I do things like this from time to time with my Rivian. You're right that charging infrastructure is a challenge, but two things make a big difference:

- Lots of campgrounds have 30 or 50 amp plugs for RVs. Oftentimes off-road trips I go on start by everybody getting together at night so we can get an early start the next day. If you can meet near an RV campground (not always a great option), you can charge

- Most offroad trips are a relatively low number of miles. It can be pretty technical and you're trying to enjoy the time together. You can make it a lot of hours without spending a lot of miles

All that being said, I have been sweating it on the way to the nearest charger after getting off the trails.

The campground RV thing is an a-ha moment for sure. Good to know. Agreed on low and slow and being able to make a full day out of a relatively small actual distance. Depending on where you live though the trailhead might be quite a ways from civilization and so you eat range getting to it.

If I was going to get an EV truck Rivian would def be the way to go. Just don’t let the OTA update brick your infotainment lol.

it's a truck. throw a honda genny with a 240v output, and a couple of gallons of gas, and charge it overnight. it's not about being perfectly environment pious, but going away from rolling coal.

I thought about this more than I care to admit. Bottom line: I don't think it's worth it for most people to have a generator for camping.

For me:

    - Generators are expensive. If you want to charge overnight, you're looking at 6.6kw continuous and for a honda that's at least $3500. Luckily harbor freight exists and maybe you can get away with $900 (srsly harbor freight is amazing)
    - I already have a generator and my mostly propane-powered house can easily get by with a 4.3kw peak generator which would not be a great solution on the trail. At 3.5kw continuous... That's getting to be around 24 hours to get from 20% to 80% charging the truck
    - Generators are hard to store. Especially if you're not using them regularly and you bought a second one just to take offroading.
    - Generators are heavy, especially as you add more power. Sounds like a pain to load that thing up every time.
    - I don't want to take the generator when my wife and son might need it at home. Admittedly this has never actually happened (I don't make a habit of leaving when storms are inbound), but it's a risk.

Ah I mean if that's the only thing you'd be buying the generator for, you're right, it's probably not worth it. if you're buying a $70,000 truck, the cost of a big genney shouldn't be out of reach. If you're a construction worker of some sort, which people that own trucks often are, you probably already have a gennie for the job site. Yeah they're heavy and lifting it onto the bed is a pain, but get ramp or a buddy to help. if you've got toys with you (aka an ATV) you'll have a ramp anyway. Imo it's a decent backup plan if you're going to go off-roading with an electric truck because what are you going to do if the campground spots with electricity are already taken?

Confirmed about the RV campgrounds. Almost every private RV campground has 50A service, and most state and national parks have 30A service. Both are sufficient to recharge a Tesla overnight, and the Model Y is big enough to sleep inside. I do it all the time.

> No one is gonna be doing this sort of thing with an EV though. There is no charging infrastructure out in the boonies.

You don't think people have access to electricity in these places...?

Often not. On hunting trips where I live, I'm away from all infrastructure on rough terrain for days at a time. I drive a Nissan Frontier and it grinds its way up steep logging roads for hours each day.

There are vast parts of the country where your cell phone won’t even work. Good luck finding a charging station.

Guess ya can bring your dongle and hope to find a wall plug somewhere but I’d imagine it would take quite a long time to charge.

Off roaders carry extra fuel. Or worst case your buddy who is out with you will circle back to get fuel and come save you. Can’t really do that with an EV.

If no power, how would you have a gas station? You can always drop solar and batteries for a charging station. StarLink for remote telemetry and billing.

https://cleantechnica.com/2023/04/30/a-new-solution-for-off-...

What are you gonna do at a gas station in buttfuck? Ask to borrow the wall plug? How do you pay for that? How long does it take to recharge without a dedicated wall charger or high power charging station?

Yes, gas stations in the middle of nowhere have let me use their 220V 30amps to charge. Campsites too. Billing can be automated with the current EV charging standard. You get about 5 miles of range per hour off a 120V 20A circuit.

https://supercharge.info/map

https://www.plugshare.com/

> You get about 5 miles of range per hour off a 120V 20A circuit.

I suppose that technically works but I’d imagine you’d be sleeping in the truck all night while it charges to get just enough juice to get out of dodge. 8 hours is 40 miles. If the weather is bad and you need heat that falls apart though.

To be clear, it looks like there are 40+ DC fast chargers within 50 miles of this location, which seems to be Hollister Hills in CA. Hard to count because it is close to San Jose.

Hollister Hills is one of the best off road parks I’ve ever been to. It’s fortunate to be located in NorCal where charging is more common.

Yea, that’s often the only utility they have. No water, sewer, internet.

> No one is gonna be doing this sort of thing with an EV though. There is no charging infrastructure out in the boonies.

Jeep has built solar supplied charging stations at most of the 56 badge of honor trailheads and continues to expand in partnership with Volkswagen. The Rivian recently did an end-to-end run of the Rubicon trail using the Jeep chargers.

TIL - that is pretty neat.