Campground charging checklist? What do I need?

[Nikos]

Those who charge at campgrounds on 30a or 50a what do I need? What works? What doesn’t? Gearing up for a lot of campground visits next year and I want to have any adapters I need and want to go into these trips with confidence they will work.

thanks!

Here is from a seasoned camper. I do tow a 25ft camper and visit almost all the parks in the SC coastline. Here is what you need. Reserve or ask for a 50amp site. 30 amps won’t work since it is a single phase outlet at the campgrounds. 20 amp outlets are futile to charge the Lightning.
You need the Mobile Charger from Ford or any other manufacturer. The Ford one comes with adaptors for a regular 20 amp 115V or a 50amp 240V. You will need also an extension cord in order to plug the truck if it is located 30-40 feet away from the outlets. If you don’t tow a camper and use a roof top tent, your mobile charger will do just fine. Any mobile charger you look for should be capable of 36 amps charging rate. That will give you around 24-28 miles of charge per hour. Make sure you have the adaptor for fast charging at Tesla SC stations. The experience is flawless.
Also you need an adaptor to use any destination Tesla chargers if you find one available. The adaptor I just mentioned should be rated for at least 60 amps continuous uptake and 40 amps for a MME. Keep all those adaptors in the vehicle all the time. The first couple trips you will develop a plan that suits your needs.
I have done it, others in this forum have done it and you will do it.
Good luck.

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[solastobann]

Thanks! Have campgrounds been weird about EV charging or do they generally not care?

KOA supposedly forbids EV charging.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

KOA supposedly forbids EV charging.

https://koa.com/ev/

 

[Jamchampnate]

Here is from a seasoned camper. I do tow a 25ft camper and visit almost all the parks in the SC coastline. Here is what you need. Reserve or ask for a 50amp site. 30 amps won’t work since it is a single phase outlet at the campgrounds. 20 amp outlets are futile to charge the Lightning.
You need the Mobile Charger from Ford or any other manufacturer. The Ford one comes with adaptors for a regular 20 amp 115V or a 50amp 240V. You will need also an extension cord in order to plug the truck if it is located 30-40 feet away from the outlets. If you don’t tow a camper and use a roof top tent, your mobile charger will do just fine. Any mobile charger you look for should be capable of 36 amps charging rate. That will give you around 24-28 miles of charge per hour. Make sure you have the adaptor for fast charging at Tesla SC stations. The experience is flawless.
Also you need an adaptor to use any destination Tesla chargers if you find one available. The adaptor I just mentioned should be rated for at least 60 amps continuous uptake and 40 amps for a MME. Keep all those adaptors in the vehicle all the time. The first couple trips you will develop a plan that suits your needs.
I have done it, others in this forum have done it and you will do it.
Good luck.

Incredibly helpful. Thank you! Can you expand on the 30A not being an option? I was hoping there were be a solution for that since so many sites may have 30a available but not 50a.

 

[potato]

Incredibly helpful. Thank you! Can you expand on the 30A not being an option? I was hoping there were be a solution for that since so many sites may have 30a available but not 50a.

Has been covered earlier in the thread, but the gist is the Lightning will only charge at 12 amps on 120 volts, no matter how many amps the outlet could supply to some other load. So you'd only be using 12 of that 30.

 

[21st Century Truck]

Has been covered earlier in the thread, but the gist is the Lightning will only charge at 12 amps on 120 volts, no matter how many amps the outlet could supply to some other load. So you'd only be using 12 of that 30.

This is a common safety standard for all EV portable EVSE cords and internal car / truck chargers (yes our chargers are built into the inside of our vehicles). The reasoning for this EVSE standard is, afaik, that plugging into a random 120V receptacle and demanding more than 12 amps can easily lead to overpowering the circuit and popping the fuse / breaker on that receptacle, since most 120V receptacles are the common wall receptacles rated for only 12 amps.

The car / truck cannot "feel" the NEMA 5-15 shape vice a TT-30 shape of the 120V receptacle and so it defaults to a "I sense this is 120V = I can draw no more than 12 amps" logic for standardized safety.

 

[CD4TNF]

In preparation for my own camping, I bought a J+ Booster with the TT-30 adapter and NEMA 14-50 adapter. It's German made and can toggle the amps. Planning on plugging into the plug at the camp site, ideally a NRMA 14-50.

https://jplusbooster.com


That way I figure I can downrate to 32 amps. That saves some capacity for the campsite, a concern folks here have expressed. 32 amps on a 50 amp NEMA 14-50 means 7.6kW. From 30% to 100% would take 12 hrs. (98kWh / 7.6kW = 12 hrs) If I'm camping, I'm definitely going to be staying there longer than 12 hours.

