Ohmman's Airstream Adventures

[BM3B]

What model Amtifo did you install?

Your Wh/mi is that low because of your relatively low average speed, 60mph max, and the elevation loss.

Congratulations on your first successful tow! But please get your brake controller functioning; you are not safe — or legal — on the road without it.

Thank you! Will do. Here is the camera, not available on Amazon now for some reason.
AMTIFO HD 1080P Digital Wireless Backup Camera with 5'' Monitor for Trucks,Cars,Campers,Vans, Observation System with Stable Signal,IP69 Waterproof,Super Night Vision,Guide Lines On/Off - A6

 

[rhumbliner]

Had an interesting experience at Patagonia Lake SP last week. Was chatting with my neighbor (at a safe distance) when he asked how I liked my RAM. I told him it was fine but I was waiting for the CyberTruck. He then got a little indignant that I would charge an EV at a campground when the electricity was “meant for RV’s not EV’s”. Has anyone else experienced this? Have any RV park operators taken a dim view of charging an EV on their dime?

 

[mspohr]

Had an interesting experience at Patagonia Lake SP last week. Was chatting with my neighbor (at a safe distance) when he asked how I liked my RAM. I told him it was fine but I was waiting for the CyberTruck. He then got a little indignant that I would charge an EV at a campground when the electricity was “meant for RV’s not EV’s”. Has anyone else experienced this? Have any RV park operators taken a dim view of charging an EV on their dime?

I've charged at a few RV parks and they have always been happy to let me plug in.

 

[steilkurve]

Had an interesting experience at Patagonia Lake SP last week. Was chatting with my neighbor (at a safe distance) when he asked how I liked my RAM. I told him it was fine but I was waiting for the CyberTruck. He then got a little indignant that I would charge an EV at a campground when the electricity was “meant for RV’s not EV’s”. Has anyone else experienced this? Have any RV park operators taken a dim view of charging an EV on their dime?

I've charged at most campgrounds I've been at. Never got bad looks or complaints from anyone. Most of these were national or provincial parks here in Canada. Even blew a pedestal braker once and the park employee was happy to address the issue for me after which he asked me a bunch of questions about my X/Airstream rig. He was super excited about electric towing.

 

[Webby]

Never had anything but friendly (and sometimes curious questions) experiences at RV parks, all over the mid-Atlantic, south, plains states, and Rocky Mountain west. Only charged a handful of emergency times without a camper attached, and 30+ visits with our camper. But I’ve mostly traveled off-peak-season (spring,winter, Fall), so may be a different response when slots are full.

People forget electricity is not a finite resource, but a reckoning is coming when EVs become more common and overwhelm RV parks, especially with Cybertruck, Rivian, and eHummer. I imagine our Nema 14-50 charging isn’t more demanding than a bug pusher with multiple ACs running. I use the 14-50R to charge the car and the 30A receptacle for the RV power, so I suppose we’re drawing more juice, but only incrementally so than the big pushers.

But ultimately our reputation will be driven by perception, so probably best to begin laying the friendly groundwork with some data for RV parks and positive engagement with guests (consumption), so we don’t get shunned in the future, and also remind RV park owners that there is coming wave of future customers.

Had an interesting experience at Patagonia Lake SP last week. Was chatting with my neighbor (at a safe distance) when he asked how I liked my RAM. I told him it was fine but I was waiting for the CyberTruck. He then got a little indignant that I would charge an EV at a campground when the electricity was “meant for RV’s not EV’s”. Has anyone else experienced this? Have any RV park operators taken a dim view of charging an EV on their dime?

 

[Uncle Paul]

Charged my X at the campsite off the 120V socket, while my rig was plugged into 30 amp. Got 100 miles/day easily off it. Allowed it to be my run around vehicle to tour the area. Was absolutely no problem and would really like it if I could find an EV I could use as a toad.

Are there any EVs that can be pulled behind an RV?

 

[steilkurve]

Charged my X at the campsite off the 120V socket, while my rig was plugged into 30 amp. Got 100 miles/day easily off it. Allowed it to be my run around vehicle to tour the area. Was absolutely no problem and would really like it if I could find an EV I could use as a toad.

Are there any EVs that can be pulled behind an RV?

Saw a Model 3 pulled behind a class A at campground last summer.

 

[Tedkidd]

Had an interesting experience at Patagonia Lake SP last week. Was chatting with my neighbor (at a safe distance) when he asked how I liked my RAM. I told him it was fine but I was waiting for the CyberTruck. He then got a little indignant that I would charge an EV at a campground when the electricity was “meant for RV’s not EV’s”. Has anyone else experienced this? Have any RV park operators taken a dim view of charging an EV on their dime?

Entitlement nation.

So much bigotry, so few bullets....

 

[ohmman]

Had an interesting experience at Patagonia Lake SP last week. Was chatting with my neighbor (at a safe distance) when he asked how I liked my RAM. I told him it was fine but I was waiting for the CyberTruck. He then got a little indignant that I would charge an EV at a campground when the electricity was “meant for RV’s not EV’s”. Has anyone else experienced this? Have any RV park operators taken a dim view of charging an EV on their dime?

I received an email from the Oregon State Parks department about charging in their parks, after I had another park visitor warn me that it was prohibited. Here is the text:

I’m not sure who you got your information from but let me assure you that there is no policy at Oregon State Parks that would prohibit a camper with an EV from charging it in the campsite. In fact Oregon State Parks encourages and fully supports the use of alternate energy sources. As you point out, the amperage of the power box at some campsites may limit the ability to charge a vehicle, but we have no policies that would stop a camper from plugging in. If you rent a hook-up site you can use the power for whatever you choose, including charging an EV. Thanks for asking and giving us a chance to clear up any misconceptions.

