RV parks filling the charging gaps?

[adayley]

I’m finding areas in Arizona that would be a great drive but charging stops are out of the way. It would make a day drive into a long day drive. Is RV Parky app a good enough way to find places to charge?

Seems like RV parks are missing out on a revenue source. If an RV park knows it is in a charging desert, they could advertise EV charging opportunities, even have parking spots for people to charge a couple of hours. They could price the electricity at a premium, even.

 

[jjrandorin]

I’m finding areas in Arizona that would be a great drive but charging stops are out of the way. It would make a day drive into a long day drive. Is RV Parky app a good enough way to find places to charge?

Seems like RV parks are missing out on a revenue source. If an RV park knows it is in a charging desert, they could advertise EV charging opportunities, even have parking spots for people to charge a couple of hours. They could price the electricity at a premium, even.

Im curious how sitting in an RV park to charge would reduce your travel time any. Note, I am going by what you posted, which is not "I cant find charging stops, I will run out of charge" but "charging stops are out of the way, turning a trip into a longer trip".

 

[Sans-gas]

I’m finding areas in Arizona that would be a great drive but charging stops are out of the way. It would make a day drive into a long day drive. Is RV Parky app a good enough way to find places to charge?

Seems like RV parks are missing out on a revenue source. If an RV park knows it is in a charging desert, they could advertise EV charging opportunities, even have parking spots for people to charge a couple of hours. They could price the electricity at a premium, even.

I just purchased a 50A connector plug compatible with those in RV park “just in case” it would come in handy. It supposedly would deliver up to 30A. When I asked Local State Parks about their take on this option, they avoided the question entirely. I’m thinking they wouldn’t care if a car sucked in a few electrons during quiet times or before customer checkins.

Do any owners have input on this topic?

 

[PuaNow]

Sounds like you could be a chargepoint sales person

 

[ThomasD]

If the spots are empty and not reserved sure. But what is to stop someone from refusing to move to let a person with a camper into that spot while they are charging. I think the parks just don't want to deal with it

 

[wws]

Turn on the 14-50 filter in PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You to see lots of RV parks that EV drivers have used. The feedback will often relate how "EV friendly" they are, rates, and so on.

The few times I've used them, they've been great. Though it is a good idea to call or make a reservation in advance - because sometimes they fill up.

 

[SSedan]

Boy someone really should have thought of this 8 ears ago.

 

[RayK]

Boy someone really should have thought of this 8 ears ago.

Is Mike Tyson fighting again?

edit: To make this post on topic... I have bought this TT-30P adapter from Amazon several months ago but not yet had a chance to use it. My daughter is a full-time RVer so I envision visiting her sometime in the coming year where it might come in handy.

 

[ChadS]

Back in 2010 when I started taking EV road trips, there were no charging stations of any sort in my state, or in neighboring states. I had to go 800 miles to find an L2 station. So RV parks were the only game in town.

RV electrical options are normally 15A, 30A and 50A. Note that the first two are 120V and the last is 240V, so you definitely want 50A if it's available (many parks don't have it - and even those that do often only have them in a few spots). Also note that the "50 amp" terminology is what RV parks are familiar with - they are often confused by talk about 240V outlets or NEMA 14-50 plugs.

Some RV parks might be adapting and offer other options, but back then nobody had heard of EVs, so sometimes the only option they had for me was to pay the overnight rate to rent a camping spot with electricity. Although some thought it sounded cool, and when I said I'd only be a couple of hours and the place was vacant, they'd tell me to just go ahead and charge for free.

It definitely works. But charging at L2 speeds, I'd typically only get 400 miles a day, because I'd spend half of the day charging. I guess those newfangled Teslas have more range than my Roadster did, so if you can charge overnight, you can get farther during the day...

 

[SSedan]

The efficiency gains of the newer cars make for more per hour charging at a given amperage. I might be inclined to look for a gen 1 UMC if I didn't have one, the 40aps instead of 32 will be nice boost for the vehicles that can use more than 32.
It is just the SR 3 that is 32amp limited right?

Wouldn't matter if spending 12 hours but if just trying to crash for 6-8, would make a difference.

 

[jjrandorin]

It is just the SR 3 that is 32amp limited right?

Wouldn't matter if spending 12 hours but if just trying to crash for 6-8, would make a difference.

Yes, its the SR and SR+ model 3s that are limited to 32 amps. All of the Long Range variants can take up to 48 amps. I dont remember what the LeMR has as it relates to charging, but I "think" its 48 Amps as well , since that car is basically a long range car with a smaller battery (premium interior, etc).

 

[ThomasD]

You might be limited during the winter months in northern states

 

[Misterbee]

I did an 8000 mile road trip in the summer of 2019. Charging at RV parks worked great for us, with only two exceptions. One funky old park had wiring that wasn’t up to snuff, so we had to dial back the amperage on the charge. And the KOA in Santa Fe discouraged charging, saying it was “too new”.

We found most of our charging spots using the AllStays app, which has worked out well for us. But my favorite non-supercharger stop was found on Plugshare: the Bluebonnet Country Club in Hico, TX. It’s a sweet little out of the way golf course, and the owners have a model X, which they use to haul golf carts to the repair shop. So they built a shaded charging station with three solar-powered HPWC’s. They make them available to anyone, free of charge. Really nice folks, if you are ever in Hico, stop in for a visit.

 

[adayley]

Im curious how sitting in an RV park to charge would reduce your travel time any. Note, I am going by what you posted, which is not "I cant find charging stops, I will run out of charge" but "charging stops are out of the way, turning a trip into a longer trip".

i live in Gilbert, Arizona. There is a gorgeous and fun drive on US Highway 191 between Morenci and Eagar in east Arizona. The shortest route to Morenci is 193 miles. The route with Tesla and other chargers goes south to Tucson and back north, 279 miles. And, even with chargers on the longer route, it’d be risky to take the scenic drive from Morenci to Eagar.

RV Parky app shows 5 RV spots along the shorter route, including one in Morenci. So, I could lean on @ChadS ’s @Misterbee ’s experience and charge along the shorter route, hopefully with 50 amp hookups.

Maybe electric vehicle charging hasn’t blipped on the radar of small RV parks as a service to offer. I’m glad for the helpful and informative responses here!

 

[jjrandorin]

i live in Gilbert, Arizona. There is a gorgeous and fun drive on US Highway 191 between Morenci and Eagar in east Arizona. The shortest route to Morenci is 193 miles. The route with Tesla and other chargers goes south to Tucson and back north, 279 miles. And, even with chargers on the longer route, it’d be risky to take the scenic drive from Morenci to Eagar.

RV Parky app shows 5 RV spots along the shorter route, including one in Morenci. So, I could lean on @ChadS ’s @Misterbee ’s experience and charge along the shorter route, hopefully with 50 amp hookups.

Maybe electric vehicle charging hasn’t blipped on the radar of small RV parks as a service to offer. I’m glad for the helpful and informative responses here!

That makes sense, thanks for the response.

 

[silentcorp]

I've used RV parks a lot on road trips, only one time was for an emergency coming back from Texas to Colorado. All the other times I have reserved a spot and slept in my car overnight at the park. Last time was one in Wyoming, I had a crowd around the car as I "was the first electric car they had ever seen" there. Use the Plugshare app to find ones, most of them have reviews and pictures as well as details of what type of charging they offer.

 

[SageBrush]

i live in Gilbert, Arizona. There is a gorgeous and fun drive on US Highway 191 between Morenci and Eagar in east Arizona. The shortest route to Morenci is 193 miles. The route with Tesla and other chargers goes south to Tucson and back north, 279 miles. And, even with chargers on the longer route, it’d be risky to take the scenic drive from Morenci to Eagar.

The specific question was how the RV charging saves time compared to the alternative, longer route.

Regarding L2 charging in general, have you tried the plugshare app ? Setting the filters correctly can be a little tricky but I think the app is the most comprehensive and up to date.

 

[cwerdna]

I second what Sage says. I'd use Plugshare to filter for J1772, Tesla connectors (for destination chargers) and Tesla Supercharger (not really needed). I'd also look turning on CHAdeMO if one is willing spend $450 for CHAdeMO Adapter.

Almost every single CHAdeMO station in the US will allow one to charge faster than J1772, Tesla destination charger and NEMA 14-50 or anything at an RV park since most are at least ~37 kW. There are a few ~"24" to 25" kW ones around. Don't depend on Electrify America though as they only install 1 CHAdeMO handle at each site vs. multiple SAE Combo handles. And, you can pretty much ignore Blink. They have a terrible rep for keeping their equipment working.

Below are some examples of CHAdeMO (with SAE Combo) chargers on the lower power side (e.g. 25 kW or less):
PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You
PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You
PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You

 

[dgpcolorado]

Is Mike Tyson fighting again?

edit: To make this post on topic... I have bought this TT-30P adapter from Amazon several months ago but not yet had a chance to use it. My daughter is a full-time RVer so I envision visiting her sometime in the coming year where it might come in handy.

I've used my TT-30 adapter many times over the years. For example, here:

^ Camping at Island Acres State Park, on the Colorado River, in May.

Although most commercial RV parks in the US have "50 amp" (14-50) service, RV parks in Canada often have only "30 amp" (TT-30) service IME. Many state parks, and some national parks if they have RV pedestals at all, are limited to 30 amp service.

In general, I prefer state parks to commercial RV parks on road trips. They tend to be less expensive and the campsites are generally more spacious and a lot nicer. LIke some others here, I use RVParky.com to scope out RV parks. It has filters that allow me to select for state and local public parks, if any are around. If not, commercial RV parks are really widespread, although camping when wedged between two hulking bus size RVs, takes some getting used to! Yes, I've done that.

I realize that a theme of the thread is finding RV parks that will allow limited time charging, as opposed to overnight stays, but I use RV parks and state parks for destination charging, since they are much, much cheaper than hotels. And camping is a lot better for "social distancing" in the era of coronavirus.

^ Charging on TT-30 at Zion National Park in 2016.

 

[wws]

I've used my TT-30 adapter many times over the years...

Given the number of questions I've seen on TT-30 on this and other forums, if Tesla were to offer one additional UMC adapter my vote would be for TT-30. Better yet, they could offer a "camping kit" that includes 5-20, TT-30, and 14-50 adapters bundled together.

I bought the evseadapters TT-30 UMC adapter. I even use it at 240V at home - using a homemade cable to plug into the 6-30 in my garage. (Previous owner had a kiln out there.)