twieland
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We just returned home from our longest trip (1900+ miles) towing our 20’ Airstream Basecamp with our R1T. Here is a quick write up on our experience for anyone interested.
On our first day we drove from Omaha, NE to Laramie, WY and stayed in a campground overnight to charge (50A) Charging through Nebraska along I-80 was uneventful, hitting several Electrify America stations. Through eastern Wyoming we had to use a 50kW charger to top off charge to make it to the campground.
The following day, we experienced a 60 mph headwind (gusts) that affected our efficiency considerably. We slowed down to 55mph to ensure we had enough charge to make it to Rawlins for the next charger. From Rawlins we made it to Rock Springs, WY for the International Airstream Rally. This was a week long event (over 1200 Airstreams!) and we charged at the campground for the week.
Next, we headed for Grand Teton National Park. It was a 200 mile drive with no DC fast chargers en route. We used a Tesla destination charger in Pine Bluffs, WY for a couple hours to get enough charge to make it to the campground in the Tetons, and charged at the campground for the week (50A).
Returning home, we had scheduled 2 overnight campground stays to charge (no DC fast chargers on the first few hundred miles of the route heading back to Nebraska). Upon arriving in Dubois, WY (where we were planning to use a level 2 charger for several hours), we learned that a new 150kW charger had just opened the day before (we were the first customer to use it!), so only needed a 20 minute stop to get enough charge to make it to our campground in Lander, WY. Lander also had a brand new 150kW charger opening the same day. Had these chargers been available prior to us planning our trip home, we would not have needed the overnight campground stay in Lander.
The next day we drove to a Curt Gowdy State Park between Laramie and Cheyenne for another overnight charging stop. The following day we drove back to Omaha using mostly the same chargers along I-80. Being mostly downhill we were able to increase our average speed with plenty of range remaining between charging stops. We experienced hail 3 times in the last 2 days of our return trip home, but fortunately it was pebble sized and caused no damage to either the Airstream or the R1T!
Some trip statistics:
As a side note (for anyone interested in towing with an EV), I wanted to shout out an upcoming event put on by @allelectricfamily in Amana, IA the first weekend in October. Here is a link to the event: https://www.allelectricfamily.com/chargedrally
We attended last year and learned a lot, made some great friends, and are looking forward to attending again this year. For anyone that may follow RV Miles, they coincidentally are hosting a rally at the same location so there will be plenty of RV ‘stuff’ going on!
On our first day we drove from Omaha, NE to Laramie, WY and stayed in a campground overnight to charge (50A) Charging through Nebraska along I-80 was uneventful, hitting several Electrify America stations. Through eastern Wyoming we had to use a 50kW charger to top off charge to make it to the campground.
The following day, we experienced a 60 mph headwind (gusts) that affected our efficiency considerably. We slowed down to 55mph to ensure we had enough charge to make it to Rawlins for the next charger. From Rawlins we made it to Rock Springs, WY for the International Airstream Rally. This was a week long event (over 1200 Airstreams!) and we charged at the campground for the week.
Next, we headed for Grand Teton National Park. It was a 200 mile drive with no DC fast chargers en route. We used a Tesla destination charger in Pine Bluffs, WY for a couple hours to get enough charge to make it to the campground in the Tetons, and charged at the campground for the week (50A).
Returning home, we had scheduled 2 overnight campground stays to charge (no DC fast chargers on the first few hundred miles of the route heading back to Nebraska). Upon arriving in Dubois, WY (where we were planning to use a level 2 charger for several hours), we learned that a new 150kW charger had just opened the day before (we were the first customer to use it!), so only needed a 20 minute stop to get enough charge to make it to our campground in Lander, WY. Lander also had a brand new 150kW charger opening the same day. Had these chargers been available prior to us planning our trip home, we would not have needed the overnight campground stay in Lander.
The next day we drove to a Curt Gowdy State Park between Laramie and Cheyenne for another overnight charging stop. The following day we drove back to Omaha using mostly the same chargers along I-80. Being mostly downhill we were able to increase our average speed with plenty of range remaining between charging stops. We experienced hail 3 times in the last 2 days of our return trip home, but fortunately it was pebble sized and caused no damage to either the Airstream or the R1T!
Some trip statistics:
- 1.24 m/kWh = Efficiency Omaha to Rock Springs (mostly uphill and significant winds). Average speed = 60 mph
- 1.29 m/kWh = Efficiency Grand Tetons to Omaha (mostly downhill and some light tailwinds). Average Speed = 65mph
- $194.05 = total cost public charging stops for the trip
- ~50% = percentage of times needed to drop the trailer to charge
As a side note (for anyone interested in towing with an EV), I wanted to shout out an upcoming event put on by @allelectricfamily in Amana, IA the first weekend in October. Here is a link to the event: https://www.allelectricfamily.com/chargedrally
We attended last year and learned a lot, made some great friends, and are looking forward to attending again this year. For anyone that may follow RV Miles, they coincidentally are hosting a rally at the same location so there will be plenty of RV ‘stuff’ going on!
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. Our previous tow vehicle was a 2021 Toyota Tundra. We averaged about 10mpg towing at 65. Doing that math for this trip = 190 gallons x $3.75 (avg) / gallon = $712. Not counting campground costs (we would have stayed at 2 to break up the drive anyway) is a savings of (712 - 194) = $518. Divide that by 12 total charging stops = $43 saved per charging stop. 
