Not Allowed to charge at RV campground at 50 A?

[doghousePVD]

Charging at 32 A is 64%, not 80%.

It makes perfect sense to me. RV’s plug in and probably use 20-30% of capacity off and on. Where EV is 80% for solid 8 hours. If enough folks did that they would trip main panel. Those camps are set up based on typical loads. Not EV charging which is completely different. They have to be consistent on their rules. So I don’t blame them a bit. And charging extra for it. Some camps might tolerate it for now or not charge extra. But can’t blame the ones that say no or have special locations and fees.

A Big Rig may have 3 AC each drawing 15 amps, so 45 A trying to cool down in 90° for hours and hours after pulling in from all day on the road. Unshaded campgrounds in S Texas get mighty hot.

A Tesla can only pull 32 A with the portable connector. As a practical matter, I’ll often charge at only 24 A to put less stress on the site circuit.

 

[brkaus]

A Big Rig may have 3 AC each drawing 15 amps, so 45 A trying to cool down in 90° for hours and hours after pulling in from all day on the road. Unshaded campgrounds in S Texas get mighty hot.

RV AC units are 120v. So 3 would still pull less power than a car charging at 30a.

 

[doghousePVD]

RV AC units are 120v. So 3 would still pull less power than a car charging at 30a.

Duh, you’re right. Didn’t sleep well last night.

 

[Rice&Curry]

I fully agree, I think it has more do with costs associated with charging . Depending upon the SoC one can easily put on 60-80KW in one night stay and depending upon costs of electricity in that location it can cost the campground anywhere from 20 to $30 disturbing the campground's economic model.

 

[Yinn]

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?

This is one of those things...

Roll up in the Tesla or Rivian and I'm told the pedestal can't support it and there's dedicated sites and an uncharge. Pull up in a F-150 Lightning and it plugs into the 50A while the trailer plugs into the 30A (induction cooktop, electric heat/AC, propane off) with no issues and no upcharge...

 

[ATPMSD]

I believe you may find the reason is the 50A outlets on the campsites and not protected by a GFCI breaker, while the one next to the likely office is. Why is this an issue?

The updated code (2020 I believe) requires a GFCI breaker for all outside outlets. In States that adopted the new code this would mean the RV campsite community would have had to add this to all of those outlets. Instead, they got an exemption that declared those outlets as “feeder” circuits since they feed a breaker box in the RV. The panel in the RV is supposed to then have GFCI protection for the outlets inside.

Of course they may just be trying to extract more money from you.

 

[ucmndd]

In States that adopted the new code this would mean the RV campsite community would have had to add this to all of those outlets.

I have never seen an adoption of a new NEC revision that resulted in needing to re-do existing work.

New code revisions apply to newly issued permits and work. It's almost never retroactive.

 

[ATPMSD]

I have never seen an adoption of a new NEC revision that resulted in needing to re-do existing work.

New code revisions apply to newly issued permits and work. It's almost never retroactive.

I would not debate such an intelligent point!

But I think the fear was perhaps the 2nd paragraph, which may have been interpreted as an immediate action?

ARVC Advocacy Team Continues to Battle Addition of GFCI Protection to 30- and 50-amp RV Service | ARVC

www.arvc.org

And here is the updated code - rule 551.71(F) - which made this moot.

https://www.dli.mn.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/NECFAQ20.pdf

 

[DblOSmith]

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

We also cannot forget that when I plug my Model Y into a 50amp outlet and car camping, I am using that outlet to run my air conditioning, entertainment, etc. the same way an RV is. Making me pay full price for that, then go pay extra for energy not at my campsite to run my electronics is double charging and unfair. Yes, we MIGHT draw high current for long if we get in at low SoC, but then we sip far less energy cooling and heating than the 200ft battleship RVs do. And if we're staying for 2 days or more, that will probably equal out.

