Not Allowed to charge at RV campground at 50 A?

[doghousePVD]

I have been towing my Safari Condo trailer and charging at RV campsites without issues.

I made a reservation at a campground in Maine for a 50A site, and was told I couldn't charge at the pedestal but had to use another location next to the office, and there would be a $20 charging surcharge. Anybody else run into this?

 

[Tam]

I have been towing my Safari Condo trailer and charging at RV campsites without issues.

I made a reservation at a campground in Maine for a 50A site, and was told I couldn't charge at the pedestal but had to use another location next to the office, and there would be a $20 charging surcharge. Anybody else run into this?

If there's an alternative/competition, maybe the practice will be dropped but otherwise it's a capitalist society: Owners make their own rules.

 

[ThomasD]

They could be thinking that you are going to be plugging in the trailer and the car on the same circuit and maybe that circuit can't handle it

 

[Bigriver]

I would guess that charging your car could take 10 times more kWh than you would use with the trailer and perhaps they have decided not to subsidize electric cars getting a full tank without additional payment?

 

[Rice&Curry]

I would guess that charging your car could take 10 times more kWh than you would use with the trailer and perhaps they have decided not to subsidize electric cars getting a full tank without additional payment?

I agree, you reasoning seems to be the logical explanation - this more likely to happen as we see more EVs with trailer in RV parks

 

[Doc Brown]

I would guess that charging your car could take 10 times more kWh than you would use with the trailer and perhaps they have decided not to subsidize electric cars getting a full tank without additional payment?

Absolutely correct. EV owners are showing up lots of places expecting free fill-ups. I’ve seen hotels prohibiting people from plugging into 110v outlets with their EVs.

 

[brkaus]

Absolutely correct. EV owners are showing up lots of places expecting free fill-ups. I’ve seen hotels prohibiting people from plugging into 110v outlets with their EVs.

I would happily pay a hotel a fair price to have a reserved charging spot while I stay with them. $10-$20 to not have to worry about charging and reading to hit the road when I depart sounds fantastic!

A typical travel trailer/RV in a campground will use much less energy than charging a car.

Depending on local electricity cost, charging a Model X would use between $6 - $18 (rough guess) of electricity.

 

[doghousePVD]

I would guess that charging your car could take 10 times more kWh than you would use with the trailer and perhaps they have decided not to subsidize electric cars getting a full tank without additional payment?

Usually 50A/240V sites cost more than basic 120V sites. A big bus-sized RV or 5th wheel needs/wants 50A service because they could be running massive air conditioning all night. A few campgrounds even offer double 50 A service.

If I was just using power for a small trailer behind an ICE I would use a basic site.

There isn't any "subsidy"; it's being charged twice for the same potential power. Oh, well, just a 1st world "problem".

 

[bob_p]

EV charging usually draws the maximum possible power from a circuit (40A on a 50A circuit) - and will do so for hours (overnight when on road trips).

Even for the big rigs, they're unlikely to pull that much power continuously.

There are several factors the RV parks have to consider.

1. The pricing for the RV spots is based on an estimate of the average electricity use by the RV. Let's assume they are paying $.25/KWh and you charge 80KWh - that's $20 just for electricity - and may be the difference between showing a profit for the site rental and losing money on that space.
   
   
2. While RV parks may provide 50A outlets, most of the pedestals were installed prior to EVs. Because EVs draw continuous power for hours - the infrastructure may not be designed or built to handle that continuous power draw or additional heat. While the installation should handle that - at least some RV parks have had issues even with 30A/50A use by RVs, which would be even worse for EVs.
   
   
3. And, if there are multiple EVs simultaneously charging at the site, the entire site may not have enough power to handle that, since an EV will draw a lot more power, compared to an RV.

EVs are still relatively new - and how RV parks handle them will evolve over the next few years. And when EV-based RVs are released (we're considering a tri-motor Cybertruck to pull a travel trailer), the RV parks will likely have to make changes in their site pricing and likely infrastructure improvements to support more EV charging.

