[Chance]

A lot of places say you have to be charging an actual electric vehicle.

Yeah, I wouldn’t want to tie-up an EV charging spot to charge house batteries; though I’m curious if plug-in hybrids are also excluded. I’m asking because some vans today have +/- 10 kWh of house battery capacity which is almost in PHEV capacity range.

Anyway, what I would like to see are 20A (or 30A) pedestals added adjacent to charging stations so that RV vans could plug-in. Power usage is minimal compared to EV charging so installation cost is low. These spots could also double as emergency overflow for people waiting for an EV charge so they could at least keep air or heat operational.

In Alaska I visited a building where every parking spot had 15 or 20A electrical for engine heat. A dozen or so similar parking spots with mini pedestals near EV charging or in Interstate Rest Areas would be affordable and less controversial.

 

[Chance]

Having an EV I have met an activist who said she has no problem keying a vehicle ICEing a charge station.

She also probably has a death wish. Any guy who goes out of his way to block an EV charging station is already looking for trouble, and if she escalates by doing physical damage to his car or truck, who knows what he may do in his rage? Confronting a moron may get her ass kicked, but keying a car or truck can get her killed. Sounds like escalating from stupidity to insanity.

 

[Chance]

There appears to be a growing fleet of privately owned residential charger for rent according to evmatch.com

I read that some EV charging is based not only on kWh used but also on time. This is meant to deter someone leaving car plugged in longer than necessary. In a case where user is only charging motorhome/van house batteries which is relatively very slow, cost per kWh could get too high. That’s one way to restrict use.

Similarly, I can’t imagine a residential private home would rent an EV charger for a couple of hours to get 5 kWh, not that it makes sense anyway if RVer wants to convert to 115V when he could just plug to a standard outlet.

A reason Walmart adds EV charging is to get more customers in store. Why wouldn’t the same logic apply if they add a few 120V metered receptacles towards back of parking lots so people don’t fight over them. Van owners could also charge house batteries while shopping; though I expect demographics are presently quite different.

Below is a pedestal in Alaska grocery store (picture from web) that serves 4 vehicles. Greatest cost may be adding payment system which may not be that costly.
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[Chance]

Bullies should always be allowed to get their way. It's a Merkun tradition.

There are a lot of principles worth losing one’s life over, but EV charging is not one.

You have to be selective where you offer "free" outlets; you'd have people setting up house there and never leaving.

Can’t be free. Electrical payment can be automated just like some city parking spots are already doing, or similar.

 

[Chance]

Why would you think small=electric?
View attachment 182748

Of course not, but shouldn’t they be?

If main reason to convert from ICE to BEV is to reduce impact on environment, shouldn’t part of that conversion include conservation; as in “conserve”?

BEVs make most technical sense for urban local traffic, where affordable small, light, and efficient vehicles could function best even with limited range, yet growth seems to be in large, heavy, and inefficient “expensive” longer-range vehicles many Americans can’t afford.

IMO too many pieces of the “let’s save the planet” big picture are still missing.

 

[Chance]

So one thing to do when comparing all these power options is convert them all to watts.

Normal Plug
15a @ 120vac = 1.8kw

3 Prong RV (30a)
30a @ 120vac = 3.6kw

4 Prong RV (50a)
50a @ 220vac = 11kw

Ev Stations are up to 350kw
Tesla Supercharger V3 is 250kw

12v 500a shunt (most are only 400a)
14.4v @ 500a = 7.2kw

That being said most van build/class b-c RV battery setups are under 6kw. Even with a big 500a shunt you are limited to 7.2kw per hour.

Where the new hummer EV is over 200kw and most teslas are over 75kw now.

The inverter linked in the beginning is limited to 2kw continuous power. So you would still take 3 hours with that inverter when using an EV station. Where 3 hours on that same ev station could fill 2 EV hummers.

Our battery banks aren't large enough (yet) to justify trying to use an ev station. Nor can they handle power at a high rate.

The system minimum you would need IMO to use an EV.
48v battery bank, 30kw or larger

Don’t forget upcoming megawatt-plus charger for Tesla semi trucks. It’s going to take the power of a nuclear plant to charge a few hundred of these trucks simultaneously.

Charging van house batteries with BEV charger is like killing a fly with sledgehammer. While possibly effective, unintended consequences may be quite negative.

 

[Chance]

.....cut..... I don't see why there couldn't also be "free" house-battery charging stations, ostensibly to reduce the number and time people are running loud, smelly generators in campgrounds.

Since “paid for” electricity should be cheaper than running a generator, I don’t see the need to make any electricity “free” just to discourage generator use. And if generators are that bad for a given location, just restrict or prohibit their use and let campers deal with or choose whatever other options work best for them. People can be creative at finding solutions.

Giving stuff away too often leads to abuse and all kinds of unintended consequences. In my opinion government should set goals and let consumers and free markets find best solution whenever possible. And yes, I know there is no such thing as true free markets, but you know what I mean.

 

[Chance]

That's why I put "free" in quotation marks. There's always a catch. Kind of like the store you park sort of wants you to shop in their store and not walk down the block to a different one. "free parking".

If “free” electricity is provided by a store like Walmart to attract customers, I’m all for it. If a business gives away 2~3 kWh of electricity which costs them less than a buck to get us in store, it’s their decision and I support it. You’re correct that it’s similar to free parking at that same store, or if they were giving away free samples of food, etc. to gain competitive advantage over other stores. I just prefer the government not give away free electricity with very few exceptions — and charging a camping van is not one of them.