Even at 24 amps, 120V is 2.8 kW or 36 hours for the 98 kWh. A day and a half of enjoying the outdoors.


The other prep I'm going to do is Favorite the nearest charger to my campsite in the Ford nav. That way I know the distance to the Level 3 charger. If there is no cell service, at least I can plot it on the nav.


That will also inform me of how much battery % is ideal for me to get to the level 3 charger.


For my first trip, I'm not going out overlanding. Definitely going to have a campsite with RV plugs or a level 2 charger. Once I build up some experience, I'll brave a wilderness campsite.


I already visited a few sites to scout them out. I talked with the camp host and a ranger. Neither had any issues with charging and were interested in if would all work out.

 

[Firn]

In preparation for my own camping, I bought a J+ Booster with the TT-30 adapter and NEMA 14-50 adapter. It's German made and can toggle the amps. Planning on plugging into the plug at the camp site, ideally a NRMA 14-50.

https://jplusbooster.com


That way I figure I can downrate to 32 amps. That saves some capacity for the campsite, a concern folks here have expressed. 32 amps on a 50 amp NEMA 14-50 means 7.6kW. From 30% to 100% would take 12 hrs. (98kWh / 7.6kW = 12 hrs) If I'm camping, I'm definitely going to be staying there longer than 12 hours.

Even at 24 amps, 120V is 2.8 kW or 36 hours for the 98 kWh. A day and a half of enjoying the outdoors.


The other prep I'm going to do is Favorite the nearest charger to my campsite in the Ford nav. That way I know the distance to the Level 3 charger. If there is no cell service, at least I can plot it on the nav.


That will also inform me of how much battery % is ideal for me to get to the level 3 charger.


For my first trip, I'm not going out overlanding. Definitely going to have a campsite with RV plugs or a level 2 charger. Once I build up some experience, I'll brave a wilderness campsite.


I already visited a few sites to scout them out. I talked with the camp host and a ranger. Neither had any issues with charging and were interested in if would all work out.

Just be aware, the Lightning will charge no faster than 12a on 120v, regardless of the charger.

 

[RocketGhost]

I don't know if this is ever an issue at campgrounds, but I was visiting a friend and they had a 14-50 receptacle in a weatherproof box with a cover. The receptacle was recessed deep inside the box and the right-angle plug of my charger would have barely gone in without trimming the box. So I got a one-foot 50amp extension cord with a straight male plug on one end and a female on the other. I figure it will be good to add to the collection just in case I run into that again somewhere.

 

[CD4TNF]

Just be aware, the Lightning will charge no faster than 12a on 120v, regardless of the charger.

I appreciate the correction

 

[Nlrkoa]

If you're coming across i-40. I have a level 2 charger at the Little Rock North junction I-40 KOA. It's on the honor system. 11 cents a kilowatt hour.

 

[potato]

This is a common safety standard for all EV portable EVSE cords and internal car / truck chargers (yes our chargers are built into the inside of our vehicles). The reasoning for this EVSE standard is, afaik, that plugging into a random 120V receptacle and demanding more than 12 amps can easily lead to overpowering the circuit and popping the fuse / breaker on that receptacle, since most 120V receptacles are the common wall receptacles rated for only 12 amps.

The car / truck cannot "feel" the NEMA 5-15 shape vice a TT-30 shape of the 120V receptacle and so it defaults to a "I sense this is 120V = I can draw no more than 12 amps" logic for standardized safety.

Yes all true if you're using a 5-15 plug. But if you have an EVSE with a 30 amp plug, then it signals to the truck that 30 amps are safely available, and the truck still only asks for 12. It's a limitation of the truck, well documented.

 

[Calson]

Many trailers and Class A motorhomes have two air conditioners and each of them draws more than 20 amps for the time that the RV is at the campsite. A EV charging is not going to draw more power.

Many RV sites have problems with floating grounds or even reversed polarity at the pedestals. I used a polarity tester that was build in to the plug adapter. For surge supression at RV sites a Hughes autoformer will maintain a minimum voltage for the RV electronics as well as protect against surges. Low voltage is more damaging than voltage surges for electronic devices.

https://unitedrvparts.com/products/...tion?msclkid=1810592c14ce1991837e3e4c69175136

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