We've also considered towing an EV to use with our Sprinter-based RV - and if we did that, we'd probably rely on RV park charging (so we wouldn't have to make extra stops at superchargers just to charge the towed vehicle). Once there's an EV that can be towed, that may force the RV parks to start addressing EV charging - and that may happen before widespread sales of EV-based RVs.

 

[Rocky_H]

Yeah, kinda. Some places are kind of weird and particular about their rules of what they allow. A few years ago, I was trying to plan a trip, and called a couple of RV park / camground kinds of places to try to rent a spot for the night. I was just going to do the basic thing of sleeping in the back of my car. But I kept getting a flat refusal when I said that I wasn't coming with a mobile home, because they said they don't allow "tent camping", so they wouldn't let me rent a spot at all if I didn't have a trailer.

 

[ngng]

Usually 50A/240V sites cost more than basic 120V sites. A big bus-sized RV or 5th wheel needs/wants 50A service because they could be running massive air conditioning all night. A few campgrounds even offer double 50 A service.

If I was just using power for a small trailer behind an ICE I would use a basic site.

There isn't any "subsidy"; it's being charged twice for the same potential power. Oh, well, just a 1st world "problem".

AC use is negligible compared to charing your EV.

 

[ThomasD]

Some of the higher end RV parks don't allow Tent camping due to the same reason people don't like seeing a Tent on a sidewalk.

 

[bob_p]

RV parks are intended for RVs - not for EV charging.

Some parks will place restrictions on the types of RVs that are allowed - Class A (bus size), Class B (minivan size), Class C, travel trailer or 5th wheel. Some parks will not allow RVs older than 10 years. Some parks have places reserved for tents - others won't allow any tent camping. Some parks have places for people to stay without an RV or tent (cabin, cottage, stationary RV, ...).

It's understandable RV parks would limit or prohibit EVs from charging. Unlike superchargers, it could be many hours for an EV to recharge. Staying inside an EV is not like being in an RV or tent - you don't have a bathroom, kitchen or any living area - unless you are bringing your own travel trailer or tent. And that could be viewed negatively by the other customers who area staying at the park in their RVs or tents.

When we purchased our first Tesla in Jan 2013 - there weren't any superchargers - so taking road trips required a lot of planning to find specific charging locations - and plan for how long we would need to spend at each spot. Fortunately, at least for Tesla owners, the situation is much better now - with the supercharger network, destination chargers, and public chargers.

When planning a road trip - if there isn't any chargers where you are going - and only an RV park, then contact them in advance and try to make arrangements to use their power - and find out what restrictions they will place on you. And if they won't allow it, then hunt for an alternative...

 

[Rocky_H]

RV parks are intended for RVs - not for EV charging.

Heh, let's try this again, shall we?
"RV parks are intended for... [making money]"

Some may value getting to rent out those other spaces instead of letting them sit unused and losing that money. But others may value rules over money. Obviously that varies per location and whether you are talking with an employee who just considers it their job to enforce rules, rather than maximize the profit of the business.

When planning a road trip - if there isn't any chargers where you are going - and only an RV park, then contact them in advance and try to make arrangements to use their power - and find out what restrictions they will place on you. And if they won't allow it, then hunt for an alternative...

Sure, and I have done it and have gotten both types of answers. Some liked money and talked through the rental or worked out a partial rental for 4 hours in the afternoon, etc. But others reverted into their robot voice and said "no tents", despite my explaining there would be no tent. So yeah it varies, but it's just a little surprising when places don't want business.

 

[bob_p]

As an owner of a Class C (25 foot) - I share the frustration that there are some RV parks that are reserved only for Class A motorhomes (usually 35-45 feet). These parks have some great amenities, but are intended only for the RV owners who decided to buy something the size of a bus - and park it there for weeks at a time. But that's their business model - and their rules work maximize revenue from the customers they want to serve.

