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Comment by soligern | Hacker News Reader

The thing that has worked for me is going the trailer route with my lightning. You can get 60-70% charge overnight (since I power the trailer with the lightning) with one of the KOA RV outlets included with the camping spot price. KOAs are a bit pricier than a mom and pop but totally worth it for the extra $7-10 you might pay per night because they’re cleaner, have great restroom facilities and I can drive a whole day on the charge.

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How is the range when pulling your trailer? From what I read the reduction is steep?

You can do around 100 miles a day on 70% and that’s more than enough for me the way I’m traveling. I have the extended capacity model. It also really depends on the route, with a lot of downhills you can probably get closer to 180 miles on 70%. On a cool night when you can just leave a window open on the trailer (so you don’t need to power it), you can get a full charge and that will get you around 200 miles a day while towing on something that has a decent amount of downhill.

Are you driving one-way? How do you have a route that is a lot of downhills without uphills? Are you starting at the continental divide?

So is your itinerary to go from KOA to KOA in 100 mile increments? Are there ever times when there isn't a KOA ~100 miles in the direction you want to go?

Other campgrounds besides KOAs offer 50 amp service.

I don't have a lightning but have been thinking about getting one. Thanks for the report.

One thing I thought about is that if I want to go someplace farther than 100 miles, I could just drop the trailer in a parking lot, recharge the truck at a nearby DCFC, then re-hook and be on my way. I've done this on occasion to refuel an ICE tow vehicle at a too-small gas station, and I don't see why it wouldn't work with a lightning.

What’s the range on your Lightning without the trailer? What’s the weight of the trailer?

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