Things I forgot to bring on towing road trip

[RickKeen]

On my road trip towing my boat this past weekend, there were some things I wish I had brought with me:

• Wheel chocks to use when its necessary to unhitch the trailer during charging in a parking lot that might not be exactly level. I ended up improvising using an extra set of shoes as chocks.
  
  
• Means to secure the trailer when unhitched and sitting there all alone when charging. I was a little nervous about somebody stealing it when I needed to leave it unattended to take a bio break. I purchased a padlock at our first stop at Target as minimal security for the trailer. Normally I secure my boat trailers with a heavy chain threaded through the wheel spokes and around the frame.
  
  
• We were staying at a lake cabin resort that also had RV spots and they offered to let me use a vacant RV hookup to charge. Lucky they had 50amp hookups that were directly compatible with the Ford mobile charger I had with me.
  If the resort had only been wired with 30 amp hookups, I would have needed an adapter and a mobile charger that could dial down to the lower amperage.
  (edited because as discussed in the thread below, it turns out the truck can only take 12 amps at 120v regardless).
  
  
• A 50 amp NEMA extension cord would have been handy to avoid parking on the grass to get close enough.

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[mrau]

If the resort had only been wired with 30 amp hookups, I would have needed an adapter and a mobile charge

All good tips.

BTW, a 30 amp outlet at a campground is only 120 volts. So it would only charge a bit faster than a regular 120 volt 15 amp outlet. Probably not worth trouble finding an adapter and a charger that can work on the 30 amp. Now the 50 amps are all 240 volts and the better way to go.

 

[RocketGhost]

Is there a mobile charger that has a switch to adjust output, and then you can just use off the shelf plug adapters as necessary? I haven't found one, but I haven't looked that hard. That would give you the most flexibility. Of course you have a safety risk of setting the output too high, vs. ones like Ford and Tesla that set the output based on detected plug type.

 

[tls]

All good tips.

BTW, a 30 amp outlet at a campground is only 120 volts. So it would only charge a bit faster than a regular 120 volt 15 amp outlet. Probably not worth trouble finding an adapter and a charger that can work on the 30 amp. Now the 50 amps are all 240 volts and the better way to go.

Doesn't the truck's firmware limit 120V charging to 12A no matter what the EVSE says is available? So it's actually worse than with other EVs - even if a 30A 120V outlet is available, it will be used as if it were 15A.

 

[mrau]

Doesn't the truck's firmware limit 120V charging to 12A no matter what the EVSE says is available?

I don't know if the truck itself can limit the charging amps on 120v.

There are some EVSE that have a TT30 pigtail and can output 24 amps on 120v. (J+Booster, Tesla after market). Not sure if any members have tried these and what their results were.

 

[EliPNW]

Is there a mobile charger that has a switch to adjust output, and then you can just use off the shelf plug adapters as necessary? I haven't found one, but I haven't looked that hard. That would give you the most flexibility. Of course you have a safety risk of setting the output too high, vs. ones like Ford and Tesla that set the output based on detected plug type.

I use the J+ Booster 2 for being able to control the output: https://www.amazon.com/Electric-Por...mzn1.fos.1740e8b9-be2d-46a4-a376-9d8efb903409

 

[RickKeen]

12 x 120 = 1.4 kW which will get you 65 kWh in a weekend which is 20-80% on the SR. Would need a 3 day weekend for 20-80% on the ER.

"Hey Boss, I need to spend another couple of days here at the fishing resort on the lake while my truck charges. Will be back in the office on Wednesday. Thanks."

 

[Adventureboy]

Doesn't the truck's firmware limit 120V charging to 12A no matter what the EVSE says is available? So it's actually worse than with other EVs - even if a 30A 120V outlet is available, it will be used as if it were 15A.

The truck doesn't limit the charge rate, the EVSE does. When you plug the EVSE to the truck, the truck asks how much current it can draw, and the EVSE answers with its capacity. The truck will not exceed the amperage answered by the EVSE.