A couple solutions I'd be perfectly fine with are:

• Everyone charged by the kWh used. Keep it fair across the board
• Separate discounted EV charging. I say discounted because we are still using the pedestal electricity like everyone else, but I understand the need to protect the grid. Just get a bank of wall connectors and set it to charge 20cents/kWh.. or Charge $10 and activate Chargepoint units using RFID or whatever. Some RV sites are charging $50 just to charge a car no matter how long you stay or how much energy you use. That's outrageous.
• Allow EV charging, but limit them to the 20A or 30A, not 50. That way there is some metering of overall current and less overloading.

I just went on 2 car camping trips (starting to be my thing). The first I stayed for 2 nights and had use of a 30A. I dropped it to 20 amps (just to be sure and considerate) and it still didn't fully charge my car in two days. This time I plugged into a 50A dropped to 30A (again, just to be considerate/sure) and I charged up and just sipped power for the AC. A site/trip I just planned in Florida doesn't allow any EV charging. I don't mind as much because there's a SC right up the highway and I probably won't run through 90% power or whatever in just two days of pleasant weather, but it still irks me that there are 3 different types outlets for electricity, and I'm not allowed to use ANY to charge a car or run the AC.

 

[doghousePVD]

Teslas are already limited to 32 A with the travel EVSE. It can't pull 50 A

We also cannot forget that when I plug my Model Y into a 50amp outlet and car camping, I am using that outlet to run my air conditioning, entertainment, etc. the same way an RV is. Making me pay full price for that, then go pay extra for energy not at my campsite to run my electronics is double charging and unfair. Yes, we MIGHT draw high current for long if we get in at low SoC, but then we sip far less energy cooling and heating than the 200ft battleship RVs do. And if we're staying for 2 days or more, that will probably equal out.

A couple solutions I'd be perfectly fine with are:

• Everyone charged by the kWh used. Keep it fair across the board
• Separate discounted EV charging. I say discounted because we are still using the pedestal electricity like everyone else, but I understand the need to protect the grid. Just get a bank of wall connectors and set it to charge 20cents/kWh.. or Charge $10 and activate Chargepoint units using RFID or whatever. Some RV sites are charging $50 just to charge a car no matter how long you stay or how much energy you use. That's outrageous.
• Allow EV charging, but limit them to the 20A or 30A, not 50. That way there is some metering of overall current and less overloading.

I just went on 2 car camping trips (starting to be my thing). The first I stayed for 2 nights and had use of a 30A. I dropped it to 20 amps (just to be sure and considerate) and it still didn't fully charge my car in two days. This time I plugged into a 50A dropped to 30A (again, just to be considerate/sure) and I charged up and just sipped power for the AC. A site/trip I just planned in Florida doesn't allow any EV charging. I don't mind as much because there's a SC right up the highway and I probably won't run through 90% power or whatever in just two days of pleasant weather, but it still irks me that there are 3 different types outlets for electricity, and I'm not allowed to use ANY to charge a car or run the AC.

A Tesla can't draw 50 A with the Mobile Connector, only 32 A.

I stayed at one campground that did charge ALL campers for electricity (not just the seasonals). No problem. There is a lot of misinformation out there. KOA says on their website basically no EV charging. Last month I stayed at 2 KOAs, both had no problem with me charging there, no upcharge,

Last month one very ignorant camp manager claimed I used $65 of electricity overnight, which is impossible. The actual cost of the 30kWh I consumed was $7.40. I had paid an extra $8 for site ($56 total, before tax) with 50 A (compared to a regular 30 A site).

 

[DblOSmith]

Teslas are already limited to 32 A with the travel EVSE. It can't pull 50 A


A Tesla can't draw 50 A with the Mobile Connector, only 32 A.

I know. ...and yes, there are a lot of ignorant park rangers out there. I remember one told me a 50A wasn't anywhere near fast enough to charge an EV. He was so smug and sure that he was right that I figured it's better not to argue and let him have it. I didn't have all day to correct him.