I stayed at an RV park in the Kanab area, however, where the owner came to me on the last day and nodded in the direction of the 50A. He asked, "how much is that costing me?" I asked him about electricity rates, which he didn't know, and tried to estimate the amount. My RV neighbor overheard the conversation and pointed out that some Class As with two AC units probably don't use much less, especially in the summer. I offered a few extra bucks, but the owner declined, stating that he was more curious than anything.

I think the way the OSP staff phrased it is the best way to communicate to other campers, in a friendly way: "If you rent a hook-up site, you can use the power for whatever you choose, including charging an EV." And it may be worth it to point out that there is a great disparity in power consumption of large class A motorhomes and, say, pop-ups or other rigs like mine that have a roof full of solar.

 

[Uncle Paul]

There is an issue with many older RV parks. Modern RV's use much more electricity than older rigs. They often have double Air Conditioners, microwave ovens, built in vacuums, electric cook tops, big screen TVs, big stereo systems, motorized slide outs etc.

Many parks are busy upgrading their ancient electrical systems to accomodate these power hungry campers.

On the other hand, lots of RVs now come with Solar Systems that can allow them to stay "off the grid" and combined with advanced Lithium Ion Batteries they can be pretty self contained, with little need to run their generators.

Most parks are reviewing the hook ups they are offering to entice modern "Glampers" to stay at their parks. Many offer a combination of 50 amp/30amp sockets. Offer both 240V and 120V combined posts. Each socket has their own circuit breaker.

 

[Bacalao]

The Wilcox, AZ Cochise KOA would not let me plug in. They were afraid I would damage their equipment.

Fortunately the SuperCharger nearby provided the needed charge while visiting Chiricahua National Monument.

 

[Webeevdrivers]

We pulled an electric smart car for years behind our motorhome. Great little toad. If we were unsure of the robustness of the parks power we would just not plug the coach in for a few hours. The coach is self contained with solar. Everything except AC works without shore power. Normally we were just topping up the car anyway so a few hours was adequate. It had a small battery so we tended to operate on the top half of the battery.

We even have it set up with its own EVSE if there is good 50 amp park service. Or technically it could run off the cummins generator, although that we only did that once or twice.

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[Tedkidd]

Love that smart! Do you still own it?

 

[Webeevdrivers]

Love that smart! Do you still own it?

No. We had it for 5 years. Put a ton of miles on it. Solid little car. But our RV habits have changed and we are done touring with the coach for a while. We will use it as a second home In Palm Springs for awhile but will drive the Tesla back and forth from Canada for the foreseeable future. We own the lot there so it works out well. Although with Covid this year it’s a bust.

 

[Tedkidd]

No. We had it for 5 years. Put a ton of miles on it. Solid little car. But our RV habits have changed and we are done touring with the coach for a while. We will use it as a second home In Palm Springs for awhile but will drive the Tesla back and forth from Canada for the foreseeable future. We own the lot there so it works out well. Although with Covid this year it’s a bust.

That's unfortunate. Yes, this is dramatically altering our existence.
I'd love to hear about the details of your experience selling that car ...

(did you get a lot, a little. Did it take a long time, or go quickly, etc...)

 

[Webeevdrivers]

That's unfortunate. Yes, this is dramatically altering our existence.
I'd love to hear about the details of your experience selling that car ...

(did you get a lot, a little. Did it take a long time, or go quickly, etc...)

Sure. We bought it new in 2015 for 20,000 plus tax and sold it last year after apx 5 years of ownership for 10,000 dollars. We replaced the 12 volt battery just before we sold it. It was an older couple buying it and we didn’t want them having problems. Tires had about a year left in them. Other than washer fluid zero maintenance other than a squeaky door that needed alignment.

Hope that helps.

 

[Tedkidd]

Neat!
And that nifty little trailer?

 

[Webeevdrivers]

Neat!
And that nifty little trailer?

Yep. Essentially a modified motorcycle trailer made in Anaheim California. Worked well. .

 

[idoco]

Have never had a problem plugging in. Just the opposite. Other campers, rangers, and even park owners come over and want to know more.

As others have mentioned, a class A or other trailer with two A/C units is probably using as much electricity.

 

[dmurphy]

So - we’ve been tent camping a bunch with the Model 3, and never had a problem charging it anywhere.

This year, I’ve got a seasonal site at our favorite campground (and a trailer on order ... any day now, really!).

It’s never affected us before since we’ve always been tent campers, but the campground has a $2/day surcharge for running the A/C in our trailer. Even for seasonal sites like mine.

(Sidebar: If the A/C is a 15 amp draw, that’s about 1.8kW. At 8 hours a day, that’s 14.4 kW. Given an average of 14c/kWh, that’s right around $2/day. So I don’t think the A/C surcharge is unreasonable.)

Now - since I’ll be spending so much more time there, I suspect someone will notice that I’m charging the X or 3 (or, both!)

If they question me, I’ll offer the same $2/day as the A/C. The only time I’d really “need” to charge there is when I’m moving the trailer in or out. If it’s just a run from home, I’ve got plenty of juice to round trip. It’s only 50 miles each way.

But my point is ... when we were “transient” nobody ever said a word. Now that we’ll be seasonal, I’m expecting them to say something. And if they do, I’ll offer the A/C pricing. Most times that’d be roughly equal anyway. (300wh/mi x 50mi = 15kW x .14c/kW = $2.10)