Charging at Campgrounds and RV Parks

[doug]

NEMA 14-50 seems to be the dominant cable choice for home brew 220V EV chargers in the US...

Is that the kind of plug used in RV parks in the US, or do they use something else?

[JRP3]

No RV parks and marinas usually use twist lock plugs, normally 120 volt 20 and 30 amp plugs.
Apparently RV's also use a 3 prong plug similar to a dryer plug as well. Bring adapters when traveling.

[donauker]

Is that the kind of plug used in RV parks in the US, or do they use something else?

Yes, the typical 50 amp RV site will have the power outlet box pictured below. It contains 1 NEMA 14-50 - 50 amp 240 volt, 1 TT-30R - 30 amp 120 volt, and your normal 20 amp 120 volt duplex receptacle.



And when you get tired of struggling to remove the plug you get one of these.

[JRP3]

I stand corrected. I never thought they'd use the 14-50 plug for something that needed frequent removal. The handle is a good idea.

[TEG]

Moderator's note: Discussion continues from the Road Trips thread.

The first stop was at 3:20pm at the Pacific Border RV Park, they had a 50amp outlet ...We charged for 2 hours and got 48mi of extra range. We used about 12kWh @.08...

12kWh / 2 hours = 6 kWh per hour. 6000 Wh / 240V = ~25amps...

That also goes along with 53kWh giving you 205 miles, so about 258Wh/mile (53000/205). In two hours you got 48 miles, so yeah, about 12kWh (48*258).

Do you know the exact amps you were using at both the "50 amp capable" campground and the "30 amp capable" campground?

[donauker]

I think it is possible to stop at the Klahanie Campground and charge up for 2hours at 30amp and still make it, or only charge for 1 hour at the border, also the 40amp charger will lower the charge time to 45min.

30 Amp campground connectors are only 120 volt. They only way to utilize these that I am aware of would be adapt it to the MC120 which would only allow 15 amp 120 volt charging.

[ToddLa]

RV parks have two common power hookups
30a/110v NEMA TT-30 plug, or "30amp" for short.
50a/220v NEMA 14-50 plug, or just "50amp" for short.

The manager at the campground said they used to only have 110v/15a outlets until a few years ago!

[TEG]

RV parks have two common power hookups
30a/110v NEMA TT-30 plug, or "30amp" for short...

From the link:

NEMA TT–30 is a 30 A, 125 V recreational vehicle standard which may also be known as RV 30. It is frequently (and sometimes disastrously) confused for a NEMA 10–30.

[ToddLa]

30 Amp campground connectors are only 120 volt. They only way to utilize these that I am aware of would be adapt it to the MC120 which would only allow 15 amp 120 volt charging.

I think the MC240 will work with an adapter like this. then a 2 hour charge up at 30a/120v would give 24mi range.

I have not tried this adapter yet, I dont know if the MC240 will like only getting 120v

[donauker]

I think the MC240 will work with an adapter like this. then a 2 hour charge up at 30a/120v would give 24mi range.

I have not tried this adapter yet, I dont know if the MC240 will like only getting 120v

No, the MC240 will only work with 240 volts. (Center neutral pin in NEMA 14-50 plug is unused.)