Most EVSEs have only a NEMA 5-15 plug for L1 and the EVSE limits to 12A (80% of the 5-15 15 amp rating). Some EVSEs like the Tesla Mobile Charger can have the TT-30 dongle which tells the EVSE it can broadcast 24 amp capacity to the truck and the truck will be happy to take it. 24 amp at 120v is 2.8kw (probably around 2.5kw to the battery).

Generic adjustable EVSEs generally limit the capacity to 12 amps (or less) when they see 120V since the vast majority of them do not have dongles that tell them what type of outlet they are connected to, but rather, use plug adapters. There may be exceptions.

 

[RickKeen]

Yeah, I got lucky they had 50 amp x 240v hookups available at the resort I was at.

 

[tls]

Doesn't the truck's firmware limit 120V charging to 12A no matter what the EVSE says is available? So it's actually worse than with other EVs - even if a 30A 120V outlet is available, it will be used as if it were 15A.

The truck doesn't limit the charge rate, the EVSE does. When you plug the EVSE to the truck, the truck asks how much current it can draw, and the EVSE answers with its capacity. The truck will not exceed the amperage answered by the EVSE.

Yeah? Try it and find out.

Unless there has been a firmware change since I last checked this, the F150L will never draw more than 12A at 120V no matter what the EVSE says is available.

It is easy to test this with any reasonable-quality mobile connector (in other words: not Ford's). Try it with a gen1 or gen2 Tesla mobile connector, for example. I am pretty sure you will find, as I did, that whether the EVSE offers 18A (5-20 plug) or 24A (TT-30 plug, etc.) the F150 will never draw more than 12A at 120V.

 

[RickLightning]

The truck doesn't limit the charge rate, the EVSE does. When you plug the EVSE to the truck, the truck asks how much current it can draw, and the EVSE answers with its capacity. The truck will not exceed the amperage answered by the EVSE.

Most EVSEs have only a NEMA 5-15 plug for L1 and the EVSE limits to 12A (80% of the 5-15 15 amp rating). Some EVSEs like the Tesla Mobile Charger can have the TT-30 dongle which tells the EVSE it can broadcast 24 amp capacity to the truck and the truck will be happy to take it. 24 amp at 120v is 2.8kw (probably around 2.5kw to the battery).

Generic adjustable EVSEs generally limit the capacity to 12 amps (or less) when they see 120V since the vast majority of them do not have dongles that tell them what type of outlet they are connected to, but rather, use plug adapters. There may be exceptions.

The Mach-E limits 120v charging to 12 amps, regardless of what charger you use. I can't see any reason the truck would be different.

 

[hturnerfamily]

you generally only have TWO choices at campgrounds, with 'Full Hookups', as they are referred to in the RVing and Camping worlds:

-50amp 240v is exactly the same as your home's NEMA 14-50 female outlet, and the Ford EVSE's NEMA 14-50 male plug, for a Level 2 charge.

-30amp 120v campground outlets are NOT a 240v outlet, as some would assume. It is simply a higher AMPERAGE 120v outlet. You can use this, yes, with a 30amp 120v to 15amp 120v adapter, with your Ford EVSE's 120v plug end. You will still ONLY receive the Ford EVSE's basic 120v charging amperage, for a trickle charge.

-(thirdly)the regular 'household' 15/20amp 120v at most campground pedestals also can be used with your Ford EVSE's 120v plug end. Trickle charge

**********BUT... if you get really customized and have the option of using TWO campground 30amp 120v outlets, such as two adjoining campsites, you can actually use these two outlets with a 50amp to DUAL 30amp 'Y' Adapter, making 240v power output, and therefore use your Ford EVSE's 240v NEMA 14-50 male plug, for level two charging.
Now, in this case, since the Ford EVSE is NOT adjustable, amperage wise, you might trip one or both of the 30amp 120v breakers IF they cannot handle the AMPERAGE required being so close to their maximum. Some will, some won't. An ADJUSTABLE EVSE is prime for this type of scenario, and I'VE USED IT SUCCESSFULLY IN THIS EXACT SAME SCENARIO.

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