Our most used adapters when towing with an Electric Vehicle.

[Reisender]

Hi folks. I had to take a pic for the Facebook EV towing group so I thought I would post it on the forums as well although I don't think there are many on this forum towing with an EV. This is more specifically aimed at those EV’s using the Tesla mobile charge cable but since any EV can use a tesla mobile cable (with a J1772 adapter) I’ll direct this at all EV’s. I know the Ford Lightning dudes are getting the Tesla mcu for their travel kits. And remember, ask permission, follow the rules and follow the one thing at a time plugged in etiquette.

Anyway. If you are just starting your EV tow vehicle journey wether that be with a Rivian, a Lightning or a Tesla these are the adaptors we have used most often over the last 12000 kilometres of towing with an EV using our Tesla EVSE seen in the picture. Obviously this has to do with charging from an AC source like houses, campgrounds etc. DC fast charging is another topic.

So From left to right.

14-50 Good for max 32 amps at 240 volts on a 50 amp pedestal.

5-15. Good for 12 amps at 120 volts on a standard 15 amp receptacle.

5-20. Good for 16 amps at 120 volts on a standard 20 receptacle (getting really common on pedestals and it seems to be getting common in driveways as well.

TT30. Good enough for 24 amps at 120 volt on a standard 30 amp RV pedestal.

Keep in mind that if the line voltage sags the EVSE (charge cable) will detect this and lower the charge by either 25 or 50 percent depending how low it is.

By far and away the most useful was the TT30 as 50 amp receptacles are rare up here in the places we camp.






And of course the best way is still at a DC fast charger.



Hope this is useful for newbies towing with an EV. There are other dongle adaptors available if you have access to welder plugs etc but these were our most commonly used.

[shelbyfv]

Wow. OP posts info useful to other EV owners. The usual goobers jump in with three pages of irrelevant "EVs won't never work." LOL for sure. Kudos to OP for handling the snipes with such grace.

[Reisender]

valhalla360 wrote:

Reisender wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

Lwiddis wrote:
If you are renting a 30 amp site, you are entitled to use 30 amps…A/C, charging, whatever.

But are you entitled?

A short burst at 30amps to kick over the air/con compressor, sure.
A steady draw at 30amps for hours, I suspect the owner may not agree when the electric bill comes due or when they get complaints about the park having power outages.

Now, it may be that the owner needs to update their rules to clarify what is and is not allowed (and I've seen owners put out similar rules for things like outdoor fridges) but this is far outside the expected usage for a 30amp site. A stray EV charges once a month, probably never makes it onto their radar. This doesn't imply it's fair to abuse the system just that the owner may not be aware of the issue.

Unfortunately, as we move beyond early adopters, this is likely the attitude that will prevail leading to bad relations with EV owners. (Reisender on the other hand has indicated, he discusses with the owner and limits his use to not be one of the "entitled" EV owners).

Good morning Valhalla.

Keep in mind that the max the car can pull is 24 amps on a 30 amp site.

I do believe over a 12 hour period our car will draw more power than our trailer. But when our trailer is plugged in the fridge, hydronic heating and hot water are all running on electric and that definitely adds up. For us it comes down to a convenience decision. Use more propane and plug in the car or vice versa. It is convenient though to charge the car in the campground. But once the initial top up is done we typically only go thru 6 to 10 kWh in the car as we are touring the area. We stayed a week in a campground in Quebec and it was about that. So about a buck a day of power.

Just some context on real world use.

Yeah, I didn't want to go down the rabbit hole of 30amp being 24amp in reality. Still far more than the typical RV is going to pull if you roll in on the proverbial fumes and want to charge up before heading out the next day.

Based on your statements on prior threads, you are keeping the management aware of what you are going and you aren't abusing the system.

I strongly suspect once we get past the early adopters, far more will take Lwiddis' approach that they paid for 30amps, so they are "entitled" to it. At that point, I expect a lot of pushback. The only saving grace is I believe EV based RVs are going to remain rare for a long time. Most likely we will see EV TOADS arriving in larger numbers first.

Yah I wouldn’t be surprised. And 50 amp sites are another thing although we don’t use them unless that is all that’s available. I’ve seen one place that had a charging surcharge for a 50 amp site. It might be worth it the first night but not after that.

[valhalla360]

Reisender wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

Lwiddis wrote:
If you are renting a 30 amp site, you are entitled to use 30 amps…A/C, charging, whatever.

But are you entitled?

A short burst at 30amps to kick over the air/con compressor, sure.
A steady draw at 30amps for hours, I suspect the owner may not agree when the electric bill comes due or when they get complaints about the park having power outages.

Now, it may be that the owner needs to update their rules to clarify what is and is not allowed (and I've seen owners put out similar rules for things like outdoor fridges) but this is far outside the expected usage for a 30amp site. A stray EV charges once a month, probably never makes it onto their radar. This doesn't imply it's fair to abuse the system just that the owner may not be aware of the issue.

