There is no denying that traveling on an RV for a road trip is one of the best ways to spend a summer vacation. You’re going across the country, seeing new places and passing by new landmarks that you can sightsee as you can move on. It’s a lot different than traveling by airplane because on an RV road trip, you have more interaction with the places you’re visiting, and it’s an overall more worthwhile experience.
However, an RV road trip doesn't come without its obstacles, and one of the most important factors when it comes to a long trip is having all your charging accessories with you. In this guide, we’re covering the types of chargers that you should consider taking with you before heading out on a road trip, as many different types offer different charging experiences.
Wall Chargers and Desktop Chargers
Even though your traveling with an RV, you still have the option to use a wall charger, and a wall charger, as you may know, is the most used charging electronic. This due to most phones coming with a charging adapter in the first place, but that is not really the case anymore, with more phones no longer including a wall charger. However, if you want to charge most of your devices at their max charging speed when you’re traveling in an RV, then it’s best to use a wall charger.
Most devices are now USB-C chargeable, such as smartphones, tablets, and even laptops; in fact, most laptops on the market can now charge via USB-C Power Delivery. This is what makes it possible to use the same charger for all your devices. This universal charging that comes with USB-C will be beneficial for RV traveling because you have fewer things to keep track of. So what chargers should you aim to get when it comes to getting USB-C chargers for your devices? We recommend ones that have high PD charging speeds.
A Power Delivery wall charger with a higher PD output can cover a wider range of devices that it can charge—for example, the ITEHIL 100W Dual USB-C Power Delivery wall charger. The charger has two USB-C PD ports and two USB-A Quick Charge 3.0 ports. You can use the wall charger to charge most USB-C chargeable laptops like Macbook, Chromebooks, and most other laptops that use USB-C for charging. The best part is that a 100W PD charging speed can charge them at their max power; to add to that, you can still use a 100W PD port to charge smartphones and tablets. Your devices won’t get damaged because charging power will adjust to the device that it’s charging.
Another benefit of using a PD wall charger is that they’re tiny, unlike a charging brick with a long power cord. The ITEHIL 100W PD wall charger small in size, and a built-in AC adapter enables you to place it into a bag. Using a wall charger on an RV is also convenient without having a power cable to keep track of inside the RV cabin. However, if you want more charging ports, there are desktop chargers, but they have power cords.
Portable Chargers and AC Power Stations
Of course, you won’t be spending all your time on the RV, and half the time, you’re going to be exploring. Whether it’s spending time in a town that you’ve stopped at or a national park such as Yosemite, you're going to have to go portable with your devices, and who knows how long you're going to be away from your RV. That’s when a power bank can be your best option if you’re running low on power, if you’re on a trail, or wherever you’re out venturing. A power bank may be the best option in general if you don’t want to stay in a single spot waiting for your device to charge up.
When it comes to charging your phone with a power bank, you don’t have to go with such a higher power capacity, and considering that you’re going to be walking a lot if you’re exploring new places, then a low capacity small power bank is a good idea. These chargers usually have 5,000mAh or 10,000mAh power capacities that can charge phones, and they also feature Power Delivery fast charging. However, the PD charging is mostly capped at 18W for those capacity power banks.
On the higher-end, if you want to be able to charge your laptop, and you’ve stopped your RV at a campsite, and are outside grilling some food, then consider a high-capacity power bank. There are ones that have 30,000mAh power capacities and can make use of 30W PD charging speeds. This way, you don’t have to be attached to a wall when it comes to charging your laptop, and you can be outside enjoying your time with friends and family.
One other charger type that we recommend that’s not just a charger is a portable power station. We feel like a power station is a must if you’re going on an RV road trip, and we find that if you’re traveling with a power station, you won’t have much use for a wall charger or a power bank. As power stations have AC outlets, ports, and a ton of other features that are all on a single device
The one setback for taking a power station on an RV road trip is that you can’t be too portable with it, as they’re large and heavy. However, they’re great if you don’t want to use your RV’s power and be very useful for setting up campsites with appliances you want to set up outside.
12Volt Car Chargers
Of course, how could we not include car chargers in this guide? Car chargers can easily plug into a 12Volt outlet in your RV, and in some cases, they may be more useful to use than wall chargers, as they require less power. However, you are giving up some charging power when you use a car charger compared to a wall charger, as there aren’t ones that have a 100W PD charging speed.
That said, it’s more about the convenience, as you can get a USB-C PD car charger with two USB-C ports, with each port outputting 18W, you can fast charge two smartphones at the same time. Few car chargers do make use of 30W or 45W Power Delivery ports, and those are the ones that can charge laptops.
