Factory 14-50 30 Amp Mobile Plug works with RV 50 Amp plug (at local RV resort)?

[mb0220]

I've heard tales of RV parks having trouble with EVs charging on their 50-amp outlets (and sometimes not allowing it) because the circuit is shared with other campsites and can trip the breaker if there's a sustained 30-amp load from an EVSE and the camper next to you fires up their A/C.

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[Grumpy2]

Ok don’t over think this! My point was on 220 Tesla would have higher output, unless they lie. And Ford is a third output of what Tesla reports while charging on 220. Don’t know why Ford limits theirs to 7KW max on 220.

Aren't both 32 amp units?

 

[ddbrooke]

It's really important you get the correct dogbone for charging an EV from a 30amp campground pedestal. I have this one and can confirm that it works. Remember, you will only get 120v out of the TT-30 receptacle at a campground so charging is much slower.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07G2MT4T6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[RickLightning]

Ok don’t over think this! My point was on 220 Tesla would have higher output, unless they lie. And Ford is a third output of what Tesla reports while charging on 220. Don’t know why Ford limits theirs to 7KW max on 220.

And we are another $250 for a charger that has less output at home!

So you're a bit confused.

The Ford Mobile Charger for the Lightning is 30amps. Yes, that says 32amps. That's the one for the Mach-E. Yes, you can use it for the truck, but if it's the one that comes with the truck it has a pigtail that is locked at 30amps, so it can be used in the bed of the truck, with an adapter, to charge another EV and not blow the truck's breaker.

The Tesla Mobile Connector is 32amps.

The difference in the numbers is due to two factors:

1) The truck gets much lower miles per kilowatt hour than the cars.
2) Tesla exaggerates.

Let's do the math:

240 x 32 = 7.68kW.
Approx 10% loss to vehicle = 6.9kW

30 miles / 7 (rounding) = 4.29 miles per kilowatt hour. Do you get that with your Tesla? Because you sure don't with the truck...

 

[hturnerfamily]

I've heard tales of RV parks having trouble with EVs charging on their 50-amp outlets (and sometimes not allowing it) because the circuit is shared with other campsites and can trip the breaker if there's a sustained 30-amp load from an EVSE and the camper next to you fires up their A/C.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of 'tales' within the RVing and Camping community, since many campers don't understand electricity, and, therefore, tend to exaggerate and propagate the negative stories they've 'heard'... usually from others who are telling it from what they've 'heard', and so forth...

so, here's the real way that campground and rv park electricity works: ________

exactly the same as your HOME, or any other electrical outlet, breaker, wiring, sub-panel, and main-panel wiring construction as anywhere else. Code doesn't allow campgrounds to 'cheat' and do something other than what the city/county/state require. Those stories are a lot of baloney.

Don't believe or 'tale' or propagate stories that aren't true.



When you have a 50amp 240v NEMA 14-50 outlet at your campground or rv site, you are under the same electrical wiring designs and engineering as anywhere else, REGARDLESS of whether your 'neighbor' is using theirs, or not. You are NOT 'sharing' any power with anyone else. You are on your OWN set of breakers. They are on THEIR OWN set. All sites are feed ALL THE WAY back to a main breaker panel, or set of main breaker panels, depending on the size of the campground and the number of sites, and the requirements to power them.

So, if you RV or Campground site has the typical 'full electrical' panel: with A) NEMA 14-50 outlet, B) 30amp 120v outlet, and C) 20amp 120v outlets... you will and can make use of ALL of these, ALL at the same time, and ALL even if your 'neighbor' doesn't like it... the power feed from your electrical panel at your site back to the main panel is not shared, is not 'less power' than your panel is designed to give you, and is generally much more involved than you might be led to believe.

There are also many camper owners in this world that believe that 50amp outlets are only slightly more power than their 30amp outlets: they don't understand the difference between 120v and 240v power. The reality is that the 50amp 240v outlet is over THREE TIMES the power output of the typical campground 30amp outlet.


Don't let 'tales' send you down the wrong road.

 

[potato]

There are also many camper owners in this world that believe that 50amp outlets are only slightly more power than their 30amp outlets: they don't understand the difference between 120v and 240v power. The reality is that the 50amp 240v outlet is over THREE TIMES the power output of the typical campground 30amp outlet.

