Questions about L2 Charging at campsites?

[mhigley]

FIRST: NEVER try to plug the unmodified evse/cord into an RV style plug.

I am starting to use RV campsites for my primary means of charging on my trips north from the Kansas City area. I had my cord modified by http://www.evseupgrade.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and I got an adapter from http://www.evseadapters.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; so I can now L2 charge at campsites with RV plugs.

I successfully lobbied a City run RV park to give me an hourly rate of 50 cents an hour. I am now starting to charge at State run campsites on the Kansas and Missouri border. These camp sites pretty much sit empty for the most part except on a few holidays during the summer months. These sites are on the honor system and provide envelopes for payment.

I have a few questions:

1) Should I leave well enough alone and just go on charging and putting a couple dollars in the provided envelopes or lobby the State to give electric cars an hourly rate? I am concerned a State worker might ask me to pay a full day rate. It would also be a boost for our State Parks that don't see much use most of the time.

2) Does anyone else live in a State where this has come up?

3) If you charge at campsites, do you negotiate an hourly fee? If so how much?

 

[abasile]

This past winter we tent camped at the Calico/Barstow KOA in the California desert. They normally charge a flat $10 for an EV charge, and an overnight stay is not required. I think most, if not nearly all, of their EV customers have been Tesla owners due to their distance from the major cities. Given that, $10 is probably not way out of line. We've stayed overnight at other RV sites where there is no additional charge to plug in an EV.

It's hard to say whether it would be worth your trouble to lobby for an EV rate. I would recommend, however, that you leave a note at the campsite explaining what you are doing in case any state personnel wonder what's going on. You of course would not want anyone to think you are camping without paying your fair share. Maybe put in more than just a couple of dollars since it costs them something to keep the infrastructure maintained; it's not just a matter of the electricity costs.

 

[davewill]

I'd go ahead and lobby to get it official. You might manage to do this forever without being confronted, but it would be better to get it set. What is the regular overnight rate? (is there a day rate?) A couple of dollars might be a little light, but since the city seemed happy with $0.50 an hour, it's probably a good starting point.

The only fly in the ointment would be if you were to occupy a space when the campground is otherwise full, keeping an overnight camper from occupying the space...which seems unlikely considering they don't consider it worthwhile to staff the location.

 

[mhigley]

The overnight rate at this park is $19.

The only fly in the ointment would be if you were to occupy a space when the campground is otherwise full, keeping an overnight camper from occupying the space...which seems unlikely considering they don't consider it worthwhile to staff the location.

Not much chance of blocking a camper out of a space in these here parts except on the big camping holidays Our campgrounds are barely used. That is one of the reasons I think the State would welcome EV charging. It would be money they aren't getting now and they don't have to change anything to get it.

The campground I showed has about 60 or more camping spaces and it's rare that there are more than a couple people there.

I understand where you guys are coming from on how much to pay. Even though the City of Atchison Kansas only wants to charge me 50 cents an hour, I always put in more. I usually only charge about 45 minutes to an hour. Much more than a couple bucks and I would most likely not charge there. I know many people say it's not about the money but for some of us, it's about the money I could afford to lease my LEAF at $178 a month but I'm not in the Tesla bracket. At $2 an hour I can charge on a regular basis. If it was $10 I wouldn't even consider it. If I was driving from a long distance on a once in a while trip I would pay $10 to charge for say four hours, but not for a quick "cushion" charge.

 

[davewill]

I understand where you guys are coming from on how much to pay. Even though the City of Atchison Kansas only wants to charge me 50 cents an hour, I always put in more. ...

Yah, go ahead with the $0.50 an hour plan if you lobby the state. You have the precedent of the city accepting that, and they aren't having to install new infrastructure, just accept some money they weren't getting before. Should be a win-win.

 

[mhigley]

I would also think it would be a good idea to get this worked out now before portable L2 evse's are more comman and EVers realize there's juice in dem dare State Parks
Out here in Kansas and Missouri we have many parks that are unattended. The park that is pictured above has been hit hard by the drought. The tiny lake the park sits on is very low and it smells of dead fish.

 

[abasile]

I'm sure you are well aware that an EV with a faster charger can pull significantly more juice in an hour than a 2011/2012 LEAF. With a Tesla maxing out an RV "50 amp" outlet, $0.50/hour is almost certainly too low.

 

[mhigley]

I'm sure you are well aware that an EV with a faster charger can pull significantly more juice in an hour than a 2011/2012 LEAF. With a Tesla maxing out an RV "50 amp" outlet, $0.50/hour is almost certainly too low.

It is too low. I originally offered $1 an hour but the City lowered it to 50 cents. I think they are more interested in getting more people to use the parks than they are making an extra $5 or $10 a week off the occasional EVer.

Here's an article about electric car charging at campgrounds. The places mentioned prices of $8.50 to $10 for a four hour charge which is in line with the couple bucks an hour I am paying.

"We've been getting quite a few calls from people wanting to charge their vehicles at our park," said Russ Yates, owner of Holiday Park Campground in Greensboro, Maryland, adding that he's installed a separate 50-amp/240 volt plug on the side of the campground office so that people can recharge their vehicles without having to park in a campsite. He charges $8.50 for a four-hour charge."

http://www.edmunds.com/autoobserver...reasingly-get-a-charge-at-us-campgrounds.html

 

[abasile]

I originally offered $1 an hour but the City lowered it to 50 cents. I think they are more interested in getting more people to use the parks than they are making an extra $5 or $10 a week off the occasional EVer.

That's very encouraging!

Here's an article about electric car charging at campgrounds. The places mentioned prices of $8.50 to $10 for a four hour charge which is in line with the couple bucks an hour I am paying.

In paying $2/hour for 3.3 kW charging, you are being generous. (For some reason I must have thought you meant $2 per charge.)