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Our most used adapters when towing with an Electric Vehicle.

Reisender
Nomad
Nomad
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.
39 REPLIES 39

dedmiston
Moderator
Moderator
Thanks for the info on the adapters, Riesender.

2014 RAM 3500 Diesel 4x4 Dually long bed. B&W RVK3600 hitch • 2015 Crossroads Elevation Homestead Toy Hauler ("The Taj Mahauler") • <\br >Toys:

  • 18 Can Am Maverick x3
  • 05 Yamaha WR450
  • 07 Honda CRF250X
  • 05 Honda CRF230
  • 06 Honda CRF230

dodge_guy
Explorer II
Explorer II
Reisender wrote:
dodge guy wrote:
Reisender wrote:
dodge guy wrote:
shelbyfv wrote:
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.


It’s not irrelevant! Let’s see how happy you are traveling 160 miles a day!

F150 Lightning tow test!


I know nothing about the Ford lightning. But when we were crossing the prairies and part of northern Ontario with our EV RV combo a typical day was 500 to 600 kilometres which is pretty much the norm for us. I haven’t watched the ford video. What was the problem?


86 miles per charge towing a 6k lb TT. With a 1 1/2 hour charge time. Not getting very far with a traditional setup!


Wow. Those suckers charge slow. Just looked it up and they only charge at 150 kw. Wonder why they picked that. Probably some tech reason beyond my pay grade. :).

Typical charge time for us is 20 to 30 minutes although at lunch we are usually closer to 40 minutes by the time we eat, walk the chihuahua and so on. We almost always get a charging finished text from the charger before we are finished lunch.

No idea what our max range is although it’s probably around 220 kilometres. Our stops are determined by distance between superchargers which varies. We also use public DC fast charging if it’s convenient. Lotsa variables.

I bet you’ll see ford step up that charging rate in the next year or two. They should be hitting at least 250 kw and shooting for 300 or 350 kw. Our SUV with a battery a third smaller hits 250 kw at a lower state of charge. Should be interesting to watch develop.

Just a guess. Really no idea.

Cheers.


When you fast charge a battery you shorten it’s life. The more often you do it the less time it will last under the car. The slower the charge the better it is for the battery.

BTW, I’m case anyone is wondering, This comes from someone that has been to school and has/is working on hybrids!

I’m not against them as they have their place. But they are still in their infancy and require years of use/operation and learning to become as good as the ICE!
Wife Kim
Son Brandon 17yrs
Daughter Marissa 16yrs
Dog Bailey

12 Forest River Georgetown 350TS Hellwig sway bars, BlueOx TrueCenter stabilizer

13 Ford Explorer Roadmaster Stowmaster 5000, VIP Tow>
A bad day camping is
better than a good day at work!

dodge_guy
Explorer II
Explorer II
shelbyfv wrote:
dodge guy wrote:
shelbyfv wrote:
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.


It’s not irrelevant! Let’s see how happy you are traveling 160 miles a day!

F150 Lightning tow test!
Check the thread title.:S


At the time I posted my response we were beyond the thread title! :R
Wife Kim
Son Brandon 17yrs
Daughter Marissa 16yrs
Dog Bailey

12 Forest River Georgetown 350TS Hellwig sway bars, BlueOx TrueCenter stabilizer

13 Ford Explorer Roadmaster Stowmaster 5000, VIP Tow>
A bad day camping is
better than a good day at work!

shelbyfv
Explorer
Explorer
dodge guy wrote:
shelbyfv wrote:
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.


It’s not irrelevant! Let’s see how happy you are traveling 160 miles a day!

F150 Lightning tow test!
Check the thread title.:S

pianotuna
Nomad III
Nomad III
dodge guy wrote:
It’s not irrelevant! Let’s see how happy you are traveling 160 miles a day!

F150 Lightning tow test!


7 day 6 night trips are what I most often do. The total mileage is less than 700 miles and the longest "leg" is 120 miles. I'd be perfectly happy with 160 miles.

So for me the distance would be a non issue.
Regards, Don
My ride is a 28 foot Class C, 256 watts solar, 556 amp-hours of Telcom jars, 3000 watt Magnum hybrid inverter, Sola Basic Autoformer, Microair Easy Start.

Gdetrailer
Explorer III
Explorer III
wa8yxm 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.


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.


:R

The gas pump "adapter" happened ONCE and once only and that was during the EPA mandated Leaded to UNLEADED gas changeover because of EPA emissions reduction via cat converters.

The "adapter" came about since vehicles that required unleaded gas also had a smaller fuel pump nozzle hole. Pumps with leaded gas and nozzles would not fit into a unleaded filler. The adapter was only if you ran into a station that did not have a unleaded pump.. Doubt too many folks who bought that adapter ever used it.. In other words not critical.

As the OP has pointed out, the electrical adapters they showed out are the critical ones that may be needed if the only way to charge is from campground or residential electric..

Back to the thread..

StirCrazy
Navigator
Navigator
dodge guy wrote:
Reisender wrote:
dodge guy wrote:
shelbyfv wrote:
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.


It’s not irrelevant! Let’s see how happy you are traveling 160 miles a day!

