The typical camping trailer has had the same downsides since nearly its inception. Big trailers are a tremendous drain on your tow vehicle’s range, whether it’s powered by fuel and an engine or batteries and motors. Then, once you get to your campsite, you might fire up a loud and annoying generator for your on-site power needs. One new company has an idea that could change that. This is the Evotrex, and it wants to be the world’s first travel trailer with an extended-range electric vehicle system that will not only allow you to go farther while towing a camper, but also deliver clean, quiet power once you get to the campsite.
The concept of a travel trailer that has a big battery for off-grid use is not new. Do-it-yourself camper builders and even RV manufacturers have been leaving the generators at home for all-electric camping for years. A newer idea is a camper that has huge batteries that also tie into a propulsion system. The Pebble Flow, which went into production earlier this year, is the world’s first production self-propelled travel trailer. The Lightship AE.1 launched almost immediately after as the world’s second production self-propelled travel trailer.
Both of these trailers have me amped about the future of RVs because they solve multiple real problems faced by RV owners. The first is that the typical travel trailer has the aero of a brick, which can slice your tow vehicle’s range – no matter how it’s fueled – in half.
This is especially frustrating for electric vehicles because many of the most popular electric cars and trucks on the market may see their range drop to the low 100-mile range when towing a blocky enough trailer. That means that roughly every 100 miles or so, the owners of these vehicles have to find a charging station, disconnect from their trailer, charge for however long that takes, reconnect to the trailer, and then continue driving.
What’s revolutionary about the Pebble and the Lightship is that they both have automotive-style, all-electric powertrains in addition to being far more aerodynamic than the typical trailer. These trailers use low-power electric motors to help tow themselves. These motors are not powerful enough to overpower the tow vehicle, but just powerful enough to lighten the load. What this means is that if you have an EV with 300 miles of range, that EV should keep nearly all of that range even though it’s towing a big trailer. These trailers are also tow-vehicle-agnostic, so that same range benefit applies even if you’re using a gas or diesel truck to tow them.
The other neat trick is that since these campers have battery packs as large as the ones that power electric cars, you can park them anywhere and have ample power for days. There’s no loud generator, no smelly gas, no fumes. Since everything is optimized to run on the onboard system, the batteries have no problem running high-drain equipment like air conditioners and heaters.
A Problem That An All-Electric Trailer Can’t Solve
Unfortunately, as the founders of both Lightship and Pebble have admitted to me, neither of their trailers solves the big problem that I noted earlier. America’s EV infrastructure was built around the idea of accommodating one vehicle at a time. Most charging plugs are in standard parking lot stalls. This is fine to charge your Tesla, but it means that longer EVs and EVs towing trailers are in a tough spot.
If you’re towing a Lightship or a Pebble and you must use a single-car charging stall, which will be the vast majority of the time, there will likely be a huge process required to charge both vehicles. You will have to detach the trailer from the tow vehicle and then charge both the vehicle and the trailer entirely separately. If you’re lucky, you might find one of those trailer-friendly Tesla chargers, but you still won’t be able to charge both the tow vehicle and the trailer at the same time.
Thankfully, General Motors, Pilot Travel Center, and EVGo have concocted a brilliant solution. What if EV chargers were pull-through like gas stations are? As of September, this corporate trio has opened over 200 pull-through-style chargers, sort of. Weirdly, some of these stations are positioned in a way that defeats their trailer-friendly purpose. Take a look at the press image below:
So, these companies invented a great solution, but aren’t rolling it out in a consistent way. At any rate, 200 chargers means that there are gigantic swaths of America that do not have these chargers, and will not have them for a long time.
All of this adds up to a headache. Sure, the Pebble Flow and Lightship AE.1 dramatically reduce charging stops, but you’re still on your own once you do have to charge. To be fair to Pebble and Lightship, this is not their fault, nor the fault of their trailers.
A Different Take
This is where Evotrex comes in. This company’s debut camper touts the same benefits as a Pebble or a Lightship, including an electric self-towing propulsion system, but has an added twist. Instead of depending entirely on battery power alone, this trailer has an engine to generate electricity for when charging is not possible. Yep, it wants to be the world’s first EREV (Extended Range Electric Vehicle) travel trailer!
TechCrunch wrote an exclusive about the company, and I was genuinely surprised when I saw the news.
Evotrex has been operating in stealth after being founded by Alex Xiao, Bruce Yang, and Stella Qin, alumni from portable power giant Anker and from Geely. Specifically, Alex is credited with growing Anker for more than a decade, turning it into one of the first stops for phone chargers and portable power stations. Bruce was once vice president of Geely’s Technology Center. Stella held supply chain leadership positions at Anker, IBM, and Lenovo.
In other words, like many of the latest RV startups, Evotrex is filled with talent from the tech sector and a smattering of EV people. The company reportedly has around 40 employees right now. In terms of money, Evotrex has $16 million in seed funding from Anker, in addition to backing from Chinese venture capital firms Kylinhall Partners, Unity Ventures, and Vision Plus Capital.
As TechCrunch writes, Alex and Stella spent seven months researching the RV market and found out that RV buyers are getting younger. These younger buyers like taking their rigs, often camper vans, into the wilderness rather than hooking up to a manicured campground. From TechCrunch:
These customers “want to bring their gadgets and other equipment on skiing, hunting, fishing, and other activities, and stay in the wild for like four or five days, which is different,” Xiao said. “They’re off-grid — off-grid living was not supported before within the RV life.”