Unfortunately, as we move beyond early adopters, this is likely the attitude that will prevail leading to bad relations with EV owners. (Reisender on the other hand has indicated, he discusses with the owner and limits his use to not be one of the "entitled" EV owners).

Good morning Valhalla.

Keep in mind that the max the car can pull is 24 amps on a 30 amp site.

I do believe over a 12 hour period our car will draw more power than our trailer. But when our trailer is plugged in the fridge, hydronic heating and hot water are all running on electric and that definitely adds up. For us it comes down to a convenience decision. Use more propane and plug in the car or vice versa. It is convenient though to charge the car in the campground. But once the initial top up is done we typically only go thru 6 to 10 kWh in the car as we are touring the area. We stayed a week in a campground in Quebec and it was about that. So about a buck a day of power.

Just some context on real world use.

Yeah, I didn't want to go down the rabbit hole of 30amp being 24amp in reality. Still far more than the typical RV is going to pull if you roll in on the proverbial fumes and want to charge up before heading out the next day.

Based on your statements on prior threads, you are keeping the management aware of what you are going and you aren't abusing the system.

I strongly suspect once we get past the early adopters, far more will take Lwiddis' approach that they paid for 30amps, so they are "entitled" to it. At that point, I expect a lot of pushback. The only saving grace is I believe EV based RVs are going to remain rare for a long time. Most likely we will see EV TOADS arriving in larger numbers first.

[PButler96]

Reisender wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

Lwiddis wrote:
If you are renting a 30 amp site, you are entitled to use 30 amps…A/C, charging, whatever.

But are you entitled?

A short burst at 30amps to kick over the air/con compressor, sure.
A steady draw at 30amps for hours, I suspect the owner may not agree when the electric bill comes due or when they get complaints about the park having power outages.

Now, it may be that the owner needs to update their rules to clarify what is and is not allowed (and I've seen owners put out similar rules for things like outdoor fridges) but this is far outside the expected usage for a 30amp site. A stray EV charges once a month, probably never makes it onto their radar. This doesn't imply it's fair to abuse the system just that the owner may not be aware of the issue.

Unfortunately, as we move beyond early adopters, this is likely the attitude that will prevail leading to bad relations with EV owners. (Reisender on the other hand has indicated, he discusses with the owner and limits his use to not be one of the "entitled" EV owners).

Good morning Valhalla.

Keep in mind that the max the car can pull is 24 amps on a 30 amp site.

I do believe over a 12 hour period our car will draw more power than our trailer. But when our trailer is plugged in the fridge, hydronic heating and hot water are all running on electric and that definitely adds up. For us it comes down to a convenience decision. Use more propane and plug in the car or vice versa. It is convenient though to charge the car in the campground. But once the initial top up is done we typically only go thru 6 to 10 kWh in the car as we are touring the area. We stayed a week in a campground in Quebec and it was about that. So about a buck a day of power.

Just some context on real world use.

And just like that the Yard hand throws the wrong switch at the junction, sending the highballin train down the wrong track towards the washed out bridge.

[pianotuna]

When I was full time, in winter I would rent a 50 amp site. (really 100 amps, 50 on each leg). I used a peak of 7100 watts, and averaged about 4300 watts. Total consumption for the day was iirc about 103 kwh.

I have a break out box that yields one 30 amp and two 20 amp outlets with breakers. My autoformer would go on the 30 amp.

That was far more energy than charging an EV. But less than 50% of what a 50 amp pedestal can provide.

[Grit_dog]

wa8yxm wrote:


Well. you are mistaken.. I've seen adapters for just that use. (Though they are rare these days) In the old days some cars could only use one of.. generally. 3 pumps. or else they had to use an adapter.

There are other considerations as well. Today I can not use one of three gasoline pumps with my Ride.. (The other two work fine) And it's best not to try and adapt. (I might get away with it for say a half mile but I truly don't wish to try it)

And this is a high-gasoline-usage month for me.

What on earth are you talking about? Lol

[Reisender]

valhalla360 wrote:

Lwiddis wrote:
If you are renting a 30 amp site, you are entitled to use 30 amps…A/C, charging, whatever.

But are you entitled?

A short burst at 30amps to kick over the air/con compressor, sure.
A steady draw at 30amps for hours, I suspect the owner may not agree when the electric bill comes due or when they get complaints about the park having power outages.

Now, it may be that the owner needs to update their rules to clarify what is and is not allowed (and I've seen owners put out similar rules for things like outdoor fridges) but this is far outside the expected usage for a 30amp site. A stray EV charges once a month, probably never makes it onto their radar. This doesn't imply it's fair to abuse the system just that the owner may not be aware of the issue.

Unfortunately, as we move beyond early adopters, this is likely the attitude that will prevail leading to bad relations with EV owners. (Reisender on the other hand has indicated, he discusses with the owner and limits his use to not be one of the "entitled" EV owners).

Good morning Valhalla.

Keep in mind that the max the car can pull is 24 amps on a 30 amp site.

