Skye Texas Hill Country Resort was built on a 250-acre site that’s so removed from civilization that guests can see deer in the morning and hear the calls of coyotes at night, while they charge their electric vehicles. Located 15 miles north of Fredericksburg, Skye Texas Hill Country Resort, which opened March 18, is one of the first RV resorts in the country, if not the first, to offer EV charging at every campsite and cabin.
Torrey Trails RV & Golf Resort in Bowling Green, Florida, for its part, offers EV charging connections at all 210 RV sites in its second phase, which was recently completed. But while growing numbers of campgrounds and RV resorts across the country are installing EV charging stations, most existing campgrounds and RV parks cannot add EV charging hookups at their existing campsites and cabins without making costly changes and upgrades to their existing electrical infrastructure.
As a result, it could be several years before RVers see widespread availability of EV charging stations in campgrounds, RV parks, and resorts. Campers, for their part, should always check with campground and RV park staff before attempting to charge their EVs using the utility pedestals at their campsite to avoid damaging their vehicles or the campground’s electrical connections, according to Darin Uselman, chief operations officer for Billings, Montana-based Kampgrounds of America, Inc. (KOA), which has over 500 campgrounds across the U.S. and Canada.
“It is essential to understand that EVs require constant electricity flow to charge their batteries, and the majority of our campgrounds’ electrical pedestals do not have this capability,” Uselman said. “Current electrical pedestals designed to recreational vehicle code were originally designed for non-continuous loads typical of today's RV usage, and, therefore, simply cannot support EV charging. Plugging your EV into a traditional 50-30 amp campground pedestal could permanently damage your vehicle as well as the campground's electrical system.”
Uselman added, “If a charging converter was provided by your auto manufacturer, it does not change the way electricity flows within the campground’s electrical infrastructure and should not be used to connect your EV to our campground pedestals.”
At the time of this writing, the KOA franchise network had at least 26 campgrounds across the U.S. and Canada with EV charging capabilities. Uselman said he anticipates that most KOAs will have EV charging capabilities within a few years.
Not every campground that has EV charging facilities indicates the availability of this service on their websites. So it’s important to speak with park staff directly to verify the kind of EV charging systems they have.
Here’s a sampling of campgrounds, RV parks and resorts across the U.S. and Canada that offer EV charging stations, based on information provided to GoRVing.com from a variety of sources, including BookOutdoors.com, CampinSouthDakota.com, Camp-California.com, CampColorado.com, CampNewYork.com, CampgroundViews.com, CampJellystone.com, Campspot.com, Equity LifeStyle Properties, GoodSam.com, TexasCampgrounds.com, and other sources, including the campgrounds themselves:
