Charging an EV on holiday
Discussion
Cannot comment on camping, but finding accessible electricity in any holiday accommodation has never been an issue for us in the last 5 years of taking EVs on holiday. We've just come back from a weekend away in a 300 years old cottage in the peak district. 3 pin plug + extension cable sorted out any charging issues. There was so much energy 'spare' I could even preheat/defrost the car before leaving.
As it turned out we stopped at McCarthy Glen on the way home to do something last minute present shopping, and even though we didn't need to charge it would have been silly not to make use of the Tesla Superchargers and the 'free' kWhs that come with the car. In the end we got home with 60% SOC having left with home with 90% a few days before the 200 miles road trip.
There are plenty more EVs around these days - three parked up in the village we stayed, but charging EVs on holiday actually appear to be getting easier. The 3 pin plug isn't sexy and no one gets excited about anything less than 200KW these days, but its 2KW charging that makes EVs as convenient to use on family holidays as combustion cars.
As it turned out we stopped at McCarthy Glen on the way home to do something last minute present shopping, and even though we didn't need to charge it would have been silly not to make use of the Tesla Superchargers and the 'free' kWhs that come with the car. In the end we got home with 60% SOC having left with home with 90% a few days before the 200 miles road trip.
There are plenty more EVs around these days - three parked up in the village we stayed, but charging EVs on holiday actually appear to be getting easier. The 3 pin plug isn't sexy and no one gets excited about anything less than 200KW these days, but its 2KW charging that makes EVs as convenient to use on family holidays as combustion cars.
Edited by gangzoom on Sunday 19th December 18:47
Jag_NE said:
It turns out there is an electric oven in the accommodation…surely charging via plug wont create a trip if it’s set up to cope with an oven?
Most ovens are 2-3kWEDIT (as it sounded like I was saying the opposite) So, a 10A or 2.4kW 'charger' should be fine.
Edited by No ideas for a name on Monday 20th December 16:54
No ideas for a name said:
Jag_NE said:
It turns out there is an electric oven in the accommodation…surely charging via plug wont create a trip if it’s set up to cope with an oven?
Most ovens are 2-3kWEDIT (as it sounded like I was saying the opposite) So, a 10A or 2.4kW 'charger' should be fine.
Edited by No ideas for a name on Monday 20th December 16:54
gangzoom said:
Cannot comment on camping, but finding accessible electricity in any holiday accommodation has never been an issue for us in the last 5 years of taking EVs on holiday.
Out of interest, do you actively look for accommodation with charging or do you just rock up and throw a charger out the window?How do they charge you for the power you use? do they add a flat fee to the invoice?
We use a cottage in Scotland that doesn't have charging, but we could use the 10 amp charger if they were happy.
gangzoom said:
3 pin plug + extension cable sorted out any charging issues.
Charging an EV from the granny charger plugged in to an extension lead will work, but it's not advised. Even just using the granny charger without an extension, my handbook says is a last resort / emergency only. I suspect a lot of people are not aware of the risks and treat it just like plugging in a lawnmower or other power tool.We often do eurocamps and as others have said the caravan electrics often struggle to cope with normal things like fridge, tv, phone chargers and hair driers so a car charger will probably trip things.
Also check with the site if you can actually park near the caravan as some you cannot park right by your caravan so that could also throw a spanner in the works.
Also check with the site if you can actually park near the caravan as some you cannot park right by your caravan so that could also throw a spanner in the works.
48k said:
. Even just using the granny charger without an extension, my handbook says is a last resort / emergency only. I suspect a lot of people are not aware of the risks and treat it just like plugging in a lawnmower or other power tool.
What car is that?The extension warning will be a coverall type, just in case people use an extension on a drum etc etc
TheRainMaker said:
48k said:
. Even just using the granny charger without an extension, my handbook says is a last resort / emergency only. I suspect a lot of people are not aware of the risks and treat it just like plugging in a lawnmower or other power tool.
What car is that?The extension warning will be a coverall type, just in case people use an extension on a drum etc etc
I think the issue with the extension is that a lot of extension leads don't have thick enough copper wire in them and also that you negate the thermal protection and earth leakage protection in the granny charger. Also since you're effectively connecting the house earth to the car there is a risk of electric shock if there is an earth problem and you touch the car. Like probably most EV drivers I wasn't fully aware of the risks (tiny as they are) until it was mentioned on other threads on here and I did a bit of reading up.
TheRainMaker said:
Out of interest, do you actively look for accommodation with charging or do you just rock up and throw a charger out the window?
We book pretty much all AirB&B rather than hotels these days, and always prefer to have parking onsite rather than not.For charging I always tell the owners, most will answer 'no we have EV charging facilities', but when I arrive and explain whats required - an extension cable to the car, I've yet to find any host say no, and a couple refused to take any extra money for the electricity usage.
I always leave/offer money to cover electricity costs, usually far more than the actual cost, as I rather have the convenience versus the hassle of finding public charging points.
As EVs become more the norm I would have thought it'll become an easy way for holiday accommodation with off road parking to gain an upper hand/charge a premium over other types of accommodation.
A simple 3 pin external socket is all thats required.
Edited by gangzoom on Tuesday 21st December 14:13
TheRainMaker said:
48k said:
Volvo XC40 Recharge Twin.
Very odd, I can't find anywhere in the Polestar manual where it states for emergency use or last resort use only.It does say you shouldn't use an adaptor or an extension cable.
I wouldn't have thought anything of it, it was only other posts on here from electricians about the (tiny) risks that piqued my curiosity. It's not like plugging in a lawnmower to a garden socket and statements like "a simple 3 pin external socket is all thats required" demonstrate I'm not the only EV driver that was oblivious to the risks.
