~200 mile range towing Airstream

[earthworm]

Recently picked up an Airstream Basecamp 20X and did my first drive back home from the dealer. From what I'm seeing so far, I think I can make it 200 miles on a charge. Wanted to put some range figures out there as I was strongly considering the 16X for the smaller frontal cross section to get better aerodynamics for more range. So far, this exceeded my expectations.

My truck details:
AWD, all-terrain tires, no wheel covers, medium height, chill mode. VIN 70xx. Drove 55-60 mph on the interstate to try to get the best aerodynamics. But... all my aero fairings broke from recent off-roading shenanigans, so there's that.

Trip result:
31 mi, 47 min, 558 Wh/mi.

For perspective, my lifetime is 393 Wh/mi across 7,585 miles. I accelerate pretty frugally and drive strictly the speed limit. I guess you could use this to extrapolate to what your own towing range might be.

I have zero experience with RV stuff, so take all this with a grain of salt. I plan to break things in by going cross-country while primarily boondocking on BLM land. These range figures should let me to comfortably distance myself between each RV stop. Picked up a NEMA 14-50 splitter so I can attempt to charge the truck overnight when I'm docked at an RV site. Hoping to entirely avoid supercharging costs if possible.

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[Pops]

This seems highly unlikely. Once you get that thing loaded up and full of fluids it's going to weigh a lot more. Long distance highway driving will absolutely destroy your range. Unless you're driving at 55mph, but that becomes a hazard in itself on some highways. I know in California that's illegal limit so it shouldn't be a problem there.

Don't get me wrong it's perfectly feasible to tow RVs in the Cybertruck. I think it's more realistic to plan your trips with charging stops every 100-120 miles.

 

[Spacenoddle]

This seems highly unlikely. Once you get that thing loaded up and full of fluids it's going to weigh a lot more. Long distance highway driving will absolutely destroy your range. Unless you're driving at 55mph, but that becomes a hazard in itself on some highways. I know in California that's illegal limit so it shouldn't be a problem there.

Don't get me wrong it's perfectly feasible to tow RVs in the Cybertruck. I think it's more realistic to plan your trips with charging stops every 100-120 miles.

Every 2 hour at 60 mph is a good number.

 

[Woodrick]

Recently picked up an Airstream Basecamp 20X and did my first drive back home from the dealer. From what I'm seeing so far, I think I can make it 200 miles on a charge. Wanted to put some range figures out there as I was strongly considering the 16X for the smaller frontal cross section to get better aerodynamics for more range. So far, this exceeded my expectations.

My truck details:
AWD, all-terrain tires, no wheel covers, medium height, chill mode. VIN 70xx. Drove 55-60 mph on the interstate to try to get the best aerodynamics. But... all my aero fairings broke from recent off-roading shenanigans, so there's that.

Trip result:
31 mi, 47 min, 558 Wh/mi.

For perspective, my lifetime is 393 Wh/mi across 7,585 miles. I accelerate pretty frugally and drive strictly the speed limit. I guess you could use this to extrapolate to what your own towing range might be.

I have zero experience with RV stuff, so take all this with a grain of salt. I plan to break things in by going cross-country while primarily boondocking on BLM land. These range figures should let me to comfortably distance myself between each RV stop. Picked up a NEMA 14-50 splitter so I can attempt to charge the truck overnight when I'm docked at an RV site. Hoping to entirely avoid supercharging costs if possible.

558 Wh/mi sounds about right for an aerodynamic trailer around 4,000lbs. But I think that you are calculating for 100% battery and that's realistic for around town camping (which is the most common). For longer road trips, you'll be more in the neighborhood of 130 miles, which is still quite decent.

Remember that around 35 mph is the most optimal speed, so if you carry the Basecamp on slower roads at near that speed, your range will increase. But it you get it on the trails that the Airstream show, the range will go back down.

But as the Airstream says for the Basecamp "For the even more adventurous at heart." So, be adventurous!

If this is your first camper, you may not know that you should first camp at a nearby full service campground first. You need to break it in and make sure that everything is working. Nothing worse than being out in the middle of nowhere and realize that the water pump fails.

 

[Cybergirl]

Picked up a NEMA 14-50 splitter so I can attempt to charge the truck overnight when I'm docked at an RV site. Hoping to entirely avoid supercharging costs if possible.

What is a NEMA 14-50 splitter? What does it do for you?

 

[RandyS]

What is a NEMA 14-50 splitter? What does it do for you?

This is evidently what it looks like on Amazon...

https://www.amazon.com/Splitter-Generator-N14-50R-Extension-Approved/dp/B0CCXT7TLH

I haven't used one, but it would let you connect the truck and a camper/trailer to a campground 14-50 outlet at the same time. Of course, the problem is that in many campgrounds, their NEMA 14-50 outlets are not meant to deliver 40 amps continuously (either due to their worn condition, or due to the campground electrical system design).

So while it may be possible to connect both at the same time, you won't be able to load up the truck and the camper/trailer to a very high amp rating...

 

[earthworm]

Update: Friday afternoon we took the camper on its maiden voyage to a state park 12 miles from home. Got 609 Wh/mi going 45 to 55mph. Will update with the return details Sunday night.

Decided to see how long we could last using truck for shore power. With max AC we burn about 1% per hour. Based on this, probably want to boondock in winter and do parks and campsites with hookup power in summer.

With the 14-50 adapter I'll pull about 1.5kW with the airconditioning. I can probably safely charge the truck at 10 amps. Total we plan to be pulling about 16 amps of the total 32 amps you could theoretically take from a campsite 50 amp outlet. Gives us 50% margin for extra safety. On paper this would fully charge the truck over 2 or 3 days.

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