My long-range trip non-DCFC charging "GOBox"

[21st Century Pony]

Folks,

Having survived and learned from over 16 thousand miles of long trips (those of at least one thousand miles or longer) in my Mach E, I put together this easy - to - store, easy - to - handle charging GO Box for non-standard EV charging. I'm sharing it here in case someone finds it useful, for this and any future EV models.

Picture 1 = the Pelican VCV100 small equipment case. It normally rides in the frunk but is small enough that it can ride anywhere, for example in the rear passenger floor well.

Picture 2: the eight (8) adapters for 240V and 120V contingencies. I've used five of the eight so far, occasionally or often.

Picture 3: the eight adapters, lined up outside of the Pelican case:

120V - RV dogleg with a male 15 amp household socket end and a female NEMA TT30 RV end.
120V - RV custom-made connector with a male TT30 end and a female NEMA L6-30R end.
(use of either or both of these adapters is the last resort, although I've used them both on occasion... 120V is limited to 15 amps by the portable EVSE so the charging rate is "emergency only" it is so slow).

240V - (all from ACWorks)
- male NEMA 6 - 50 plug and a female NEMA L6-30R locking receptacle.
- male NEMA 14-30 plug and a female NEMA L6-30 locking receptacle.
- male NEMA 14-50 plug and a female NEMA L6-30 locking receptacle (most use so far).
- male NEMA 6-30 plug and a female NEMA 6-50 receptacle.
- male NEMA 10-50 plug and a female NEMA14-50 receptacle.

- male Tesla Destination (TeslaTap Mini, 60-amp version) to female J1772.

The ACWorks adapters shown here are rated individually for between 30 amps and 50 amps of continuous use... but since my portable EVSE(from the now-defunct EVSEUpgrade outfit) maxes out at 20 amps / 240V, all these adapters are within my continuous / overnight use spec.

Our normal use is camping, at RV sites in state and national parks, at RV sites in national forests an at RV camps on military bases (NEMA 14-50 receptacles). On occasion, we've plugged in at restaurants and burger joints (Tesla Destination receptacles), at hotels (NEMA 14-50 and Tesla Destination receptacles), at a buddy's country garage (NEMA 10-50 old style welder receptacle), in a farmer's overflow town field where he stores his seasonal worker trailers (NEMA 14-50) and once even at a wall in a hotel when the local DC Fast Charging station had crapped out (normal 15 amp receptacle).

Not pictured: my circa 2012 EVSEUpgrade Panasonic 20-amp portable EVSE, with a male NEMA L6-30P lockable plug.

Note: you can see a black ring on some of the most used adapters... that is a cut-up large diameter bicycle inner tube which provides a weather seal on the adapters.

My intent was to future-proof our use of EVs.

Hope this info is useful to someone else.

 

[roguemustang]

This is awesome. So far I have only had to charge at home and at work, but I will definitely start accumulating these just in case.

 

[21st Century Pony]

This is awesome. So far I have only had to charge at home and at work, but I will definitely start accumulating these just in case.

I have found that the real key and the starting point in such efforts is a reliable, well-built, non-proprietary connection portable EVSE.

For example and unfortunately, the Mach E-supplied Ford OEM 32-amp portable EVSE appears (over use) to lose its reliability... many threads on this forum about it.

As another example, the well-built Tesla portable EVSE and my Sonny Boy's very well-built Audi portable EVSE both have their adapter connector ends in a proprietary format... so you get only the adapter whips that Tesla or Audi supplies. Talk about vendor lock grrr...

The old EVSEUpgrade portable EVSE was well-thought thru and its car business end is a lockable (no dislodging if kicked, etc.) NEMA L6-30P. Therefore, it's been relatively easy to find L6-30R whips, and now compact, decently built 240V L6-30R adapters that'll work with it.

Moreover, again thru use over miles and miles, I have also found that, frankly, on a long relaxing trip a 20-amp portable EVSE is just fine... if we pull into a nice place where we want to spend a day and a night (or two) camping or hotel-lounging, as long as we plug the car in right away, it is more than ready after a dip at the beach, a leisurely dinner / campfire meal, ambling about, sleep, and whatever it takes to get going in a civilized manner in the morning.

And in terms of future-proofing, this GoBox will work with any CCS1 port-equipped EV.

 

[Red Hawk]

This is really helpful! I've had my MME less than a year. We have only taken rides for just over an hour so far. But when we do take a longer trip, we plan on staying in a hotel during those trips.

Did you need to get permission from management before plugging in? Can you stop at the RV camps and Nat'l Parks for a day and charge? What size portable generator or battery is recommended?

I know next to nothing about amps and watts and volts! Somebody told me a basic formula to guestimate amps and watts to voltage but it was months back. So I don't even think my formula is correct.

