Ford Hybrid and Ford Lightning towing

[radar]

Originally Posted by dsrace

thank you for the great info. nice looking set up btw. i like the theory behind a tear drop trailer but i "want" a dry bath. if a wet bath was ok i would've bought a slide in truck camper. you do pretty good on range at your pace and thats great. i'm sure that works well for others as well. i am a little more inclined to hop in and knock 4hrs out at 70 to 75 mph. having said that, i do find myself stopping every 200 miles to top off and stretch. depends on weather/ time of day to be honest. i saw that air stream has designed and prototyped an ev camper. what i read said it can run behind the tow vehichle to help extend an ev's range as well as other things. not sure what kind of special hitch that will require but an interesting thought.

Yah those self propelled trailers are interesting. I’ll bet that airstream will be first out of the gate with a production model. Should be interesting.

[carybosse]

Originally Posted by radar

...We occasionally use public chargers if we want a slow relaxed lunch or maybe shopping break but otherwise probably 75 percent of our charging has been at Superchargers and maybe 20 percent at campgrounds. And we have only stayed at 30 amp sites so far. (50 amp is not that common up here). The other 5 percent was at public stations, the kind he’ll have to use with the lightning.

Infrastructure is getting better and I think there will be big strides made in 2023 and 2024.

Jmho.

When you charge at campgrounds, are you just using the power pedestal at the campsite?

I am thinking that would be 120 volt only for me, as the TT would be using the 30 amp connection.

Most of the campsites I have used had pedestals with both 30 & 50 amp breakers/outlets. I presume since there are 3 breakers (120 Volt standard, 30 Amp RV and 50 Amp RV, that all 3 can be used at the same time. If I was going to full EV, I would figure out a way to utilize all of that power to power both the TT and the EV.

I think that infrastructure in the US will make great strides in 2023/2024. But I think you are going to be looking at 2030 before the infrastructure is really there. I think the recession that is going to hit at the end of this year is really going to hamper progress in general, I think a lack of power plants, lack of power grid, and even a lack of copper is going to slow infrastructure development on the power supply side, and a lack of materials to make EV vehicles is going to restrict the growth of demand for the infrastructure.

It's always a supply/demand issue.

[tuffr2]

I wonder how much copper is used in EV vehicles - maybe copper and lithium go hand in hand.

[Solo_RV_Guy]

Originally Posted by dsrace

unmentioned intentionally, as well as pics of the 2 combined. i say intentionally as normal advertisments would be pissing themselves to get pics and/or video of the truck handling a camper. wonder whats going on with the set up. or its a single axle airstream like the base camp or bambi in wich case it's back down to the tear drop to 18' smaller sized campers. would be interesting to know.

i am not knocking the ford lightening or ev's. i want to make that very clear but i am someone that want real infor from all angles.

its not often but on our last adventure we wound up on questionable roads on our return trip. what shouldnve been 7 hrs wound up taking 9.5 hrs as we ran into 35 mph gusting wind with lots and lots of hills and 4- 6% grades. that took an additional 10 psi of boost so apprx 100hp over normal and dropped mpg's a bit. prob 2hrs before we reached the first town.....not a city a town. this was southern central South dakota. wound up at snake creek camp ground entrence as we came down the last 6% grade lol..... down hill run heading for the river lol

Not sure how you determine "intent" but I think the size was not mentioned because it was superfluous detail in a story about being the first retail delivery, likewise the omission of a photograph that included the camper as it wasn't a story about Airstream. It was also on NPR (the pics look great on radio!) and they're not usually shilling for non-sponsors. If Thor/Airstream wants to sponsor a program, I bet the next time there will be a pic.

I think it's smart to decide if, or when, an EV makes sense for individual drivers. Not everything is the same - not we drivers, not the conditions we drive in, nor the geography we travel. As I said in another post, the ICE has had a great, 100+ year run and there will remain uses for which it will be the preferred power choice. For other uses? Let's see what the next crop of EVs looks like.

[radar]

Originally Posted by carybosse

When you charge at campgrounds, are you just using the power pedestal at the campsite?

I am thinking that would be 120 volt only for me, as the TT would be using the 30 amp connection.

Most of the campsites I have used had pedestals with both 30 & 50 amp breakers/outlets. I presume since there are 3 breakers (120 Volt standard, 30 Amp RV and 50 Amp RV, that all 3 can be used at the same time. If I was going to full EV, I would figure out a way to utilize all of that power to power both the TT and the EV.