And just to add, for the purposes of charging a Lightning, the 50A 240V outlet is over 6 times the power of a 30A 120V outlet, since the Lightning will only charge at 12 amps maximum on 120V regardless of how much the outlet or EVSE could supply.

 

[V8BoatBuilder]

^^ What @hturnerfamily said. He's 100% correct.

If a park doesn't want an EV to charge, its because of COST and nothing else. An EV will draw that 40a load consistently. An RV's appliances (like air conditioning) will cycle on/off and use much, much less.

 

[RickKeen]

I brought my Lightning to a small cabin resort in Emily MN (central MN) that also had RV spots. They offered to let us charge on one of their unused RV spots, but they had no idea the cost and thus what to charge us. It was easy enough for me to explain that with a 100 kWH battery and their cost of electricity being near $0.10 / kWh it would cost them $10 max.
Their RV spots normally go for $50 per night on weekdays, and $67 on weekends.
They were happy to take $20 to let us charge since we were already renting a cabin.
A wagon of firewood for the campfire cost more than that at $25.

 

[Grumpy2]

I have no idea how the various Mobile Chargers react to issues with the 50 amp 240 volt power at an RV park. After a melt down of my incoming power cord on an earlier motorhome I have a "surge protector" permanently installed on my current one. It will handle low & high voltage, dropped neutral, surges, and overheat of the plug. It is not unusual to have low voltage issues especially in older parks. Twice I had to move within a park as the device would not allow connection at the assigned space due to the quality of their 240 volt connection. I assume most Chargers have the same protections.

 

[Maquis]

I have no idea how the various Mobile Chargers react to issues with the 50 amp 240 volt power at an RV park. After a melt down of my incoming power cord on an earlier motorhome I have a "surge protector" permanently installed on my current one. It will handle low & high voltage, dropped neutral, surges, and overheat of the plug. It is not unusual to have low voltage issues especially in older parks. Twice I had to move within a park as the device would not allow connection at the assigned space due to the quality of their 240 volt connection. I assume most Chargers have the same protections.

Most definitely.

The biggest issue is weathered, corroded receptacle contacts which results in the plug and receptacle overheating. Most portable EVSEs (including the Ford Mobile Charger) have a temp sensor in the plug that will throttle charging to prevent a catastrophic meltdown in these cases. And fortunately, low voltage doesn’t damage a charger (unlike a refrigerator or A/C), you just get a slower charge rate.

 

[hturnerfamily]

I have no idea how the various Mobile Chargers react to issues with the 50 amp 240 volt power at an RV park. After a melt down of my incoming power cord on an earlier motorhome...

The 'issues' you might fear are not about 'campground' NEMA 14-50 outlets, but rather the fact that these get used, plugging and unplugging, and breaker tripped off, and on, almost daily... the natural wear and tear of this is part of the issue - not any 'electricity' that is any different versus at your home.

We traveled the country in our Diesel Pusher Motorhome for several years, over 110,000 miles, across this country, thru the Canadian provinces, and thru Alaska... I NEVER had any issue with 'electricity', and never used any type of 'protection', such as the surge protectors that so many espouse... but, there will always be that 'fear' for many...

Campground and RV Park power pedestals provide the same exact power that your home does. 240v power is not 'different' just because it's a campground. Your EVSE will work there just as it does anywhere else.

I used mine yesterday and overnight at a commercial RV park. I'm using another one today at another local RV park, owned and operated by a very small town. They both work.

Matter of fact, I added a 240v outlet within my camper that I can charge the truck from, WHILE the camper is powered from the RV park's NEMA 14-50 outlet, all at the same time... both are operating very well. The RV Park's outlet handles everything.

 

[Firn]

The 'issues' you might fear are not about 'campground' NEMA 14-50 outlets, but rather the fact that these get used, plugging and unplugging, and breaker tripped off, and on, almost daily... the natural wear and tear of this is part of the issue - not any 'electricity' that is any different versus at your home.

We traveled the country in our Diesel Pusher Motorhome for several years, over 110,000 miles, across this country, thru the Canadian provinces, and thru Alaska... I NEVER had any issue with 'electricity', and never used any type of 'protection', such as the surge protectors that so many espouse... but, there will always be that 'fear' for many...