 

[21st Century Pony]

This is really helpful! I've had my MME less than a year. We have only taken rides for just over an hour so far. But when we do take a longer trip, we plan on staying in a hotel during those trips.

Did you need to get permission from management before plugging in? Can you stop at the RV camps and Nat'l Parks for a day and charge? What size portable generator or battery is recommended?

I know next to nothing about amps and watts and volts! Somebody told me a basic formula to guestimate amps and watts to voltage but it was months back. So I don't even think my formula is correct.

Cheryl,

Thank you for your questions. I'll try to answer, with the understanding that my answers are a result of my own knowledge and experiences, both limited by definition

"...we plan on staying in a hotel during those trips. Did you need to get permission from management before plugging in?"
- It depends, really it does. Some hotels run this as a "1st come 1st serve" option. For example, the motel night clerk in Winnemucca Nevada was hazy about even where their Tesla Destination (these Level 2 charging stations are always free btw) was in their parking lot... and it turned out they had four (yes 4) in the very back of the parking, all unused. This was one of the times we used our TeslaTap Mini adapter for an overnight stay. In another, a bit fancier hotel in Cody Wyoming, there were two (2) RV pedestals in the back corner of the parking lot... that hotel was used by fancy RV visitors pulling in. The clerks all knew exactly where their RV pedestals were, and moreover handed out combinations for one of their combo lock-locked RV pedestals. I guess they had had wildcat campers there before... this was an example of us using our NEMA 14 - 50 adapter. BUT in both this case and other such cases, whether using a hotel or camping, I strongly recommend in every case where you stay overnight, as opposed to a restaurant with a L2 charging point, to always "notify and ask".

"...Can you stop at the RV camps and Nat'l Parks for a day and charge?"
This in our experience can vary between national and state parks and national forests, which are built and maintained to serve the public, and private RV campgrounds, which are built to make a profit.

National and state public recreation spaces just want users to get out there and enjoy nature as a mission statement, so their EV policies for level 2 charging are secondary and can be quite flexible. Overall, they will focus on charging the public fee for "RV pad" space, and the access to L2, 240V charging pedestal comes with it. They think in terms of "overnight stays" and this can work to your advantage. For example, in at least one very pretty spot I remember, I got a deal where they let us come in that late morning and plug in but we had to be gone by 6 p.m. when their reservation holders were due in... for a nominal fee like 10 bucks. We needed to charge up the Mach E and the seven+ hours on that L2 14 - 50 RV pedestal gave us more than enough to comfortably get to our overnight destination, and besides to hike around a gorgeous area way out West for several hours during a beautiful day. That public park's needs were met as well. Ya just gotta be flexible and a nice person, and understand where the provider is coming from...

In our experience, people running a business like private RV parks were far less flexible... it was "rent the space for 24 hours and you can charge while you're renting". Of course, our longest, 10 thousand+ mile trip across the USA was in June July and August, prime traveling and RV use season so private RV sites were pretty crowded and reserved out... this might be different in, say, November or March.

We do not carry and do not intend to carry a portable generator or any extra battery... no need to.

All the other adapters pictured in my GoBox are for "getting juice wherever I can find it" in situations where a normal DC Fast charging station or a Level 2 EV charging point, whether a Tesla Destination (there are many more of them around than people realize) or an RV 240V pedestal do not exist. Electricity is all around us and we just have to remember that. Many people have welder receptacles and freezer receptacles, often sparsely used, in small town businesses or home garages. Many building HVAC outdoor component electric plug-in points can be accessed via the other adapters, of course ALWAYS WITH THE OWNER'S PERMISSION. As a last recourse, the yellow dogleg normal house receptacle adapter (15 amp, 120V) will get an EV owner out of low battery trouble, albeit very slowly.

We found people, when approached humbly and in a friendly way, were always helpful and also quite curious... many of them laughed at the end and thanked us for showing them how EV travel really works.

I return to my final point on my original post: nothing here will work without a reliable portable auto-Volt-switching EVSE which can use these many adapters without a weird proprietary connector. I was lucky to have had one bangin' around since my Toyota Prius days from 2011.

Hope this answers your questions. Good Luck! and see you on the highways!

 

[Mach-Lee]

What is the point of the yellow NEMA 5-50 to TT-30 adapter? Why not plug the EVSE in directly?

TT-30 is also pretty pointless as you said since the on-board charger limits you to 11 amps on 120V.

 

[21st Century Pony]

What is the point of the yellow NEMA 5-50 to TT-30 adapter? Why not plug the EVSE in directly?

TT-30 is also pretty pointless as you said since the on-board charger limits you to 11 amps on 120V.

The point of the NEMA 5-50 "residential receptacle" plug and the obsolescent TT - 30 RV plug is that my ancient 20-amp EVSE terminates in a lockable NEMA L 6-30P plug which is both a mechanically secure connection at night and a very universal adapter solution.

