Shygar
Well-known member
- First Name
- Brian
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2023
- Threads
- 18
- Messages
- 181
- Reaction score
- 342
- Location
- East Bay, CA
- Vehicles
- Tesla Model Y, Cybertruck, Powerwalls/Solar
- Thread starter
- #1
So this past week Monday through Wednesday we rented a camper (20 feet long, 3579 lbs dry, was full of fresh water while towing both ways) off of Outdoorsy and took it to Dillon Beach. Rented the camper in Vallejo and drove it roughly 49 miles one way to Dillon Beach (Lawson's Landing). Range was 100% to 65% when we arrived at the campsite. I did end up plugging the trailer into the 120v plug in the bed and it ended up draining the truck to roughly 48% over 2 days. I wasn't sure how much range was needed to get the camper out, so I opted to drive to the supercharger 40 minutes away in Petaluma (150kW) to fill up, because I really didn't want to have to charge while towing since none of these superchargers are pull through. Leaving Wednesday I did not plug in the camper, as it really didn't need it as it had a solar panel and battery. We left with 89% and arrived with 55%, so honestly I probably could have drove it back as long as I left it alone. Also I did turn off sentry mode so the truck could go to sleep. If you aren't towing it as far, you could probably run a few campers off of the truck depending on energy requirements. Just remember to enable the option to leave the outlets on for 12 hours, the app will show you the remaining time left on those 12 hours. I wish the app and the truck would show you the voltage/amps being supplied from the outlets, I couldn't even find this in the service menu. I didn't use the 14-50 as the camper owner was concerned that it would fry his camper if it gave 240v. I knew this was very unlikely but I wish there was a way to prove to him that it is supplying 120v. One other problem charging was the first supercharger by his house had these signs saying they were Tesla charging only and they were directly centered with the spot, so my trailer hitch would have hit it if I didn't park at an angle.
Overall it was very easy to drive! Sometimes I would forget it was back there, so I had to keep remembering it was there. Only the occasional bump that pulled it reminded me (aside from seeing it). I also thought the side cameras on the fenders were good enough to not need extended mirrors, although it would have been really nice to have extended mirrors built in (maybe an easy upgrade option in the future?) but honestly the cameras helped a lot. The 4 wheel steering helped a lot, but you have to get used to how much it can turn when you cut it fully over. My neighbor was surprised to see all 4 wheels steering.
Next trip will be a different but similarly sized camper to Yosemite, that one will require charging while towing, which will be interesting. I hope the app works for everything there when there's no cell signal.
I ended up covering 146 miles with the camper at 668 Wh/mile, which I was pleased with. One nice thing was the energy graph was quite accurate on the way back, as you can imagine the way there wasn't too great but it did eventually figure out the requirements. Btw in addition to the 3579 lb trailer the bed of the truck was full of stuff (3 bikes, camping boxes, etc).
Tow mode was nice, the alarm is a nice feature, it activates when you unplug the 7 pin connector, but it did surprise me as by the time I walked to the back of the truck it locked, then I unplugged it and set off the alarm. But nice to have when you need it. I did not need to use the brake controller, but it was ready and apparent on the screen, it adds another card at the bottom, which makes it hard to see tow mode and listen to music.
Got some attention at the campground, although I did see a Rivian R1T towing a small popup camper at the same time, not sure how much attention they got. But the camp host came over to check it out along with a few neighbors.
Oh one strange thing it did when I first hooked it up, the truck auto leveled while I was behind it messing with it. I'm guessing it figured this out after I plugged in the 7 pin. I normally drive on Comfort mode with mixed height, so it was probably at a medium height, then it seemed to lower it to entry when I got out to hook it up, then raised it back up roughly after I plugged it in (and the trailer was hooked to the ball). I only noticed this when first getting the trailer, not when leaving with it.
Hitch used: https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer_Hitch_Ball_Mount/Gen~Y_Hitch/325-GH-214.html
https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories_and_Parts/InfiniteRule/34061650-D.html (3 weren't needed, the short one was too short to use with this hitch)
https://www.etrailer.com/Hitch_Anti~Rattle/Gen~Y_Hitch/GY88XR.html
Overall it was very easy to drive! Sometimes I would forget it was back there, so I had to keep remembering it was there. Only the occasional bump that pulled it reminded me (aside from seeing it). I also thought the side cameras on the fenders were good enough to not need extended mirrors, although it would have been really nice to have extended mirrors built in (maybe an easy upgrade option in the future?) but honestly the cameras helped a lot. The 4 wheel steering helped a lot, but you have to get used to how much it can turn when you cut it fully over. My neighbor was surprised to see all 4 wheels steering.
Next trip will be a different but similarly sized camper to Yosemite, that one will require charging while towing, which will be interesting. I hope the app works for everything there when there's no cell signal.
I ended up covering 146 miles with the camper at 668 Wh/mile, which I was pleased with. One nice thing was the energy graph was quite accurate on the way back, as you can imagine the way there wasn't too great but it did eventually figure out the requirements. Btw in addition to the 3579 lb trailer the bed of the truck was full of stuff (3 bikes, camping boxes, etc).
Tow mode was nice, the alarm is a nice feature, it activates when you unplug the 7 pin connector, but it did surprise me as by the time I walked to the back of the truck it locked, then I unplugged it and set off the alarm. But nice to have when you need it. I did not need to use the brake controller, but it was ready and apparent on the screen, it adds another card at the bottom, which makes it hard to see tow mode and listen to music.
Got some attention at the campground, although I did see a Rivian R1T towing a small popup camper at the same time, not sure how much attention they got. But the camp host came over to check it out along with a few neighbors.
Oh one strange thing it did when I first hooked it up, the truck auto leveled while I was behind it messing with it. I'm guessing it figured this out after I plugged in the 7 pin. I normally drive on Comfort mode with mixed height, so it was probably at a medium height, then it seemed to lower it to entry when I got out to hook it up, then raised it back up roughly after I plugged it in (and the trailer was hooked to the ball). I only noticed this when first getting the trailer, not when leaving with it.
Hitch used: https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer_Hitch_Ball_Mount/Gen~Y_Hitch/325-GH-214.html
https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories_and_Parts/InfiniteRule/34061650-D.html (3 weren't needed, the short one was too short to use with this hitch)
https://www.etrailer.com/Hitch_Anti~Rattle/Gen~Y_Hitch/GY88XR.html
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