Campground and RV Park power pedestals provide the same exact power that your home does. 240v power is not 'different' just because it's a campground. Your EVSE will work there just as it does anywhere else.

I used mine yesterday and overnight at a commercial RV park. I'm using another one today at another local RV park, owned and operated by a very small town. They both work.

Matter of fact, I added a 240v outlet within my camper that I can charge the truck from, WHILE the camper is powered from the RV park's NEMA 14-50 outlet, all at the same time... both are operating very well. The RV Park's outlet handles everything.

As I understand it, just like your HOME, for compgrounds the panel can support more circuits than the box is rated for. This is allowed because not every circuit will be operating at max capacity continuously.

And just like your HOME an EV does draw continuously. This means that if MULTIPLE EVs are charging the combined load of multiple continious loads can be an issue for a mains panel that was originally designed for a multitude of temporary loads.

You can look at your mains, the circuits in there WELL exceed the main breaker. Just like dropping two EVs one one main can be an issue, multiple EVs on a campground main can cause issues too.

This is combined with the fact that a main usually has a load calculation on it. Now not only does each site have a variable load, you have to consider that typically not all sites will be occupied or have campers that draw a high load.

The restrictions on EVs are not because of money or "how electricity works", it's because the original electric design was based on a series of calculations that multiple "continious" loads screw up.

 

[hturnerfamily]

A Campground or RV Park's MAIN PANEL is not like your home.
(this is not referring to the pedestal at the campground site, which you plug into, but the pedestal MAIN PANEL it is fed from, somewhere on the campground property, usually within several hundred feet, and each site has it's own breaker WITHIN that main panel. The main panel generally serves several sites)

This main panel IS supportive of ALL potential breaker loads, from each and every site, not just 'some' breakers... Your home is different, as it is designed to support many loads at the same time, but, yes, can have more individual breakers that add up to more than the rated MAIN CUT OFF breaker, such as 200amps.

Campground pedestals, though, typically have a 50amp 240v outlet, a 30amp 120v outlet, and a set of 20amp 120v GFCI outlets... and are typically fed back to the Main Panel where they are under a 100amp 240v breaker, for that site's individual circuit, which is PLENTY to handle all the needs of that single site. The main panel, itself, might be under a 600amp main breaker, serving 6 different and individual sites.

Anyone who tells you that campground or RV park outlets 'share' power from a common circuit are just incorrect, though many may continue to believe that.
One of the aspects of camping is that the camper or RVs themselves, with their OWN breaker panels, can trip a breaker WITHIN the camper, when the owner decides to use too much power at one time, such as the air conditioner with the microwave with the converter with the electric water heater...all at the same time.
They then, unfortunately, 'assume' that the campground is the culprit.

Whenever a campground or RV park's site pedestal's breaker DOES trip, the owner may also automatically assume that the campground electrical wasn't designed properly. That's just bunk.
The breaker for the outlet is doing exactly what it is designed for.

Now, can there be a 'weak' or 'overused' campground breaker...ABSOLUTELY.
I've run into this many times, as I know very well that a typical 30amp 120v campground outlet can run both of my 13.5 roof air conditioners at the SAME TIME, but ONLY when the campground's 30amp breaker is newer and has not been weakened by years of use, overuse, and tripping on and off when campers are hooking up and unplugging... this is, unfortunately, very COMMON, and can add to the misunderstanding that many camper owners are faced with when a breaker trips.

I've had campground owner's jaws drop when I proved this to them. When THEIR breaker tripped, I would ask THEM to replace the 30amp breaker at my site, which they would initially balk on...

they had always 'heard' themselves for so many years that there is 'no way' you can do this... but when I convinced them to simply try replacing the 30amp breaker....'VOILA...suddenly both a/c's worked flawlessly and continuously for hours and hours on end.

'Tales' come from many places, and have for many years, and not because people aren't smart, in their own rights, but we, as humans, tend to 'spread' information that we've heard, and not what we've actually learned ourselves.
As a DIY'r, I don't take ANYBODY'S 'tales' as fact. Most of them are untrue, or off-base, at best.

Enjoy! I'm enjoying another RV park today, even using a 50amp extension cord for my camper to reach the 50amp outlet at the power pedestal...

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