No camping in your car.

[Srad600Volt]

I went to a campground near Big Bear Lake a few weeks back. We had originally planned to take the Model Y and camp out of a tent (Me, Wife and two kids) but for some reason they kept telling us we were not allowed to plug in an electric car. Even though we were willing to pay for an RV space just for the hookup, they would not allow it, stating that "RV spaces were for RV's not electric cars". I cannot imagine why they cared so much, if it's paid for, it's paid for? Either way, we ended up taking the gas car instead, as there are no real charging options up there and we were staying for almost a week. We did see someone with a M3, and an RV , parked in an RV spot. I wonder if the RV was just there for cover as I doubt they pulled that with their M3.

 

[bradtem]

I went to a campground near Big Bear Lake a few weeks back. We had originally planned to take the Model Y and camp out of a tent (Me, Wife and two kids) but for some reason they kept telling us we were not allowed to plug in an electric car. Even though we were willing to pay for an RV space just for the hookup, they would not allow it, stating that "RV spaces were for RV's not electric cars". I cannot imagine why they cared so much, if it's paid for, it's paid for? Either way, we ended up taking the gas car instead, as there are no real charging options up there and we were staying for almost a week. We did see someone with a M3, and an RV , parked in an RV spot. I wonder if the RV was just there for cover as I doubt they pulled that with their M3.

Well, charging an EV will use a lot more electricity than a typical RV. You're going to max out the 50a circuit for most of your stay, an RV won't come close to that. Depending on your car that might be 50kwH to 90KWH in a big model X. Which could cost them a fair bit in some places. 90KWH here in California can be $20. RV Parks probably don't buy ToU electricity because their big demand is during the heat of the day. Your Model Y might still cost $12, compared to a maybe $2 for the typical RV. Well, last week a 50A RV with two air conditioners might draw 3,000 watts with the heat wave. But you will draw 7kw or possibly 10kw all night.

So yeah, they have a reason to differentiate, but mainly the answer should be to charge more. Indeed they should look at the SoC in your car and give you a price, but they won't know enough to do that.

On the plus, you won't use water and sewer, but those don't cost that much. You will use the same amount of land.

 

[Srad600Volt]

Well, charging an EV will use a lot more electricity than a typical RV. You're going to max out the 50a circuit for most of your stay, an RV won't come close to that. Depending on your car that might be 50kwH to 90KWH in a big model X. Which could cost them a fair bit in some places. 90KWH here in California can be $20. RV Parks probably don't buy ToU electricity because their big demand is during the heat of the day. Your Model Y might still cost $12, compared to a maybe $2 for the typical RV. Well, last week a 50A RV with two air conditioners might draw 3,000 watts with the heat wave. But you will draw 7kw or possibly 10kw all night.

So yeah, they have a reason to differentiate, but mainly the answer should be to charge more. Indeed they should look at the SoC in your car and give you a price, but they won't know enough to do that.

On the plus, you won't use water and sewer, but those don't cost that much. You will use the same amount of land.

Everyone who stays at a camping spot will make use of the facilities at different rates. Back when I used to go on Motorcycle rallies, we used to rent big camping spots and roll in with 4-5 motorcycles and share a spot. Very few places took issue with that. Some people take longer showers, some dump tons of trash, some empty their RV's tanks and for instance the couple "We did see someone with a M3, and an RV , parked in an RV spot. I wonder if the RV was just there for cover as I doubt they pulled that with their M3." I posted about had their M3 plugged in every time I walked by, so they weren't saving any energy over what I would have used. However, they also had an RV, so that made it somehow better?

My point is, that a generic ban on electric car's is a poor reaction, if you want to charge me more for my electric use, I'd actually be ok with that.

 

[bradtem]

Everyone who stays at a camping spot will make use of the facilities at different rates. Back when I used to go on Motorcycle rallies, we used to rent big camping spots and roll in with 4-5 motorcycles and share a spot. Very few places took issue with that. Some people take longer showers, some dump tons of trash, some empty their RV's tanks and for instance the couple "We did see someone with a M3, and an RV , parked in an RV spot. I wonder if the RV was just there for cover as I doubt they pulled that with their M3." I posted about had their M3 plugged in every time I walked by, so they weren't saving any energy over what I would have used. However, they also had an RV, so that made it somehow better?

My point is, that a generic ban on electric car's is a poor reaction, if you want to charge me more for my electric use, I'd actually be ok with that.

While one can argue that many people make different use, I am not sure what the point of that argument is. If they feel the uses are different enough, it's entirely their decision. It's their park and their electricity bill.

Mainly I suspect they don't want to take the effort to fill it out. It may take them some time to figure what to do, whether they need to charge more and how much more they want to charge. As you know, EV charging prices are all over the map, seriously all over the map with little relation to how much electricity is used sometimes.

I would start the conversation with, "I will use a bit more electricity than a typical RV and am happy to pay extra for that. What price do you need?" Chances are most would not ask for any more, or might ask you to help them figure the price, in which case tell them how many kwh you want, and mention that a typical big RV uses about 20kwh in a day, so you might need 30-40kwh more than that." They might know what they pay per kwh at night or may not know, but if it's 20 cents, then suggest you give $8 to $10 more. If it's 10 cents in that area, offer $5 more. Though maybe up the offer so they make a profit.