I think that infrastructure in the US will make great strides in 2023/2024. But I think you are going to be looking at 2030 before the infrastructure is really there. I think the recession that is going to hit at the end of this year is really going to hamper progress in general, I think a lack of power plants, lack of power grid, and even a lack of copper is going to slow infrastructure development on the power supply side, and a lack of materials to make EV vehicles is going to restrict the growth of demand for the infrastructure.

It's always a supply/demand issue.

I think things are different here than the US in regards to campground service. For example. We have been on the road for 4 weeks crossing 6 provinces. I would say we have been in at least 8 or 9 campgrounds. Only one (a KOA in Sault St Marie I think or maybe Thunder Bay) offered 50 amp service. We have a 30 amp little 18 foot teardrop so we always get 30 amp. Having said that, on over nighters we rarely plug in the trailer. We follow the “one thing plugged in at a campsite” etiquette and just plug in our Tesla via the TT30 adaptor for the Tesla EVSE (charge cable). Over a 12 hour period will take on 25 to 35 kilowatt hours. Usually tops us up for the start of the next day assuming we don’t roll in empty which has never happened.

I have seen pedestals with all three of the breakers you mentioned. But many times it’s just a 30 amp single TT30 receptacle.

Heads up. The TT30 adaptor for the Tesla EVSE is a “smart adaptor”. It knows it is plugged into a 30 amp breaker fed circuit and tells the car to draw no more than 24 amps at 120 volts. HOWEVER, if it sees the voltage drop to 111 volts it will assume there is a voltage drop issue and tell the car to reduce its current draw to 16 amps….and so on and so on. Kinda cool.

Cheers.

[dsrace]

Originally Posted by Solo_RV_Guy

Not sure how you determine "intent" but I think the size was not mentioned because it was superfluous detail in a story about being the first retail delivery, likewise the omission of a photograph that included the camper as it wasn't a story about Airstream. It was also on NPR (the pics look great on radio!) and they're not usually shilling for non-sponsors. If Thor/Airstream wants to sponsor a program, I bet the next time there will be a pic.

I think it's smart to decide if, or when, an EV makes sense for individual drivers. Not everything is the same - not we drivers, not the conditions we drive in, nor the geography we travel. As I said in another post, the ICE has had a great, 100+ year run and there will remain uses for which it will be the preferred power choice. For other uses? Let's see what the next crop of EVs looks like.

"intent" was obvious and self explanatory.

any and all angles to exploit for advertising purposes is every manufacturers goal. on some level you have to know this.....or maybe you don't.


internal combustion engines of all fuel types have had a great run indeed. ev's will never replace them, cannot even compete based on range alone. now it is my belief that ev's and hydrogen are the future. maybe not by choice for everyone but none the less. this sudden spike in ev's imo due to a 12 year plan being changed to a 12 month plan at the last min. that would explain fuel prices as well, or part of that explanation. irregardless, change is on its way, many people will not be able to afford vehicles in the near future and on that front, i believe they will not need as many batteries as people think. toss in hydrogen for decent to long range use hauling decent loads, and it seems more likely. those that live in the cities ( where the vast majority of automotive polution come from) , or those that do not need any real range will most likely pre fer ev's, the rest will need the hydrogen.

[Cumminsfan]

I think we're just on the precipice of EV infrastructure and it won't take as long for the rest of the world to become EV dominant as it will in the US. Americans are stubborn and hate change.
Here's an interesting article on a new charger.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/The-ne....629374.0.html

[CamperLifer]

Originally Posted by easycamper

Yep, the Lightning will be a very stable towing platform.

For 100 miles.

[dizcom]

Originally Posted by radar

We occasionally see V2 150 kw Superchargers but it’s rare. Mostly 250 kw units. Not sure what’s up with your Tesla. Ours pins at 250 kw if we are below 40 percent on the battery. I don’t know anybodies who doesn’t. Is it an older model S maybe?

350 KW stations public station are rare here. Usually if there are 4 Electrify America or Canada stations at a site only one is 350. And Porsche is the only car company that charges over 300 right now.

We have never been to a Tesla charge station that didn’t work on first try.

To each his own. Obviously your experience is different than ours.