My TT - 30 RV plug whip mates to this L 6 - 30 lockable plug. The NEMA 5 - 50 dogleg in turn mates to the TT -30 plug, if and when needed. These two 120V adapters thus give me access to commonly available "emergency replenishment" and I had to use it once, in South Dakota.

I choose to not carry the Ford OEM EVSE in the car because of its reported reliability problems and its very limited (two) extensions / adapters and its proprietary connector which makes it really difficult to expand plug adapter choices. As roomy as the Mach E is, its interior room is still at a premium during long trips with messy teenagers.

This was another reason to invest in a Pelican GoBox... as we accumulated charging adapters they were getting harder to easily track throughout the car.

I hope this makes sense.

 

[generaltso]

And in terms of future-proofing, this GoBox will work with any CCS1 port-equipped EV.

I assume it will work with any J1772 port-equipped EV. Not just CCS1. I don't see anything there that requires the DC pins.

 

[21st Century Pony]

I assume it will work with any J1772 port-equipped EV. Not just CCS1. I don't see anything there that requires the DC pins.

Everything I assembled is for supplying AC charging power at 120V or 240V.

 

[generaltso]

Everything I assembled is for supplying AC charging power at 120V or 240V.

Right. Then CCS doesn't come into play. We're just talking J1772.

 

[21st Century Pony]

Right. Then CCS doesn't come into play. We're just talking J1772.

A distinction without a difference. For example, this would also work with a Menneken portable EVSE, or (therefore) with a CCS2-equipped Mach E. Yet specifying that would likely confuse the subject and not apply at all to the use case.

The GoBox contents are to empower more connection choices from the EVSE to a power supply. Whatever goes on between the portable EVSE and the car and its charging ports is beyond the scope of the GoBox use case.

 

[RickMachE]

This is really helpful! I've had my MME less than a year. We have only taken rides for just over an hour so far. But when we do take a longer trip, we plan on staying in a hotel during those trips.

Did you need to get permission from management before plugging in? Can you stop at the RV camps and Nat'l Parks for a day and charge? What size portable generator or battery is recommended?

I know next to nothing about amps and watts and volts! Somebody told me a basic formula to guestimate amps and watts to voltage but it was months back. So I don't even think my formula is correct.

We just drove a 4,708 mile trip, stopping at 8 National Parks. We stayed in hotels.

Most National Parks don't have EV charging (we did not go into campground areas if they had camping). Grand Canyon south rim just added EA. We did charge each day at a level 2 charger at Grand Canyon for free, recovered what we spent getting there. Petrified National Forest had paid level 2 charging at ridiculous rate and unneeded given Winslow, AZ EA. https://www.nps.gov/subjects/sustai...map.htm#/find/nearest?nps_funded=true&ids=all

Hotel chargers are intended to be used by paying guests. If you are desperate for a short charge, asking at the front desk will likely get you access. But, don't expect to stay at hotel A and charge at hotel B while you sleep, that's not right.

When evaluating charging at a hotel, compare nightly rate vs hotel without charging. Given that a charge at EA rarely approaches $30, paying more than that to stay at a hotel with charging over one without is often not worth doing. Also know that many hotel chargers are 6kW or slower. Arrive at 10%, stay from 9pm to 8am, and you likely won't come out to a full battery. If they have a Tesla Destination charger, then it is faster and you should always be good to go at 100%.

 

[generaltso]

A distinction without a difference.

There is a difference. Not all cars that have J1772 ports can take CCS1 plugs. That's why the Ford Charge Station Pro can't be used to charge some cars, even though it's AC.

 

[21st Century Pony]

There is a difference. Not all cars that have J1772 ports can take CCS1 plugs. That's why the Ford Charge Station Pro can't be used to charge some cars, even though it's AC.

That is an issue between an EVSE and the car. Nothing to do with my GoBox adapters which multiply potential connections between a portable EVSE and wall power.

Therefore, it remains a distinction without a difference for tbe GoBox use case.

 

[generaltso]

That is an issue between an EVSE and the car. Nothing to do with my GoBox adapters which multiply potential connections between a portable EVSE and wall power.

Therefore, it remains a distinction without a difference for tbe GoBox use case.

I don't think you're understanding. CCS is specifically for DC (except for oddballs like the Ford Charge Station Pro). J1772 is the AC portion of that. So your go box is for J1772, not CCS. For example, your adapters would all work just fine on a RAV4 Prime. It has a J1772 port, but doesn't have CCS because it doesn't have the DC pins. Since your set is for AC only, it would be more accurate to say that it will work on any J1772 port-equipped car. Bringing up CCS only confuses the statement because CCS includes the bottom pins.

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