What they don't want is to have a car come in, take a spot, use $10 of electricity and have to turn away an RV that would not have used that. If the park doesn't fill then that's no issue.

Every RV park I've charged at has let me do it free when I was staying in a cabin.

 

[honoraryorange]

Well, charging an EV will use a lot more electricity than a typical RV. You're going to max out the 50a circuit for most of your stay, an RV won't come close to that. Depending on your car that might be 50kwH to 90KWH in a big model X. Which could cost them a fair bit in some places. 90KWH here in California can be $20.

I don't think that's correct at all.

You'll max the 50a circuit for a VERY brief time while charging up to your limit. After that the draw is super minimal to maintain the environment, probably far less than an RV running AC, fridge, lights and everything else.

 

[bradtem]

I don't think that's correct at all.

You'll max the 50a circuit for a VERY brief time while charging up to your limit. After that the draw is super minimal to maintain the environment, probably far less than an RV running AC, fridge, lights and everything else.

That's not correct. A Tesla with the TMC version 1 can draw the full 40 amps which is the max for a 50a circuit. The gen2 TMC draws 32a which is not the max, but close and much more than an RV will use. If you are coming in low and wanting to charge to 90% like a typical road tripper, you will draw this power for 7 to 10 hours depending on how big your battery is. It is in no way brief, let alone very brief. A typical EV stopping at an RV park is not, like an RV, planning to stay a few days. They will come in during the evening and leave in the morning, and be drawing 7kw to 10kw for a large fraction of their stay. If you have a long range car with 75kw battery, you probably want 60 to 65 kwh for a good fill-up, which will draw 7kw for 9 solid hours.

An RV draws vastly less than this. Indeed, most RVs use 30a plugs and can only sustain 2.8kw while you are taking 7. But they never sustain that level of power, not even close. Even the big RVs with 50a plugs use only a small fraction of the total capacity of that plug. Even on a hot day with two ACs running they run intermittently.

So if you are doing to declare you don't think this is correct, you are going to need to cite some data. Of course the car, after 9 hours and fully charged, drops its load to minimal. That's not the point. The point is you want 60kwh, and an RV would be unlikely to use more than 20, and probably a fair bit less. I have measured the current in my RVs and built power grids to power a group of 100 RVs and it's not nearly that high, perhaps an average of a kw. Have you measured yours? What number did you get.

 

[Srad600Volt]

While one can argue that many people make different use, I am not sure what the point of that argument is. If they feel the uses are different enough, it's entirely their decision. It's their park and their electricity bill."

Mainly I suspect they don't want to take the effort to fill it out. It may take them some time to figure what to do, whether they need to charge more and how much more they want to charge. As you know, EV charging prices are all over the map, seriously all over the map with little relation to how much electricity is used sometimes.

I would start the conversation with, "I will use a bit more electricity than a typical RV and am happy to pay extra for that. What price do you need?" Chances are most would not ask for any more, or might ask you to help them figure the price, in which case tell them how many kwh you want, and mention that a typical big RV uses about 20kwh in a day, so you might need 30-40kwh more than that." They might know what they pay per kwh at night or may not know, but if it's 20 cents, then suggest you give $8 to $10 more. If it's 10 cents in that area, offer $5 more. Though maybe up the offer so they make a profit.

What they don't want is to have a car come in, take a spot, use $10 of electricity and have to turn away an RV that would not have used that. If the park doesn't fill then that's no issue.

Every RV park I've charged at has let me do it free when I was staying in a cabin.

Entirely true, it is their decision, and IMO a poor one (that was my point). Every campground is different, but they will all eventually need to find a way to deal with campers using electric vehicles. At some point, with the increase in EV's, turning them away is just a poor business practice. I agree with you though, the choice is theirs.

Also, for the record, we stayed nearly a week, so they knew the intent was not simply to drop in and charge, then leave.

I also agree that part of it is just their unwillingness or inability to determine what to charge for the "added service". Interesting that when we stay at other accommodations (air BnB, etc) charging is typically free and used as an incentive to bring in additional users.

 

[bradtem]

Entirely true, it is their decision, and IMO a poor one (that was my point). Every campground is different, but they will all eventually need to find a way to deal with campers using electric vehicles. At some point, with the increase in EV's, turning them away is just a poor business practice. I agree with you though, the choice is theirs.

Also, for the record, we stayed nearly a week, so they knew the intent was not simply to drop in and charge, then leave.

I also agree that part of it is just their unwillingness or inability to determine what to charge for the "added service". Interesting that when we stay at other accommodations (air BnB, etc) charging is typically free and used as an incentive to bring in additional users.

That adds more complexity. A guest staying a week with an EV will use far less energy per day than an overnight road tripper. Both might come in fairly empty and want to fill, but the multi-day guest after that will probably only use a modest number of miles/day, perhaps even zero. That means the pricing structure for an EV probably needs to be "+$10 per stay" (not per night) or more probably no surcharge staying 2 nights or more.

 

[EVer Hopeful]

Get the tent. Set it up. It’s their rules.

Park next to someone else's tent. Go to sleep. It's their rules.