I do believe over a 12 hour period our car will draw more power than our trailer. But when our trailer is plugged in the fridge, hydronic heating and hot water are all running on electric and that definitely adds up. For us it comes down to a convenience decision. Use more propane and plug in the car or vice versa. It is convenient though to charge the car in the campground. But once the initial top up is done we typically only go thru 6 to 10 kWh in the car as we are touring the area. We stayed a week in a campground in Quebec and it was about that. So about a buck a day of power.

Just some context on real world use.

[valhalla360]

Lwiddis wrote:
If you are renting a 30 amp site, you are entitled to use 30 amps…A/C, charging, whatever.

But are you entitled?

A short burst at 30amps to kick over the air/con compressor, sure.
A steady draw at 30amps for hours, I suspect the owner may not agree when the electric bill comes due or when they get complaints about the park having power outages.

Now, it may be that the owner needs to update their rules to clarify what is and is not allowed (and I've seen owners put out similar rules for things like outdoor fridges) but this is far outside the expected usage for a 30amp site. A stray EV charges once a month, probably never makes it onto their radar. This doesn't imply it's fair to abuse the system just that the owner may not be aware of the issue.

Unfortunately, as we move beyond early adopters, this is likely the attitude that will prevail leading to bad relations with EV owners. (Reisender on the other hand has indicated, he discusses with the owner and limits his use to not be one of the "entitled" EV owners).

[dodge_guy]

A few more of these towing and in campgrounds, the rate is going up $20-$30 per night! Hopefully just for the EV TV’s!

[Reisender]

Fisherman wrote:

Reisender wrote:

Fisherman wrote:
It's a good thing we don't need adapters to put energy in our gas or diesel tanks. Nothing worse than having proprietary plugs and receptacles to achieve the goal of charging batteries. Similar to all the different versions of plugs for electronic gadgets.

Good morning Fisherman. You may have misunderstood. These are all standard AC receptacles in a campground. It just allows the vehicle owner to plug into various common outlets on the AC side. None of those receptacles are proprietary.

Hope that helps.

Partially, I'm aware of the different 120 15/20/30 amp plugs and 240 15/20/etc. Do all the EV's have the same receptacle on the vehicle?

Yes and no. So in this topic we have been talking about charging at a campground or family or friends driveway or whatever. That is called L1 (120 volt) or L2 (240 volt) charging and it essentially uses a charge cable that plugs into the campground pedestal or wall or whatever and delivers either 120 or 240 volt AC power to the cars charger via a common J1772 protocol connecter. All EV’s including Tesla use the J1772 protocol for L1 or L2 charging. Teslas plug is shaped different because it uses the same plug for AC and DC, but Tesla gives you a sleeve that fits over the J1772 connector so it works with Teslas too.

DC fast charging is a different animal and that involves a couple different adapters. Happy to discuss it but maybe best not to do it on this thread as it will get confusing and doesn’t come into play in the campground.

Cheers.

[Fisherman]

Reisender wrote:

Fisherman wrote:
It's a good thing we don't need adapters to put energy in our gas or diesel tanks. Nothing worse than having proprietary plugs and receptacles to achieve the goal of charging batteries. Similar to all the different versions of plugs for electronic gadgets.

Good morning Fisherman. You may have misunderstood. These are all standard AC receptacles in a campground. It just allows the vehicle owner to plug into various common outlets on the AC side. None of those receptacles are proprietary.

Hope that helps.

Partially, I'm aware of the different 120 15/20/30 amp plugs and 240 15/20/etc. Do all the EV's have the same receptacle on the vehicle?

[wa8yxm]

Fisherman wrote:
It's a good thing we don't need adapters to put energy in our gas or diesel tanks. Nothing worse than having proprietary plugs and receptacles to achieve the goal of charging batteries. Similar to all the different versions of plugs for electronic gadgets.

Well. you are mistaken.. I've seen adapters for just that use. (Though they are rare these days) In the old days some cars could only use one of.. generally. 3 pumps. or else they had to use an adapter.

There are other considerations as well. Today I can not use one of three gasoline pumps with my Ride.. (The other two work fine) And it's best not to try and adapt. (I might get away with it for say a half mile but I truly don't wish to try it)

And this is a high-gasoline-usage month for me.

[Lwiddis]

If you are renting a 30 amp site, you are entitled to use 30 amps…A/C, charging, whatever.

[Reisender]

Fisherman wrote:
It's a good thing we don't need adapters to put energy in our gas or diesel tanks. Nothing worse than having proprietary plugs and receptacles to achieve the goal of charging batteries. Similar to all the different versions of plugs for electronic gadgets.

Good morning Fisherman. You may have misunderstood. These are all standard AC receptacles in a campground. It just allows the vehicle owner to plug into various common outlets on the AC side. None of those receptacles are proprietary.

Hope that helps.

[Fisherman]

It's a good thing we don't need adapters to put energy in our gas or diesel tanks. Nothing worse than having proprietary plugs and receptacles to achieve the goal of charging batteries. Similar to all the different versions of plugs for electronic gadgets.