The primary customer for RV parks is an RV owner. If the park has tents or cabins, that's usually to provide additional space for large groups, when not everyone has an RV. If there are tents, then they'll provide additional facilities to support the tents - bathrooms/showers. If there aren't any tents, they may only have limited common facilities.

While RV parks might be able to generate some small incremental revenue by providing access to their 50A outlets - they do risk getting complaints from their RV customers who do not someone parking next to them for 4-8 hours just for EV charging. Someone with a large fifth wheel or Class A may not want someone parked next to them who is sleeping in their car and doesn't have a bathroom.

We're taking our RV to Big Bend National Park soon - and thought I would look at the route if we were driving our X 100D instead - and see the nearest destination charger is 120 miles away and the nearest supercharger is 170 miles away. In order to take our X, we would have to find some place to recharge without having to make the drive back north (which wouldn't generate much net range after the round trip to the nearest chargers). So we would probably have to find an RV park that would allow us to charge.

Until there is more charging infrastructure in remote locations, RV parks may be the only option for charging - and checking with them in advance can help reduce anxiety about getting stuck too far from a destination or supercharger...

 

[jasondeno]

We just ran into this at a KOA. It looks like their official policy is to not allow any EV charging at campsites. Only at chargers they’re installing at a few campsites currently. This being the case, you can probably get a cheaper campsite type (non-RV) and charge elsewhere (like a supercharger)

Camping at KOA campgrounds with an electric vehicle (EV)

At KOA, we believe in electric vehicles (EV), their potential, and the many benefits they bring to our environment. Learn how KOA is charging forward for EVs.

koa.com

 

[P90D]

We just ran into this at a KOA. It looks like their official policy is to not allow any EV charging at campsites. Only at chargers they’re installing at a few campsites currently. This being the case, you can probably get a cheaper campsite type (non-RV) and charge elsewhere (like a supercharger)

Camping at KOA campgrounds with an electric vehicle (EV)

At KOA, we believe in electric vehicles (EV), their potential, and the many benefits they bring to our environment. Learn how KOA is charging forward for EVs.

koa.com

"
Currently, however, a small portion of our campgrounds are set up with EV charging capabilities. It is essential to understand that EVs require constant electricity flow to charge their batteries, and the majority of our campgrounds’ electrical pedestals do not have this capability. Our current electrical pedestals were originally designed for non-continuous loads typical of today’s RV usage, and therefore simply cannot support EV charging. Plugging your EV into a traditional 50-30 amp campground pedestal could permanently damage your vehicle as well as the campground’s electrical system.

If a charging converter was provided by your auto manufacturer, it does not change the way electricity flows within the campground’s electrical infrastructure and should not be used to connect your EV to our campground pedestals.
"
That's some whacky gibberish. Whoever wrote this is misinformed or willfully misinforming others.
Why not just say that their 14-50 outlets are either not wired correctly (one 50A breaker per outlet)?
I was at a track where they had paddock campsites with multiple 14-50 outlets on single 100A breakers.
This was a track day for Teslas (teslacorsa at Buttonwillow) and we were popping those breakers like crazy. : )
They've since installed a Supercharger site.

 

[Rocky_H]

It looks like their official policy is to not allow any EV charging at campsites.

Thanks for linking to that. It looks like they have created an official policy, but unfortunately it includes a big, fat, stinking, FUD-filled LIE:

"Plugging your EV into a traditional 50-30 amp campground pedestal could permanently damage your vehicle"

They go on to mention the real reason also, which is that the circuits to their electrical pedestals just weren't provisioned for the possibility of continuous draw, so it could cause problems for their electrical system and tripping breakers.

 

[brkaus]

Campgrounds were initially installed to minimums and hacked over the years by owners that think they are electricians. This doesn’t surprise me.

 

[brkaus]

Of course we also cannot forget that $10 worth of free charging on a $20 campsite is a significant hit to their business model.