Before you decide to use an EV as a towed

[David Anderson]

One of the rules of the rv park I'm staying in states,
"We love electric vehicles, but if you stay in our park you must purchase a separate site to charge your vehicle."

No free lunch being green.  I also saw EV charges in Cottonwood AZ for use, but it had a placard on each charger that it would be disabled during peak electric demand hours, something like 2 to 5 pm each day. 

[CrabbyMilton]

I don't own an EV but you bring up a great points. As it stands now, there are many retail establishments that offer parking spaces with free charging for your EV. Folks, this symbolic novelty is not going to last forever. There will be an outcry for those who think they are entitled to free stuff. If they want to offer special spaces for BEV cars, fine but you should have to pay. My car has a gasoline engine and don't expect anyone else to pay for my fuel.

[Ed Hackenbruch]

3 to 8 pm weekdays are peak hours in Az. Rates are higher then.

[lvmci]

That's the problem. Summertime in the southwest is hot. Most have AC. During peak hours there's the most demand for power, the most heat in the air and most relocated easterners and mid westerners don't like keeping the AC at 78 as were asked to do by the power company. So brown outs. And then let's plug in fast charging power-hungry e cars 2 or 3 times day and evening...

[chessie4905]

Don't  worry, our electrical infrastructure will handle all this fine. Just listen to the promoters.

[Nova Eona]

I don't know anyone who's purchased an EV expecting a free lunch everywhere they go.  I'm sure the places that do offer a free charge are a nice bonus, but I can't imagine there are that many people relying heavily on using such perks.  I suspect in the future we may start seeing dual-service sites more frequently; a standard hookup for the RV, plus a metered connection for charging EVs.

Everything is commoditized.  Right now it makes sense for some businesses to offer a free charge for the simple reason that it pays for itself through attracting customers and prolonged stays (who wouldn't spend more time shopping while getting a 'free' charge, right?), but over time it'll shift and settle into a workable model for the longterm.  Same with the underlying power infrastructure - it's got some catching up to do, but it doesn't need to happen overnight (and is long overdue anyway)

[sledhead]

I would be happier just to see 50 amp power for the coach over the 30 amp in most camping spots now   

[freds]

The businesses that do offer charging are generally on three phase power drops so instead of a charge voltage of 240 it can be as low as 199 so a reduced charge rate. For my Tesla it's like eight miles an hour recharge rate and hey I never spend an hour at the grocery store...

Also I don't know of any EV's that can be flat towed as they don't have a transmission that can be shifted into neutral.

In the early days of the Tesla super charging network there was a big gap after Spokane as you head east bound. After drafting a semi-truck most of the way I rolled into Butte Montana with like four miles remaining and found a hotel that allowed me to unplug a dryer to recharge the car.

Tried that at another hotel stop and the dryer was gas!!! Luckily there was an RV park in walking distance that I could charge overnight in.

[chessie4905]

as they get more widespread, esp. along interstates, expect waiting lines to plug in.

[CrabbyMilton]

Future versions may in addition to the main battery will have the provision for a smaller much lighter battery that can snap in, That way if the main set craps out, you can use the smaller one to get you to a place to recharge or exchange the small one for a new one and keep going. For now, BEV's shouldn't go too far away other that short trips around town or suburbia.

[Fred Mc]

I read a story by a guy who determined what the cost for electricity was for charging his EV.Can't remember the car but he said a full charge at the power rate   for him was $18. and he
determined the cost of operation for an ev  vs gas engines was several times higher.
Also said that there wasn't the infrastructure in most communities that would support charging more than 2 or 3 vehicles in a block.

[RJ]

In the early days of the Tesla super charging network there was a big gap after Spokane as you head east bound.

Fred -

There's now a Tesla charging station behind the Buffalo Wild Wings off US-95 in Coeur d'Alene, 1/2 mile N of I-90. . .

FWIW. . .   

[richard5933]

Fred -

There's now a Tesla charging station behind the Buffalo Wild Wings off US-95 in Coeur d'Alene, 1/2 mile N of I-90. . .

FWIW. . .   

They seem to be tucking them in all kinds of nooks and crannies. Gonna definitely take some getting used to - 'filling the tank' throughout the day as you visit various places, never quite knowing when you'll be able to find an open charging station.

Right now it just doesn't seem as handy as filling up once a week and carrying on with my trips without having to think about filling up. Seems like it's going to be like when smartphones first came out and people were always worried about the next place they could plug in to catch a few minutes of charge time.

Hopefully it all works out before I'm in the market for an EV.

[Nova Eona]

Keep in mind that when the gasoline-powered car was first introduced, there were loads of naysayers talking about how absurd and impractical this idea was when gasoline wasn't available at most carriage houses.  Infrastructure changes and grows based on needs and demands - while we're past the official 'early adopter' stage of EVs, the technology and infrastructure still have plenty of maturing to do.

As Milton pointed out above, (unless supercapacitors make some significant leaps) we can expect partial or full battery pack swapping to become a feature sooner than later.  Engineering-wise it's not that complicated to standardize a battery pack design which could be removed and replaced with a fresh one within a timeframe comparable to a gas/diesel fill-up, the various corporations involved just need to come together to make it happen.

[chessie4905]

We have several chargers here and our Sheetz fuel stores have them at some locaions. I believe there is an app to find locations across the country.
Union Pacific just ordered several battery locomotives from two different  sources.