Electric Tow Vehicles - Getting close
Used to be a guy on the forum towing a tear drop with a tesla but really not suitable for the vast majority of RVers. We had a young family camp next to us this weekend and something didn't look rig...
Forum Discussion
Officially, it's rated at 460 miles with the bigger battery pack, so 230miles towing sounds plausible.
Not saying it's practical for everyone but honestly, most people don't boondock at all, so that cuts maybe 5-10% of the market. Compared to a few years back when it was limited to tear drops who don't cover many miles per day, this would accommodate a fairly sizable percentage of RVers.
Actually, if you can find a fast charger within say 50miles of where you boondock, it could be an improvement. The truck has an outlet/inverter that could handle the aircon. Charge up, 50 miles to the site, use 50miles worth of battery to run the aircon for the weekend and 50 miles back to the charge station with a 25% margin of error.
I agree cost is still a big stumbling block but just 2-4 yrs ago, even if you were willing to pay the cost, it was practical for maybe 5% of the market. I would guess it's up to 30-40% of the market that would have negligible impacts to how they travel.
the only real big issue I saw last year, is campgrounds up here were not allowing a ev to plug into the power at the site, or they were charging them a tone extra if they did. now that's just wat I saw the few times I did go to a campground and what was passed on to me by friends. the one place a group was made to pack up and leave because they had their tesla plugged in, I guess the manager told them they couldn't and they did anyways
Of course, you should offer to pay for the electricity. If it's hot, you might burn thru 25kwh running the aircon. A big truck on empty, could suck up 100-150kwh. At $0.25/kwh, that's $25-40 in electricity.
yup, that's why I have no issue with campground banning them if they chose, or putting a hefty surcharge on them, but I would rather see them banned and save that 50 amp spot for some one who needs it to camp over someone with a tent that just wants to plug their car in.
This is a legitimate concern but depends heavily on how fast the market shift happens. If in 2yrs, we have 30% using EVs, it will be a big issue. If it takes 15yrs, there is time to adapt.
Pretty much all new RV parks or rebuilds switch to 50amp service. So long as the system isn't overloaded, a $50 surcharge for electricity is going to be an attractive income booster for many parks.
Probably the biggest issue is many early EV adopters have treated electricity consumption as a right and try not to pay for it. That leaves a bad taste with park owners. When it's 1-2 people a month doing it, banning is an easy option. If they have to turn away several customers a day, finding a way to charge or it, makes a lot more sense.
