7 Lessons From Our 420-Mile Trip Towing Our Aliner Scout With Our Chevy Bolt EV - RV Camping Is Fun

[@scavanger1000]

I never even thought about RV camp grounds, absolutely a game changer

[@oursolartrailer]

I remember being baffled by the suggestion the first time I heard it. Our experience is generally quite positive!

[@scavanger1000]

@@oursolartrailer did you need a special cord or does the oem charger plug into the standard, in my case USA, outlet?

[@oursolartrailer]

@@scavanger1000 I'm not confident I understand your question--not that you didn't do a good job of asking it--but it is a bit more complicated than it may seem. I hope this is responsive. If not, let me know and I'll try again. :) We bought this level 2 charger amzn.to/41y1aGR to take advantage of the 50 AMP (as they are commonly known) or ~10 kW outlets in the RV parks. Some outlets in the RV parks have only 30 AMPS (as they are commonly known) or 3.6 kW; it won't work in those. Most RV parks also have standard 120 V outlets that should work with the LEVEL 1 Charging cable that likely came with the car. Using that cord, the car will charge at the same rate it would at home.

[@scavanger1000]

@@oursolartrailer thankyou, a lot of Overtime so I was pretty tired, you answered my question thanks

[@BuntaBall40]

Awesome guys. Keep up the great work

[@oursolartrailer]

Thanks! We'll do our best!

[@christianthorpe935]

I look forward to these videos each Friday. Almost to 500 subs!

[@oursolartrailer]

Thanks, Christian. We're almost halfway to KZbin's key threshold for monetizing content--1,000 subscribers. Thanks for being such a great brother!

[@rextownsend5101]

While charging my Bolt at a public charger yesterday, I talked to a guy with a new Ford Transit EV van that was converted to a camper. He said it only had a. 68KWH battery and was getting less than 1.5 miles per KWH. Almost unworkable in a mountainous state with big distances between charging stations,

[@oursolartrailer]

That would be a fun vehicle until you tried to go somewhere. You'd have to charge once per hour for an hour. Better is coming quickly!!!

[@IuseanXboxController]

My wife and I just did 5700 cross country and back in out Bolt and we are now sold on getting an Etransit whenever they have longer range and converting it to a stealth camper. Awesome to hear someone has already done so with one of them because thats ballsy with only 125mile range lol.

[@oursolartrailer]

@@IuseanXboxController What a trip! That is so cool. Keep us posted on your Etransit!

[@Rhaman68]

Not “almost unworkable” but totally unworthy of the money. Ford EV trucks all suffer that horrible inefficiency with the motor, battery pack, software being primitive. Thanks.

[@ericvisser113]

I love your videos and you are an amazing couple!! Just a few words of caution: the Bolt isn't rated to tow a trailer, this means there is a high risk your insurance won't cover you if you crash while towing. The vehicle damage costs is one thing, but liability costs could be significant. Towing will most likely void your warranty... There are some great EVs coming out which are designed to tow.. Only saying these comments because I wouldn't want anyone ever to end up in a situation where they aren't covered in an accident.

[@oursolartrailer]

We have made successful insurance claims and have had the dealer perform repairs with no problem.

[@222packrat]

when you figured out the cost per mile did you include the difference between a camping site with a 50amp charger and a camping site without? Does the campground charge you per KWH? Thanks,

[@oursolartrailer]

Great questions. The campground charged an extra $5 for the 50 Amp connection. Much of the power we got there we used for driving around Plains sightseeing rather than towing the trailer. Many campgrounds do bill the electricity separately for long-term guests (over a month). Just for driving around town, our Bolt uses about $20 of juice per month.

[@gregpalmer9949]

I think that wind resistance is a bigger problem than weight. Do they make any trailers with ceilings that go up and down? We recently did a long trip in our Niro EV. 530 miles in one day, we recharged 5 times from 20% to 71%. After 71% the charging speed slows down a lot.

[@oursolartrailer]

Kudos on the long road trip! Lots of trailers, including our Aliner Scout pop-up trailer have ceilings that go up and down.

[@brunitoz]

Hey! Great video. Any noticeable differences on the Bolt after towing?

[@oursolartrailer]

Great question! Some have pointed out that because the car isn't designed to tow towing could cause problems with the structure of the car somehow. So far, we've noticed nothing! We're keeping our fingers crossed.

[@mikeg.9083]

Hey another great video where I could learned something new about towing with my bolt! I've been thinking, without solar panels, via an approved inverter under the hood EV (while vehicle is On -parked) can power the trailer if it's 12v are extremely low or dead in an emergency situation?? Thanks for the feedback

[@oursolartrailer]

Absolutely! That would work great with the right set up! Thanks for watching!

[@jamesbordonali8858]

Nice videos - what size battery(s?) are for the aliner and are they lithium?

[@oursolartrailer]

Great question! We've got one 2.4 kWh lithium battery in the trailer. We've got a lot to learn to really optimize and utilize the power we generate. Here's a bit more about the inside the rig parts of the solar install: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e2e9gImJesyBnrM.

[@jamesbordonali8858]

@@oursolartrailer Is that a 200 amp hour battery?

[@oursolartrailer]

@@jamesbordonali8858 Yes, exactly. 12 v x 200 amp-hours.

[@jamesbordonali8858]

@@oursolartrailer Thank you for the quick replies. Enjoy your travels!

[@oursolartrailer]

@@jamesbordonali8858 Thanks for watching!

[@jennifersensiba4449]

What speeds did you drive on this trip?

[@oursolartrailer]

Great question. We try to stay at 62 miles per hour when the speed limit is higher than that and drive the speed limit otherwise.

[@Dextermorga]

I did not realize Chevy did not recommend towing. Can you tell us about it, please? Thank you

[@oursolartrailer]

Our channel is full of videos about towing with the Bolt. I encourage you to subscribe and explore. Lots of people tow little things with their Bolts. It is tough deciding how small is small. :)

[@stephanmedlin7323]

towing with electric is never smart

[@stevenseguro]

That's amazing that you can tow 210 miles, That's almost full range.

[@oursolartrailer]

Oops. We got 210 miles with a charge along the way!

[@stevenseguro]

got it, thanks

[@oursolartrailer]

@@stevenseguro :)