48k said:
It's not like plugging in a lawnmower to a garden socket and statements like "a simple 3 pin external socket is all thats required" demonstrate I'm not the only EV driver that was oblivious to the risks.
I use a pretty heavy duty single socket 20 meter extension cable, I have a large waterproofed box with rubber sealed cut outs for the cable and big enough to actually keep the Tesla charging unit in the box. It keeps all the connections 100% waterproof even in Scottish down pours. Personally I have more worries about some the domestic wiring around than the actual extension cable.
As I've said rather than waste £££££ chasing up 200KW+ rapid chargers that are costly to install, maintain (or even 7KW posts/charge points), it would be much easier to push holiday accommodation to put in simple external 3 pin plugs or commando sockets.
The free market should really sort this all out once holiday makers on mass start asking about destination charging. The hardware required isn't hard to complicated.
gangzoom said:
48k said:
It's not like plugging in a lawnmower to a garden socket and statements like "a simple 3 pin external socket is all thats required" demonstrate I'm not the only EV driver that was oblivious to the risks.
I use a pretty heavy duty single socket 20 meter extension cable, I have a large waterproofed box with rubber sealed cut outs for the cable and big enough to actually keep the Tesla charging unit in the box. It keeps all the connections 100% waterproof even in Scottish down pours. Personally I have more worries about some the domestic wiring around than the actual extension cable.
Apparently there are also other risks such as 0.6mv DC leakage which is not enough to trip a standard RCD on a typical ring main but again will cause a hazard. And if the granny charger is plugged in to an extension lead it negates the thermal protection.
I never considered any of this, to me it was just a "simple" case of plugging the car in. The risks are tiny but using a dedicated EVSE charger is definitely better.
Assuming it's been properly fitted definitely, but have seen some awful examples.
Been charging EV's at home for almost 3 years now most nights on a 3-pin. Assuming your house has decent electrics it really shouldn't be a problem and neither is using a suitable extension cable. Just an arse covering exercise from the manufacturers.
Been charging EV's at home for almost 3 years now most nights on a 3-pin. Assuming your house has decent electrics it really shouldn't be a problem and neither is using a suitable extension cable. Just an arse covering exercise from the manufacturers.
This "could" be a solution for trips away and abroad.
Would cover all bases.
Never used one, it just popped up in my Facebook feed.
https://www.evconnectors.com/product/juice-booster...
Would cover all bases.
Never used one, it just popped up in my Facebook feed.
https://www.evconnectors.com/product/juice-booster...
benny.c said:
The RCDs aren’t like the ones at home with little labels to write what each circuit is for - they usually have the limit printed on them.
https://www.wentvaleelectricalltd.co.uk/mk-sentry-...
I suppose you could put stickers on them but it’s not my experience and what’s the point for the site owner? It’s no bother for them if it trips because it doesn’t throw the site out, just the individual pitch, and you have to reset them yourself. Sometimes there is one master for say four individual RCDs and overloading one pitch will throw the other three making you very popular with your fellow campers
Ultimately the OP will need to speak with the site and ask as there’s no standard. Irrespective of the supply to each pitch, most caravans will have their internal power circuit on a 10A or 16A RCD so even if the total supply to the van is 16A or more, you may only be able to draw 10A total from all the sockets. I guess overnight in the summer this could be OK because the only other power the van would be using would be the fridge and that may be on a separate circuit anyway.
this is why you need to talk to an electrician....https://www.wentvaleelectricalltd.co.uk/mk-sentry-...
I suppose you could put stickers on them but it’s not my experience and what’s the point for the site owner? It’s no bother for them if it trips because it doesn’t throw the site out, just the individual pitch, and you have to reset them yourself. Sometimes there is one master for say four individual RCDs and overloading one pitch will throw the other three making you very popular with your fellow campers
Ultimately the OP will need to speak with the site and ask as there’s no standard. Irrespective of the supply to each pitch, most caravans will have their internal power circuit on a 10A or 16A RCD so even if the total supply to the van is 16A or more, you may only be able to draw 10A total from all the sockets. I guess overnight in the summer this could be OK because the only other power the van would be using would be the fridge and that may be on a separate circuit anyway.
Edited by benny.c on Wednesday 15th December 09:52
that RCD ? you could take 100A through it and it would not trip. it would catch fire though.... ;-)
It is an RCD ! a residual current device. its rated 16A but the trip function on that device is a 30mA - an imbalance of current in the live and neutral of 30mA will trip it...
having been to a few camp sites there is a tendancy to have a really low current to each pitch. They are generally for running the lights and such. they dont want you using it for higher powers as it wont really be set up for that. They will also be concerned about electrical safety - using power to charge a car has issues with earthing arrangements and if they are not suitably set up they do not want to risk any liability issues.
48k said:
TheRainMaker said:
48k said:
. Even just using the granny charger without an extension, my handbook says is a last resort / emergency only. I suspect a lot of people are not aware of the risks and treat it just like plugging in a lawnmower or other power tool.
What car is that?The extension warning will be a coverall type, just in case people use an extension on a drum etc etc
I think the issue with the extension is that a lot of extension leads don't have thick enough copper wire in them and also that you negate the thermal protection and earth leakage protection in the granny charger. Also since you're effectively connecting the house earth to the car there is a risk of electric shock if there is an earth problem and you touch the car. Like probably most EV drivers I wasn't fully aware of the risks (tiny as they are) until it was mentioned on other threads on here and I did a bit of reading up.
Should I have said a 10A MCB not RCD?Gassing Station | EV and Alternative Fuels | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff