Across the country and back in an e-Niro

[2-Dog Niro]

I recently returned from a 2-month camping trip from Massachusetts to California and back, two adults and two dogs tent camping through 12 states and staying at 22 different State Parks. Here is a blog post about the trip:

https://blog.greenenergyconsumers.org/blog/across-the-us-and-back-in-a-fully-electric-vehicle

Glen

 

[David T in Silicon Valley]

Did you get kicked out of California parks due to shelter-in-place?


[edit]Looks like you made it back before everything went to pieces. Nice you had abundant outdoors time just before all this.

Question: where did you get the adaptor cable for the RV hookup? That seems like a nifty thing to have around in general....

 

[2-Dog Niro]

Did you get kicked out of California parks due to shelter-in-place?


[edit]Looks like you made it back before everything went to pieces. Nice you had abundant outdoors time just before all this.

Question: where did you get the adaptor cable for the RV hookup? That seems like a nifty thing to have around in general....

The Level-2 charger I bought came with the adapters, which is the reason why I picked that brand. It would have been better if it could use both 16-amp or 32-amp circuits, but I couldn't find a model that did that plus accepted both 120 and 240-volts, in addition to being rated for outside use. This what I'm currently using for the Kia- https://www.amazon.com/MAX-GREEN-Maxgreen-NEMA10-30-Compatible/dp/B07J4VCYKL?th=1
I already had a 240-volt clothes dryer outlet in my cellar that we had never used, since we prefer the wind and solar powered clothes line in the backyard, so I moved the wire to an exterior box and installed a Nema6-20 outlet to plug into for home charging. We don't actually use it very often, but it's there if we need it.

You can also find many of the same adapters (dogbones) at RV supply stores, Home Depot type places, and even at Walmarts. They are pretty expensive individually, so it seemed like a better deal to get them along with the water proof charger.

 

[David T in Silicon Valley]

thanks for the product introduction and sharing your experience.

The charger looks pretty good, and I have a few questions about it specifically. I read the reviews and it looks like ~1 in 10 people have various quality control issues (faults; odd charging rates, etc) It looks like you used yours a lot. Any hiccups with fault lights or other suspicious behavior around charging rates?

Have you noticed the adaptor cables getting hot or if they are smaller gauge than the regular cable?

 

[2-Dog Niro]

thanks for the product introduction and sharing your experience.

The charger looks pretty good, and I have a few questions about it specifically. I read the reviews and it looks like ~1 in 10 people have various quality control issues (faults; odd charging rates, etc) It looks like you used yours a lot. Any hiccups with fault lights or other suspicious behavior around charging rates?

Have you noticed the adaptor cables getting hot or if they are smaller gauge than the regular cable?

I've never had any problems with faults or other electrical issues, when plugged into the campground 240-volt service. None of the cables or connections ever felt warm. I don't think that the 16-amp draw is very heavy, and those circuit breakers are always 50-amp, so that is not even a third of what an RV could draw. The unit has been out in heavy rain and snow with no issues, but it is advertised as waterproof and outdoor rated. The only thing that would improve this set-up is if the unit could draw 32-amps, which would make the charging twice as fast, I believe, but I suppose the cables would also then have to be a heavier gauge. 16-amps worked fine for overnight charging, if the car started with about 30% SOC when we pulled in at night.