EV campers could double as a home office (or energy backup)

When Tesla launched the Model X in 2015, the world’s first electric SUV rolled on to a stage towing an Airstream travel trailer. In what seems like unintentional foreshadowing, the $30 billion U.S. recreational vehicle market is now getting the Tesla treatment.

A pair of California startups staffed by alumni of the electric car company have developed the first self-propelled, battery-and-solar-powered travel trailers. The vehicles are set to hit the market in late 2024. Following the Tesla playbook, San Francisco’s Lightship and Silicon Valley-based Pebble aim to not just electrify a century-old icon of the American road; the companies are attempting to reinvent it for the EV age.

“We’re using technology to automate the hardest part of RVing, bringing this iPhone-like experience to the RV,” says Bingrui Yang, Pebble’s chief executive officer and an Apple veteran.

If they fulfill their pre-production promises, the RVs equipped with powerful batteries and solar panels will become mobile power plants, capable of operating off the grid for days or powering stationary homes during a blackout.

Lightship’s L1 Long Range travel trailer, for instance, boasts an 80 kilowatt-hour battery pack and a 3-kilowatt solar array integrated into its roof and awnings. “That’s approaching the amount of solar you put on your average house," says Lightship co-founder and chief executive officer Toby Kraus.

That startup’s offices in a San Francisco warehouse are filled with prototypes of the L1, including two chassis where engineers test battery configurations and power management systems. Co-founder Ben Parker, who’s also the company’s chief product officer, was a battery engineer on the Tesla Model 3. Kraus, meanwhile, served as a product manager for the Model S.

Towing a 7,500-pound travel trailer puts a serious dent in the fuel economy of a fossil fuel-powered vehicle and reduces the range of an electric pick-up truck or SUV. The 27-foot-long L1 eliminates that penalty by propelling itself with dual motors. Its sleek shape further reduces drag as does a feature called “road mode.” When you’re ready to hit the highway, the upper half of the 10-foot-tall trailer lowers so its profile is a shade under 7 feet tall when towed. (In “camp mode,” the L1’s interior ceiling height is 7 feet 6 inches and the wraparound windows give the vehicle an airy vibe.)

Increasingly, those trucks and other tow vehicles are electric. About a third of RVers own an electric vehicle and half of EV owners plan to tow a travel trailer, according to the RV Industry Association (RVIA). Investors have taken note of that interest with Lightship having raised $27 million in funding while Pebble has secured $13.6 million.

Steve Krivolavek and his wife Katie Krivolavek have been towing an Airstream with their Model X since 2020. “Range loss is real,” says Steve. The Lincoln, Nebraska, couple have put $500 down to reserve an L1. “Having that battery pack to go off grid and not worry about power for a long time is huge,” he says.

The pandemic helped bust the stereotype of the RVer as a retiree: the average age of an RV buyer dropped from 53 before the pandemic to 33 in 2022,  a surveys by the RV Industry Association show.

Pebble last week unveiled a self-propelled travel trailer designed to cater to post-pandemic wanderlust. The Pebble Flow features a 45-kilowatt-hour battery and built-in rooftop solar panels that generate 1 kilowatt of electricity. The 25-foot-long RV shares the L1’s futuristic aesthetic, replacing propane tanks and gas-powered appliances with induction stoves and touchscreens. A wall of electrochromic glass that sheaths the bathroom turns opaque at the touch of a button.

 “The RVs on the market today generally only get used two weeks out of the entire year, but we’ve designed this product so it can be used all the time,” says Yang, who founded Pebble and previously worked on autonomous driving systems at Cruise and Zoox. “When you’re parked at home, you can use it as a home office and for energy backup.”

The Pebble Flow, which sleeps four people, sells for $125,000. A version that is not self-propelled and doesn’t include autonomous hitching or remote control is $109,000. The L1 can sleep up to six people and costs $151,500 (federal tax credits for the solar panels and battery storage can drop the price to $139,600, though). An L1 that comes with a 45-kilowatt-hour battery but without self-propulsion retails for $125,000, or $118,400 after tax credits.  Those prices are at the high end of the market but comparable with brands like Airstream, maker of the iconic travel trailer.

“It's kind of an expensive car or a really cheap house,” says Lightship co-founder and chief executive officer Toby Kraus.