You seem out of touch on the speed of Tesla Superchargers. Tesla hasn’t installed v2 150 Kw chargers for 3 years.

Cheers.

They haven't installed the older units, but they haven't been rushing to rip them out either. They could crank those babies up to a bazillion, but that won't make them charge any faster. The maximum intake is set by the car, not the charging station. Anything 150kW or above is going to max out your charging speed. A 250kW station isn't charging your car any faster. You shouldn't see any difference in charging speed at a public station unless you are using the level 1 free charging stations. Yes, I would say our experiences are different! But so is everyone's. Tesla announced several times last year how it's stations were the best. Only they weren't. Kudos to Tesla for being the market leader at one time, but they didn't think it through very well and now the public stations have passed them up. Point being, Tesla charging isn't spoiling anyone.

[radar]

Originally Posted by dizcom

They haven't installed the older units, but they haven't been rushing to rip them out either. They could crank those babies up to a bazillion, but that won't make them charge any faster. The maximum intake is set by the car, not the charging station. Anything 150kW or above is going to max out your charging speed. A 250kW station isn't charging your car any faster. You shouldn't see any difference in charging speed at a public station unless you are using the level 1 free charging stations. Yes, I would say our experiences are different! But so is everyone's. Tesla announced several times last year how it's stations were the best. Only they weren't. Kudos to Tesla for being the market leader at one time, but they didn't think it through very well and now the public stations have passed them up. Point being, Tesla charging isn't spoiling anyone.

Charge times are definitely shorter at 250 kw V3 stations. If we arrive with low state of charge our car will pin at 250 kw before starting to taper as the charge increases. Definitely hangs above 150 kw for awhile. We use them both fairly regularly on road trips when towing.

My guess is you have an older S or X and yah, they were limited on their charge speed.

We also occasionally use Chademos and it’s fairly unusual to find Chademo or CCS above 100 kw in our area and we have literally just pretty much crossed the country. As you said the only 350 kw units are at electrify America or electrify Canada and usually only one of the 4 is 350 kw. The others are 150 kw.

Reliability wise tesla is known to be highly reliable.

Anyway, to each his own.

Cheers.

[IBDAGRIZ]

Originally Posted by radar

Where we are superchargers tend to be spread about an hour and a half to two hours a part. On our cross country 6 province trip if we do a long day we literally stop every hour and a half to two hours to charge for about 20 minutes or so. Fine for us as we are older and we need a stretch and a coffee by then. We have about 7000 kilometres behind us on this trip. About 4500 to go.

What does it cost to charge up every time on average?

Griz

[MSGDLD]

Originally Posted by IBDAGRIZ

What does it cost to charge up every time on average?

Griz

That was my question as I was reading this and noticed it wasn't mentioned. do the work with Credit/Debit cards? is the rate listed in a way you can have an idea how much it will cost? Just wondering.

[radar]

Originally Posted by IBDAGRIZ

What does it cost to charge up every time on average?

Griz

Hi Griz. Looking at our account summary I would say the average is 18 to 28 dollars. Highest was 33 ish and there are a bunch between 6 and 15 dollars probably opportunity charging when we were shopping etc.

All of the campground sites (that weren’t dry camping) have been 30 amp so probably about 20 percent of our charging was at campgrounds. Only one campground had a fee for charging but that was only if you rented a 50 amp site. We follow the “only one thing plugged in at a time” etiquette. RV or EV but not both.

When the trip is over next month we’ll add it all up and see how it all works out. We have kept track of all charging activity and campground expenses.

Hope that helps Griz.

Cheers.

[radar]

Originally Posted by MSGDLD

That was my question as I was reading this and noticed it wasn't mentioned. do the work with Credit/Debit cards? is the rate listed in a way you can have an idea how much it will cost? Just wondering.

Hi MSGDLD. No credit cards or debit cards at superchargers. Just hook up the cable. The car sends the serial number to the cloud and hills your credit card automatically. I can’t post a screen capture right now but when the trip is over we’ll try and post some screen shots of the account etc.

We do occasionally use public networks with an adaptor when we need a little more time for shopping or eating etc. we have done that at least three times on this trip. I think pricing is comparable but haven’t looked at it closely. We have RFID cards for a few public networks and an app for the circuits électrique network in Quebec and the IVY network in Ontario. Our favourite non Tesla networks are FLO and BC hydro (when in BC).

Hope that helps.