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[benswing]

Made it to Mexico!!!  Soon it will be time to ride the Matchez Trace then up to Canada!




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[emc]

Fun roadtrip. 

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Well done! I like that RV parks are helping out pretty consistently.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

It's too bad about per connection charges for ChargePoint. I'm speculating that with an 11.4 battery, one ought to make frequent charge stops to keep the forced breaks short, and a $2 overhead would be annoying.

[benswing]

The per connection charges are very rare, and I think they are more designed to deter people from opportunity charging without going into the business (here, a movie theater).


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[benswing]

I went to Mexico!!! 

http://insideevs.com/three-country-tour-electric-motorcycle-mexico/

You're up, Terry.  Thomas Tomczyk and I have officially crossed the border, come on down.  (Just don't do it at the border of Texas...)



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[pluto]

Just watched your latest video Ben, great as usual. Where do you get your information on RV parks in the area where you are traveling?

[benswing]

I use the RV Parky app.  It's great!  The best part about it is that you can sort by 50Amp connection, so I just use that setting and it speeds up my search.  You can search for a variety of other factors too, but 50Amp is what I need.

I kinda wish plugshare would be better about identifying the type of charger since that matters to me.  I can't use GE Wattstations and prefer not to use Eatons or Blink.  They have a way to sort those, but it isn't effective yet.

[pluto]

Thanks for the suggestion, I just downloaded it on my Android, looks good. I can't seem to get it to stop showing me Walmart locations on the map though, must be an advertising tie-in :/

Your experiences with campground charging got me thinking about all our publicly owned and operated Provincial Parks here in Ontario, many of which have 30 or 50 amp RV sites. I looked around their website for an official policy on EV charging, only to find out they don't have one. I contacted them via Twitter and was at first told charging would only be possible if renting the site for the full night ($40+), then they said contact the individual park. My experience has been the park staff are mostly summer students who don't want to risk getting in trouble. In absence of an official policy, the answer will likely be a big fat no.

This seems a bit out of line with our Province's support for EVs via rebate and HOV lane access (sadly neither are available for electric motorcycles). Clearly there is a need for consistent and fair policy.

Just wondering Ben have you tried charging at any State or Federal campgrounds or do you mainly stick to private ones? What about chains like KOA?

[Doug S]

I kinda wish plugshare would be better about identifying the type of charger since that matters to me.  I can't use GE Wattstations and prefer not to use Eatons or Blink.  They have a way to sort those, but it isn't effective yet.

I agree. Plugshare is in dire need of a major update. If they'd just list the current available I'd be a much happier camper.

But tell us about your experience, Ben. Why not GE, and why do you prefer not to use Eaton or Blink stations? Inadequate current? I'm working on a 6kW J1772 homebrew solution and I'm probably going to require about 35A service...it concerns me a bit that that might be a problem with a large number of stations.

[ultrarnr]

Doug S,

GE Wattstations require communications with the BMS before they will deliver power. Obviously there is no capability to do that with Elcons and the internal charger. I tried charging at a PEP station one day and couldn't and I think it may be the same reason. There are some Eatons that are not going to allow you to charge at 6300 watts, meaning two Elcons and the internal charger. You may have to drop down to 5000 watts. The Blink network is by far the worst. Have had Blink systems that I could only charge at 3800 watts.

If you go with a single 6KW charger you will not be able to charge at any Blink system. Blink has to upgrade their power cords before they can return their chargers back to full power. There are some Eatons that will work fine with your charger and others will not work. Basically you will just keep tripping the circuit breaker. Trial and error is the only way you will find out which ones will work. I realize there are benefits to going to the kind of system you are putting together but I would personally not go with that kind of system unless you could dial down the power level you are going to charge at. Better to charge at 3800 or 5000 watts than to not be able to charge at all.

[Justin Andrews]

Nice to see the US charging situation is as good as the one here in the UK (though our problem is stations that simply refuse to work)

Is'nt being an early adopter fun? *wheee* 

[benswing]

pluto - talk with the individual camp sites.  I talk about this around the 3:30 mark in my 2015 Road trip - Tupelo video



Doug S - ultrarnr has the correct info, too.  GE Wattstations need to communicate and my chargers are dummy chargers.   Although they work with other GE charging stations, just not the WattStations.  Also, Blink and some Eaton chargers can not handle the full current so they stop charging due to fault. 

It's very rare that a charger doesn't work.  It's only GE Wattstations and PEP stations.  Everywhere else has been fine.

[benswing]

Here is the story of my ride up the Natchez trace parkway to Nashville.  Had a great ride, met an incredible old timer who rebuilt two electric vehicles, and went riding with Protomech.  There is also video of my adventures.

http://insideevs.com/three-country-tour-electric-motorcycle-nashville/


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[Richard230]

That is a great story, Benswing.  I am looking forward to more episodes.  That was a good deal at the state park.  In CA the parks typically charge $10 for day use and very few parks that I have visited have any electricity available to the public, much less 220V.  On the other hand, that does seem to keep the RV AC noise down during the evening.