in a tight bracket but did not make the top two to advance to the final's match. My daughter's team went undefeated and won their finals game, so she got the medal and podium.
After breaking down the campsite on Sunday after the final game, we dumped the trailer tanks at a nearby RV dump station provided by the Lions Club charities (thank you Lions!) and made our way back to the Coupeville ferry for the ride back to Port Townsend. Low and behold, there's another Lightning pulling a horse trailer heading home from a weekend trip with his family. We both got loaded first in the front of the ferry. We rolled our windows down and gave the thumbs up to each other. The other driver greeted me with a jovial "These trucks can't do anything!"
We chatted a little, but I needed a restroom and food break and by the time I got back, the other driver and his family had dispersed in the ferry as well. They also worked to keep their unhappy horse calm during the ferry ride, so there wasn't much time to actually chat. We both snapped quick pics of our rigs on the ferry though. Here's my picture... I had to use the wide mode to actually capture both of the trucks and trailers so it's a little distorted.
Overall, great weekend at a great tournament! Having Pro-Power available to power the trailer has totally spoiled me and the family. Instead of needing a generator to power up during the day, I can silently stay powered 24/7 as long as a DCFC is reasonably accessible nearby. Pro-Power used about 10% per day. I originally planned to power my trailer and a friend's trailer, but by the time they arrived, the spots next to me had been filled so I couldn't make it happen. Even if I had needed to run the trailer air conditioning during the day, there was more than enough capacity in the battery to easily power for the 3-day tournament.
I haven't yet taken a trip with the Lightning and trailer where I needed to DCFC while towing, I keep wanting to and have planned some trips, but ultimately due to a lack of available time I have either stayed in hotels or "campground cabins". The charging network, especially here in WA is getting to the point that even if towing, DCFC are spaced appropriately to get to some great rural spots.
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