One of the biggest trends in the modern RV space is the simplification of appliances in order to avoid carrying around two or three different kinds of power sources when one can do the job. Airstream thinks it has an even better answer with its first-ever all-electric travel trailer. The new Airstream Basecamp 20Xe is a reasonably affordable camper featuring 10.3 kWh of batteries on deck and some solar power to keep them charged. The batteries power everything, from the stove to heater.
If you’re a bit of an old-school RVer like I am, you’re used to carrying around different power sources for your rig. Before every trip, you, like me, probably make sure that your house battery is ready to rock and you have enough propane to cook, warm your water, and operate your furnace. If you’re going off-grid, you might even carry solar panels and either gasoline or diesel for a generator. That’s a lot of stuff to consider!
Over the past few years, multiple RV manufacturers have been toying with the idea of having a single source of power for most or all of the equipment found in an RV. Bowlus has for years been marketing its Volterra, a travel trailer that works entirely off of a bank of batteries. The Lightship AE:1 and the Pebble Flow are also both entirely electric. If you’re still into internal combustion, you can get single-fuel RVs like the Airstream Rangeline as well as plenty of camper van conversions. These are designed to have their appliances run on the same gasoline or diesel that fuels their engines.
The idea with all of these RVs is to simplify the experience on your end, and now Airstream wants to join in on the all-electric party with its latest incarnation of the Basecamp trailer.
Airstream’s Most Popular Camper
I’m somewhat surprised to tell you this, but Airstream’s most unorthodox trailer is also its most popular. You’d think that most Airstream buyers would flood into showrooms for a famed “silver bullet.” Instead, the hottest Airstream for the past several years was inspired by one of the first-ever Airstreams.
That’s the Basecamp, and here’s what you need to know about it, from my retrospective:
The original Basecamp launched for the 2007 model year and was inspired by founder Wally Byam’s Torpedo plywood teardrop camper from the 1930s (below), the very first Airstream product. Airstream’s idea for the 2007 Basecamp was to build a compact, lightweight camper that still had every amenity and plenty of space. In other words, the Basecamp is more or less Airstream’s take on a teardrop trailer. That camper was discontinued in 2008 right before the Great Recession hit.
Airstream says that over time, it refined the Basecamp concept to include an onboard bathroom, more kitchen space, and upgraded appliances. This work resulted in the 2016 release of the Basecamp 2.0. It weighed in at just 2,585 lbs and still featured that riveted semi-monocoque aluminum structure that Airstream still is known for. That’s an Airstream that could be towed by many of today’s crossovers!
Back in 2016, Airstream said it designed the Basecamp to “rekindle the desire to explore nature and get outdoors.” While the Basecamp was the most outdoor-friendly Airstream, the company saw potential in it going off-road, too. In 2019, Airstream announced the X-Package, which adds a three-inch lift kit and Goodyear all-terrain tires. As of 2022, the Basecamp isn’t just one of the smallest Airstreams, but it’s also what Airstream says is its most popular model. And the most popular Basecamp is the 20-foot floorplan.
Airstream says the Basecamp has been its most popular single model since its launch in 2016. Customers love its smaller size and lower base weight. So it makes sense that Airstream is rolling out its latest tech on the most popular model first.
In February 2022, Airstream teased what could be the future of its brand. The Airstream eStream featured an 80 kWh battery, a powerful self-drive system, and featured fully electric appliances. Yep, Airstream and its German partner Dethleffs pioneered the tech that startups like Lightship and Pebble have advanced in their RV builds.
Unfortunately, it’s still a bit unclear what’s happening with the eStream. In the past, Airstream reps told me that the eStream was under active development to be produced. Then, in late 2024, another Airstream rep told me that the eStream had been shelved as just a concept. I’ve reached out to Airstream to see what the current status of that project is.
What we do know is that Airstream has been taking some of the technology from the eStream and has trickled it down into its existing products. First came the 2024 Airstream Trade Wind, a trailer with a similar design as the Flying Cloud but featuring 9.72 kWh of lithium house batteries and up to 600 watts of solar.
The New Airstream Basecamp 20Xe
Now it’s time to see the latest evolution of eStream technology. The new Airstream Basecamp 20Xe takes Airstream’s most popular floorplan – the Basecamp 20X with a 20-foot floorplan and a mild off-road kit – and makes it fully electric. That’s the little ‘e’ at the end of 20Xe. From Airstream:
The Basecamp 20Xe features a fully inverted 30A electrical system with a 3,000W inverter, 600W of rooftop solar panels, and a 10.3kWh lithium Battle Born® battery bank. This provides ample power to explore remote locations while running the optional air conditioner and microwave. The fully inverted system ensures that every outlet is functional, allowing seamless use of laptops, phones, and other essential devices. The unit also comes equipped with an upgraded solar prewire port near the A-frame where up to an additional 300W of solar panels may be plugged in to boost solar harvesting capabilities while going off-grid.
This sounds similar to the Trade Wind, which uses a triplet of chassis-integrated 270 Ah LiFePO4 Battle Born batteries. Those batteries are 12-volt packs, which provide house power when the trailer is parked off-grid.
The Basecamp 20Xe is really just more of the same. However, now every single appliance in the trailer from the heater and cooktop to the water heater can run entirely off of the battery bank. Thus, Airstream is hailing this trailer as its first-ever all-electric production camper.
Now, I will note that while this is a pretty big deal for Airstream, it’s not that impressive for the RV industry as a whole. Using 12V batteries for your all-electric trailer might not be the most efficient way of doing things. For example, in the Trade Wind, a Victron inverter kicks 12 VDC power up to 120 VAC. This was never contained in the press release, but something I was able to figure out during my tour of that trailer. Ideally, you would do something like Lightship or Pebble where you’d have a large high-voltage battery powering a purpose-built electrical system.
Relative to some campers, the Airstream’s 10.3 kWh setup here isn’t even that impressive when it comes to capacity. The Bowlus Volterra has a 17 kWh battery. Meanwhile, the clean sheet design Lightship AE:1 has a 77 kWh battery, all of which can be used for house power or for the traction motors. Even the base version of that trailer, which doesn’t have a drive motor and uses its battery entirely for house power, carries a 40 kWh pack.
However, Airstream would be quick to note that trailers with bigger batteries and more solar either aren’t in production yet or are not mass-production trailers. It is true that Airstream is packing some of the most power in a mass-produced trailer. Those other trailers are also often way more expensive, and don’t worry, we’ll get to that later.
One thing I found interesting about this trailer is that, as Airstream notes, the engineers did decide to keep the propane around as a backup fuel source. From Airstream:
The Basecamp 20Xe’s LP tank shroud houses a 20-pound propane tank that can be used as an alternative fuel source for interior heating and hot water functions. The combined water heater and furnace system can operate on multiple fuel settings, including all-electric, all propane, or a mix of both. A recirculating feature in the wet bath reduces water waste by redirecting cold water from the hot water heater into the fresh tank until it reaches the desired temperature. And for additional water conservation, an optional composting toilet is available as an upgrade. For cooking flexibility, a removable single-burner induction cooktop can be used both indoors and outdoors via a 110V outlet.
Technically, this means the Basecamp 20Xe isn’t all-electric. But by Airstream’s logic, you don’t have to use the propane if you don’t want to (you can even fully remove the tanks), so it’s good enough to be called all-electric.
In addition to the electric bits, Airstream says you’ll get the Airstream X package, which gives you Dexter three-inch lift blocks, knobby tires and stone guards. It’s not a true off-roader, but you should be able to take it down a fire road without breaking it.
As far as dimensions go, you’re looking at a 3,750-pound dry weight and 20’2″ total length. In terms of stores, you get 23 gallons for fresh water, 28 gallons for gray water, and 21 gallons for your waste. The beds inside allow up to four people to sleep, though that’ll depend somewhat on how large and how friendly those four people are.
I Bet It’s Going To Fly Off Of Dealer Lots
Airstream says you’ll get all of this for the price of $76,900.
A standard Basecamp 20 starts at $56,900 and the Airstream X package costs $3,000. So, you’re at $59,900 before the all-electric stuff. That means Airstream says that 10.3 kWh of batteries are worth $17,000.
So, why do I think these things are going to fly off of lots? Well, The Basecamp 20Xe is really just doing the same mods that many Airstream owners do on their own. You can replicate the Basecamp 20Xe’s parts for roughly $10,000-ish from Battle Born and Renogy. However, the Basecamp 20Xe offers all of it from the factory and with a warranty. There’s no need to take a base camper and electrify it yourself.
So, the Basecamp 20Xe is not the best all-electric camper on the market and not super innovative, either. However, it does appear to be tailored specifically for Airstream’s fans. It’s basically a modded camper from the factory, which is pretty cool. With some luck, I’ll get to test one of these out for myself and see if it gets anywhere near the hype.
Photos: Airstream/pattern Depositphotos.com
Airstream being wishy / washy on going all electric only compromises the capabilities.
They should drop the propane and remove the propane tanks on the tongue. They can then get rid of the large A/C unit on top and use a mini-split. The condenser unit can go in the spot vacated by the propane bottles. That leaves room for 2000 watts or more of solar on the roof so this can actually produce enough electricity to keep the batteries charged and run the A/C during the day without draining the batteries.
I own a 2023 Basecamp 20x and its fantastic. We’ve gotten in ~40 nights and 8000 miles on it in the summer and a half we’ve owned it so far, and it was a good choice for a couple and three medium dogs.
I’m a little confused by this offering. We almost always boondock (BLM or NF land with no hookups) and power really isn’t the limitation – water is. It’s rad that you can run the AC off battery power, but for $17k, you’re 2x beyond the cost of a 48v upgrade done by a qualified (but non-airstream) installer and 5x the cost the quietest generators.
The is a market for the most over the top Airstream product – check out the Pottery Barn Edition if you don’t believe me. This however feels like a niche product geared to the few who can spend the cost of a reliable used tow vehicle on $10k of Battle Born batteries.
Biggest liability of this setup is the solar capacity. I just drove a van with similar solar capacity from Washington to Alaska. I had a diesel heater and a a propane stove. I also had a lithium-ion battery. Despite sunny days, solar was not sufficient to recharge the battery, and I found the battery state-of-charge falling every day. The bulk of the battery use was simply for the blower on the diesel heater. I can’t imagine how it would have fared if I had to use the battery for cooking and general heat.
To me, it looks like there is plenty of room for additional solar.
Beancounter arithmetic.
Basecamps, especially the 20 are a terribly inefficient use of space and weight. Big on the outside and small on the inside for a hefty weight and price. Get a Casita or Scamp, which are the desired small on the outside and big on the inside and weigh a lot less and are arguably going to be more durable in the long run.
To be fair to those amazing machines, you’re probably not fitting 4 people in there easily (maybe an itinerant clown family?)
IMO the next best thing to a popup — for exterior/interior size ratio — is something like the Rockwood Roo hybrid travel trailer. You’ve got a small-ish trailer but it has up to 3 fold-out queen beds that take up almost zero space when stowed. Yes, it’s more moving parts and failure points, but they’re simple fold-outs and not powered slides. And yes, it’s not “hermetically sealed” like a proper TT. The ones with front and rear foldouts go from 20′ long to about 30′ long. It’s impressive packaging.
Durability on not just the moving parts but the RV as a whole is a lot different in something like the Rockwood than it is the Airstream, Scamp or Casita. The production methods and materials are very different. The “standard” RVs are great value for each cubic foot of volume but are almost disposable. How each model holds its value is a good indicator.
Of course — I’m all for the one-piece cap and I think all RVs should look into it (I assume it doesn’t “scale up” very well). I was just pointing out that there are a small handful of non-popups that also have creative ways of expanding without complex, heavy, and leak-prone slides. The Roo is pretty unique there.
AFAIK, Airstream and Lance are both tops in quality for travel trailers, but you’ll pay the price up front (and hopefully save down the road).
Mercedes, I think you’re the greatest and we usually agree. However, I don’t see these flying off the shelves. $80k for a small travel trailer? I’ve got a lot of wealthy friends and clients, yet I cannot imagine any of them buying one of these.
76k?!?!
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
I invite anyone who buys one of these to please come stay at my off grid land near a ski resort in Colorado. You can stay free, but you don’t get to use your propane, because you have a fancy ‘all electric camper’ that cost 3/4 of 100k.
I will be in my under $10k skoolie with a $86 diesel heater from Amazon.
We’ll see who lasts the winter.
I’m in the same boat…but considering you can get a 15y mortgage on one of these (don’t lecture me, I still think TTs are a bad financial investment) AND the fact that Airstreams hold their value better than most others — you could definitely do a lot worse!
My biggest question would be the upgradeability of batteries. Tons of overlanders and boondockers are investing in LiFePO battery packs and they’re gettin cheaper and cheaper. At some point it’s going to feel like dragging around a turntable when everyone else has smartphones. And if you’re buying an Airstream, you’re probably thinking longer term.
I think the tech is almost obsolete now, so I don’t see it holding its value very well. Think of the tech in a 15 year old car.
At $200/night, that’s well over a YEAR of rather nice hotel rooms, without even considering all the free rooms you would get from any of the hotel loyalty programs and the significant ongoing costs of maintaining, registering, and insuring a camper. And the opportunity cost of having all that money tied up, and/or the interest cost of buying the thing. For a cramped little wart you need to inefficiently haul around. That WILL break all the time, because that is what campers do. Noooope.
My folks got into RV’ing 40-odd years ago, and it made no sense at all to me even back then when they were relatively cheaper and theoretically better made. Thier last two were expensive Airstreams. And they still sucked and were broken all the time. Literally every single trip, something broke. I just don’t get the appeal.
If I wanted a movable home, I would do as you did and start with a BUS. Though a coach, not a school bus.
My wife and I are about to start travelling full time. Prior to this we have done a bunch of travel about equally split between car + hotel and either a rented campervan or our own campervan.
The problem with hotels is often the closest hotel is a long ways away from where we want to go. It sucks to drive 1 1/2 to start your hike, hike all day, and then drive 1 1/2 back to the hotel. With a hotel you also have to drag you stuff into and out of the hotel everyday and then there is the lack of cooking facilities.
RV ownership doesn’t make a lot of sense for what a lot of people that travel a couple week a year but if you are going to travel a lot and to remote areas it is nice to take your home with you.
I’m not going to judge someone for buying a luxury trailer, even though I have no intention of buying one.
You could buy as bus, but you are limited to campgrounds or roadside pullouts.
You could stay in a hotel and wake up every morning listening to trucks driving by on the interstate while sitting in a parking lot.
If we were all completely rational, everyone would be driving a Corolla and probably renting their home.
Bacteria! I know it’s silly, but every single hotel room I enter feels like the storage tank of port-a-potty and I’m going swimming. I haven’t quite turned into Howard Hughes yet, but I’m just so grossed out sometimes. And airplanes make me feel like I’m Kyle in HumancentiPad. I’m much less grossed out by all the bacteria in dirt to the point that I think I’d rather sleep on dirt than your average hotel room bed.
How ever do you get out of bed and leave the house in the morning? Sounds like you are in fact getting very close to being Howard Hughes.
It’s not the outside that grosses me out, it’s the inside places that people do inhumanely gross things like fling spooge against the walls. I picked up a wicked staff infection on an airplane once, so I’m biased. People are just nasty and I prefer my own biome is all. Being locked in a metal tube with 5% fresh air, touching a bed spread where someone’s dirty ass crack smeared the night before, that kind of stuff. Maybe I have some of the Hughes part down, but I’m still not fantastically wealthy, so I’ve got some work to do.
Excuse me while I go pee in this jar.
How can you possibly know that you got a staff infection on an airplane??
I’d suggest therapy.
Well, that’s what the doctor said after trying to figure out how I got exposed to that particular staph. I guess it was not common to get it in the sinuses or something and it didn’t make sense to him until he asked if I had flown.
It may not be polite going around and suggesting people seek therapy. I simply find hotel and motel rooms and airplanes to be gross and I know a lot of people agree with me. Just because I described such in exaggerated terms in an ever failing pursuit of humor and you missed that does not mean I need therapy. I prefer to stay just exactly as crazy as I am on any given day, like today.
I’d suggest Comedy Central.
Assuming there are nice hotels conveniently close to the places you want to go. Understanding that the amount of actually nice hotels out there has been declining for at least 5 years, as even the big chains seem to have given up on any semblance of standards
If there is no hotel, why would I need to go there? Especially dragging a mini-house behind me? The places where you are getting away from it all need a tent.
And I stay in hotels 100++ nights a year, not feeling that anything has changed, at least with my preferred chain.
You don’t go to any music festivals that maybe happen on top of a mountain, or in a field, or a state park somewhere that are maybe 30-45 minutes down unfamiliar, dark, winding mountain roads with deer everywhere, in order to get to the closest hotel or motel that’s turns out to be just some crappy Quality Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Best Western or Comfort Inn with beat up furniture, stained carpet, and mildewed caulking?
Dear God why would I subject myself to such nonsense in order to hear too loud music while surrounded by thousands of people who have altered their consciousness?
I literally stay 100+ hotel nights a year, 95% of the time at IHG properties, and have for nearly 30 years. The number of times a room has been unacceptable can be counted on the fingers of one hand, and my standards are not particularly low. Worst Western, Low Quality/Comfort Inn, Motel 6 and Super 8, you take your chances.
Dear God, why wouldn’t you want to listen to loud music with a bunch of happy stoners? Have you ever seen females dance on a warm summer evening?
I jest of course. To each his own.
I hate loud music, and given I am as queer as a rainbow-striped three-dollar bill dancing females are largely lost on me.
My gay son loves females. Aesthetically, not romantically.
But fair enough. Dancing men?
I am sorry you don’t like loud music. Being a synesthete, loud music brings me to a nirvanic state. I can only hope something else brings you as much enjoyment.
We used to make an annual trip to The Palmer House for The Dead shows are Soldier’s Field. Nice hotel and dancing stoners.
Just curious what kind of job has you away from home for a third of the time for probably a significant portion of your life?
IT Consultant/Field Engineer specializing in enterprise storage, backup, and virtualization with a side order of high-performance compute clusters. That’s the past 18 years, for a decade before that I installed inventory control, POS, and accounting systems across the country. Before that, medical billing software installation and training.
And we’ll who gets carbon monoxide poisoning first (meant to be sarcastic, not belligerent)
Anyone who knows anything about Airstreams knows that if you want a good one, you get a ‘project’ where a model from when John Travolta still went to the local disco on Saturday nights, that’s been abandoned since around the time the GOOD Space Jam movie came out, and you fix it up, because the modern ones all go together like the mobile home my father had when the Power Rangers were actually still cool — because just like the Power Rangers ever since, that there build quality’s a bit of a Yikes.
I can’t unsee the resemblance to a horse trailer for people a d that list price. Airstreams liok cool bu so many $$ and recent ones have quality issues.
I have no need (or money) for a camper, but there’s a Basecamp for sale near me and I want it because it’s just so cool looking.
That Renogy 600 watt solar kit you linked + 10.8 kWh of lithium batteries are $4,000. Add another $1000 for and inverter, wiring, fuses and other misc items and you are at $5,000. That is a HEFTY markup from Airstream.
BTW, I’ve found that Renogy products are cheaper at Lowes or Home Depot than direct from Renogy.
Also Renogy sucks. Victron is worth it.
I’ve been using Renogy components for about 10 years with no issues. (Campervan, Shed, Boat) Victron is nice but pricey. I can’t see paying twice as much for Victron but if you like it and have the $$$ more power to you. We will see on this new 48V system but so far so good.
I have no need or desire to remotely monitor my system. Haven’t tried the Renogy One M1 but my system came with a free Renogy Core One screen. It works OK, the HMI could be better but it does the job of telling me SOC and current flows.
Color me skeptical that these will fly off the lots. That’s a lot of extra coin for $2,000 worth battery and another couple thousand for solar panels and electric capable appliances. I’m not sure where you get that $10k figure, but it seems way too high for the parts involved.
I’m wrong a lot, so I certainly could be here as well, but the markup on these upgrades is pretty dear.
Labor?
These are mostly upgrades to existing systems, so the extra labor is not that significant. I just think they are being a bit optimistic in their pricing. However, I’ve never sold an Airstream so I don’t know what they know and I’m wrong about 49.9999999% of the time, so flip a coin.
I think these are going to sell like hot plates, too.
5000 pounds for a 20 foot trailer yikes.
$80,000 for a 20 foot trailer yikes.
I know 12v batteries are historically standard, but systems like these meant to work with solar and inverters really should be 48v. The wiring is much cheaper and easier to work with and there are plenty of battery options. If 12v is needed somewhere, it’s a simple buck converter away.
48 volts is getting well into the danger range for fires and electrocutions. DC being worse than AC as well. I suspect that’s why.
Meh it’s still low voltage. It’s really just as safe in practice as 12v and there will be lower amperage on the wires too.
I still don’t want my wife and kids near that much DC is a wet environment. However, I’m an insurance agent, so that must factor in.
48V is not high voltage and not dangerous unless your skin is wet or you have open wounds.
You just described pretty much every day of camping for me. Wet skin and open wounds. Kids are also non-stop edge cases.
But again, I am an insurance agent who has spent his life seeing risks everywhere and I know it affects my perspective. Furthermore, for me it’s really that one car battery has enough juice to be scary, multiplying that by four scares me too much.
Do your kids wear helmets 24-7?
Now don’t be an ass. Shall I ask you sarcastic snotty questions too?
lol just playing man.
But get them helmets 😛
Okay, good. One of my kids was grievously injured by a hit and run driver and almost died so I don’t have a lot of (or really any) patience for jokes about my kids. I thought it out of character for you so I’m very glad to hear that you were kidding around.
Tell that to my lawn mower, snow blower, chain saws, weed wacker, nose hair trimmer (well not really)…. 48 volts is the poor man’s 56.
OSHA considers anything 50V or above to be hazardous. That is why mild hybrid systems use 48V.
Does this have any regenerative braking to recharge its batteries? I’d think in theory this could be a source of a lot of energy for batteries, although I would be the first to admit I lack any engineering knowledge to know if that would make sense for the combined system of the camper and towing vehicle together.
“regenerative braking” is an electric motor working on reverse. so the cost of adding an electric motor in both dollars and weight would be huge. also trailer brakes are not very aggressive. just gentle friction to help you come to a smooth stop and keep the trailer from swaying. also most people are not towing a camper in stop and go traffic to really take advantage of regenerative braking they would be going down the highway where you are not really applying the brakes much at all. It’s a cool idea but the benefits would be too small to be practical.
It probably will do well coming from airstream name will definitely give it credibility. I guess they are trying to be beat lightship to market. It’s about 1/3 of the initial cost of light ship too. The e-axle and aero is where these things really shine for towing with a bev truck. Not sure it’s got quite the aero as the lightship though.
Airstream is to RVing what Apple is to computers. Solid product, but you’re still paying a premium for the name.
If that’s the way you roll, hey, more (battery) power to you.
Little sip of the cool aid there, I think… Making sure gas bottles are full, batteries charged and you have fuel for the generator, is not a huge problem for most functioning adults..
I am sure Airstream is very good at wiring. Unlike most caravan makers where short circuits, burning smells and batteries which run flat from weirdo circuits abound…
I am with you to a degree. I take pride in preparing for a trip and I am not bothered by propane, generators, or batteries.
That being said, there are now numerous options for single source power on the market and people are buying them. You have to consider that a lot of RVers are newbies or otherwise don’t know what they’re doing. Or, heck, maybe they’re environmentalists. So Airstream is just following the trend.
That stuff is one more obstacle between you and your camp site.
Me, I still use a tent…. But others in the family do not and spend an inordinate amount of time finding cables, the right plug (s) and then getting the owner/managers to turn on the current to their particular stand.
As I understand it this revolution has such powerful batteries in the caravan that no cables required. Ho hum, could work but 10.3 kw of batteries, weighs, what 150 kg. Great if it means you can use battery power to unhitch and reverse into place in a nice shady spot — which will mean less solar recharging — honey, where did you put the plug bag…..
I’m doing something similar with my ambulance RV conversion. I added 9.6 kWh of lithium to the 3.6 kWh of lead acid batteries that came with the rig. The new lithium batteries are 48V to cut way down on the size of cables. I have 1800 watts of solar on top to keep it charged and of course there are also options for shore power or charging from the dual alternators.
I haven’t decided get on if I’m going to do a espar diesel heater for backup.
It will need more solar to go boon-docking for a long time if you’re cooking and hot water on electric only.
10.4 KWh of batteries are under $3000 nowadays. I wonder how much of a markup Airstream is adding (Battleborns are very good batteries, but the premium cost vs. benefits are debatable).
Don’t get me wrong, I think all or near all electric trailers are a great thing that should become common.
What’s left unsaid is for how long (off-grid)? I doubt the solar panels can recharge enough (during daylight hours) to offset the power consumed during the other hours. This, in theory, could be a good option for weekend-only users only IF they can recharge at home, during the week (HOA rules?!), or in the storage yard, and if the batteries will last for 3-4 days, unplugged.
Here in the Midwest, where high summer humidity makes A/C mandatory for many campers, that’s another major drain that needs to be accounted for. The beauty of propane and generators is that the trailer can be winterized and left untouched for months and/or it can serve as a home for weeks on end following a disaster. (That $10K-$15K upcharge will buy a LOT of propane . . . )
Yeah, Airstream just says that the stores work for “days” but doesn’t say how many or with what kind of use. As other readers have noted in the past, Airstream’s setup isn’t super efficient so you wouldn’t want to expect to use any high power appliance for too long.
You’d probably need a hybrid tow vehicle with a high capacity power output if you plan to go off the grid somewhere for a long time, like the ramcharger or hybrid f150.
It will probably be enough for normal use cases (weekend camping in the summer or parking at an RV camp for longer stays)
I’ve always liked the way the Basecamps look, but I remain flummoxed and flabbergasted by their price. They may be cheap compared to something else/bigger, but damn if these really are going to fly off the shelves at $80K a pop, maybe I should buy stock in the company instead.
I agree that integrated stuff from the factory with the warranty has value but it is still a big premium in this case. Going all-ish electric is a nice option, but it isn’t a game changer.
The game changer for EV power and RVs is when they can connect the battery in the RV into an EV tow vehicle to extend the total range.The battery in the RV would also allow you to use the RV brake for regen. The same system would help a PHEH or EREV as well. A connected trailer/truck system like that would also allow for the ICE motor in the tow vehicle to be used as a backup generator.
Airstream had a prototype a year or more ago but I haven’t hear much about it since.
Lightship is working on that as well. They won’t come out and say it but they seem to have a relationship with Rivan and they are working on a solution together.
How long is the warranty and when it fails in the backcountry do they come to you to fix it (haha, no) or is your trip ruined until you tow it back to a dealer? Stuff never seems to break when it’s sitting in the storage lot.
I don’t camp any more – arthritis and old age, and preferred tents and wood fires when I did. Eighty grand is too rich for my blood. That number would buy a decade of decent hotels and dining for the yearly 2 week vacations. Looks nice, and is probably a good value for folks that like the RV lifestyle. I just doesn’t work for me and the SO.
It’s my favorite camper so far by far but at 7650lbs empty (with propane) it’s more than any automobile of mine can tow.
Hell, I think there are only 2 trims of the F-150 lightning that can tow it.
Lotta weight on one axle. At a minimum I’d want to have TPMS on the trailer wheels. My neighbor had a tire come apart on his 5th wheel and it shredded several thousands in bodywork
Where did you get that number? Mercedes quoted 3750 lbs dry.
Airstream’s website
Then maybe you looked at the wrong trailer.
https://www.airstream.com/travel-trailers/basecamp-xe/specifications/
3,750 lbs, according to Airstream.
Maybe I did, but while this sounds like a shitty excuse I genuinely believe that it originally said that. Sadly noone archived the link on the wayback machine.
Genuinely this is good news to me and opens up a lot of options tow vehicle wise.