F150 Lightning tow test!


I know nothing about the Ford lightning. But when we were crossing the prairies and part of northern Ontario with our EV RV combo a typical day was 500 to 600 kilometres which is pretty much the norm for us. I haven’t watched the ford video. What was the problem?


86 miles per charge towing a 6k lb TT. With a 1 1/2 hour charge time. Not getting very far with a traditional setup!


put the same trailer the op is using behind it and it will probably have more range than they get. the charging speed is a bit disapointing but it is because they are using a 400V battery system so you cant put as high of charge voltage with outmaking heat, but there is suposed to be an anouncment this year so hopefully it is a updated system to compensate for this.

Steve
2014 F350 6.7 Platinum
2016 Cougar 330RBK
1991 Slumberqueen WS100

Reisender
Nomad
Nomad
dodge guy wrote:
Reisender wrote:
dodge guy wrote:
shelbyfv wrote:
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.


It’s not irrelevant! Let’s see how happy you are traveling 160 miles a day!

F150 Lightning tow test!


I know nothing about the Ford lightning. But when we were crossing the prairies and part of northern Ontario with our EV RV combo a typical day was 500 to 600 kilometres which is pretty much the norm for us. I haven’t watched the ford video. What was the problem?


86 miles per charge towing a 6k lb TT. With a 1 1/2 hour charge time. Not getting very far with a traditional setup!


Wow. Those suckers charge slow. Just looked it up and they only charge at 150 kw. Wonder why they picked that. Probably some tech reason beyond my pay grade. :).

Typical charge time for us is 20 to 30 minutes although at lunch we are usually closer to 40 minutes by the time we eat, walk the chihuahua and so on. We almost always get a charging finished text from the charger before we are finished lunch.

No idea what our max range is although it’s probably around 220 kilometres. Our stops are determined by distance between superchargers which varies. We also use public DC fast charging if it’s convenient. Lotsa variables.

I bet you’ll see ford step up that charging rate in the next year or two. They should be hitting at least 250 kw and shooting for 300 or 350 kw. Our SUV with a battery a third smaller hits 250 kw at a lower state of charge. Should be interesting to watch develop.

Just a guess. Really no idea.

Cheers.

dodge_guy
Explorer II
Explorer II
Reisender wrote:
dodge guy wrote:
shelbyfv wrote:
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.


It’s not irrelevant! Let’s see how happy you are traveling 160 miles a day!

F150 Lightning tow test!


I know nothing about the Ford lightning. But when we were crossing the prairies and part of northern Ontario with our EV RV combo a typical day was 500 to 600 kilometres which is pretty much the norm for us. I haven’t watched the ford video. What was the problem?


86 miles per charge towing a 6k lb TT. With a 1 1/2 hour charge time. Not getting very far with a traditional setup!
Wife Kim
Son Brandon 17yrs
Daughter Marissa 16yrs
Dog Bailey

12 Forest River Georgetown 350TS Hellwig sway bars, BlueOx TrueCenter stabilizer

13 Ford Explorer Roadmaster Stowmaster 5000, VIP Tow>
A bad day camping is
better than a good day at work!

Reisender
Nomad
Nomad
dedmiston wrote:
Thanks for the helpful info, Reisender.

Sorry that the EV threads so often go off the tracks.


Our pleasure.

Cheers.

dedmiston
Moderator
Moderator
Thanks for the helpful info, Reisender.

Sorry that the EV threads so often go off the tracks.

2014 RAM 3500 Diesel 4x4 Dually long bed. B&W RVK3600 hitch • 2015 Crossroads Elevation Homestead Toy Hauler ("The Taj Mahauler") • <\br >Toys:

  • 18 Can Am Maverick x3
  • 05 Yamaha WR450
  • 07 Honda CRF250X
  • 05 Honda CRF230
  • 06 Honda CRF230

Reisender
Nomad
Nomad
dodge guy wrote:
shelbyfv wrote:
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.


It’s not irrelevant! Let’s see how happy you are traveling 160 miles a day!

F150 Lightning tow test!


I know nothing about the Ford lightning. But when we were crossing the prairies and part of northern Ontario with our EV RV combo a typical day was 500 to 600 kilometres which is pretty much the norm for us. I haven’t watched the ford video. What was the problem?

dodge_guy
Explorer II
Explorer II
shelbyfv wrote:
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.


It’s not irrelevant! Let’s see how happy you are traveling 160 miles a day!

F150 Lightning tow test!
Wife Kim
Son Brandon 17yrs
Daughter Marissa 16yrs
Dog Bailey

12 Forest River Georgetown 350TS Hellwig sway bars, BlueOx TrueCenter stabilizer

13 Ford Explorer Roadmaster Stowmaster 5000, VIP Tow>
A bad day camping is
better than a good day at work!

pianotuna
Nomad III
Nomad III
After thinking about my winter consumption, I realized it is less than 50% of what a 50 amp pedestal can provide. Therefore an EV would not be an issue.
Regards, Don
My ride is a 28 foot Class C, 256 watts solar, 556 amp-hours of Telcom jars, 3000 watt Magnum hybrid inverter, Sola Basic Autoformer, Microair Easy Start.