I’m not sure what that last part means, because off-grid living has been possible since the dawn of the RV. Sure, it may not have always been as easy as flipping a switch, but it has always been possible.
At any rate, one of the biggest issues in staying off-grid is energy management and generation, since there is no shore power in the wilderness. The typical solutions involve a mixture of batteries, solar panels, and either built-in or portable generators. On the surface, Evotrex doesn’t sound like it’s doing anything all that different. Its RV will have an internal battery and a gasoline-powered generator, which isn’t anything new.
What will be different is the system’s implementation and how it will be used. The Evotrex trailer will be built like a modern EREV car, in that it will be entirely electric, featuring a large battery and a traction motor. When this system drains out, be it because of towing or because of an extended off-grid stay, an integrated gasoline engine will fire up to provide electricity. This engine will work only as a generator, and not drive the trailer.
The team at Evotrex recognizes that everyone hates generators at campsites, so there will be an emphasis on making sure the engine is whisper-quiet. Also, since there’s going to be an engine here, Evotrex figures it might as well have that engine handle multiple jobs. Waste heat from the engine will be used to warm the cabin in cold weather.
Evotrex has not revealed any further details about the trailer itself, but I think we have enough here to get excited. Why? Because EREV cars have proven themselves to be a great solution for today’s problems using today’s technology. Cars like the Chevrolet Volt and the BMW i3 are all-electric for the vast majority of their owners’ daily driving, and only burn gasoline when it’s time to drive further than that.
Applying this logic to travel trailers should be promising. Countless camping trips happen within only a couple of hundred miles from home, and, depending on how big the battery is inside the Evotrex, maybe the trailer could handle that drive entirely on electric power alone. Then, when you do take the trailer on a longer journey, or want to stay off-grid for a while, you aren’t pulling your hair out worrying about finding a pull-through charging station. When the battery dies, just let the generator fire up until you can find a charger. And like the Pebble and the Lightship, the electric motor should be able to recover lost MPG or range.
There Will Be Hurdles
Now, I don’t think the Evotrex will be a perfect solution. Putting an EREV system in a camper means having to maintain and fuel both an ICE system and an EV system, in addition to maintaining the camper portion and your tow vehicle. That’s two gas tanks to fill and/or two batteries to recharge. If you’re the kind of person who likes the idea of a simple teardrop, this probably isn’t for you. But if you’re invested in the idea of all-electric self-propelled travel trailers, the Evotrex could be compelling.
Another issue that the Evotrex team says they’re dealing with is the fact that most of the trailer will be built in China with final assembly in California. This means that, if nothing changes or conditions worsen between now and the launch date, Evotrex will be hit hard by America’s tariffs.
Either way, we’re going to have to wait to learn more. The Evotrex will debut at the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show, and the company says it’s on track for a late 2026 launch.
Top graphic image: Evotrex
One option I find intriguing is pairing these with solar cells. Of course solar can’t produce enough power to make a significant contribution to daily travel, but if you are camping in one spot for a while and don’t use too much power yourself, the balance comes out more favorable. You might not need to actually plug in the trailer all that often unless you are going a really long distance without stops.
Also, having regenerative braking on a trailer sounds nice for long descents.
This is good.
Any word on the efficiency of that ICE? Cylinder count, displacement, configuration or it’s power output? How about the waste heat, can that be harnessed for the water heater as well as cabin heating? How about emissions, will it need to be periodically tested even if its a trailer?
Between my tow vehicle and trailer I have 54 traction motors, 22 inverters, 2 ICEs, 4 turbos…
Shit is getting wild.
How is the situation in the US so different than what we generally have here in the EU? I mean here in the EU we don’t use generators when camping, and I’m sure that the one person who tries to use one will be told in no uncertain terms to stop the generator or he/she/them would be removed from the campsite. For campsites you have two choices; you either have electricity available or you don’t. Most of the times the no-electricity places are occupied by small tents or RV’s with a big enough battery that will last for a couple of days, with or without the help of solar panels. The two times we camped in the US and Canada we had a rental RV with generator, I never had the urge or need to use it. What am I missing?
Instinctive response, speaking in my capacity as Florida Man?
Air conditioning.
I will presume that either you only camped in campgrounds with shore power, negating the need to run a generator; or your US camping trip took place either in fall or winter, or somewhere above the 35th parallel, or both.
If none of these apply, time to fire up the generator, unless you want to roast in a metal box like a chicken under a broiler.
Spring in Utah/Nevada/California, and Summer in Canada, well above the 35th. Also I never stay inside an RV, caravan or tent during the day when it doesn’t rain.So you are right, no need for airco, except for when we were driving.
That tracks.
For the record, you would still need air conditioning at night in Florida. The sun might go down, but humidity never sleeps.
A fool and their money are easily separated….
The problem with all these startups is they put them where tech startups go. Places that either lack manufacturing knowledge and abilities and or labor prices and cost of living on top of facility rent is way up there. Building modules in China and assembly in Oregon or part of Washington I could see. Lightship operates out of what is essentially a California exclave in Colorado and pebble in freemont. Lightship could have easily setup in an area that didn’t have as many as those problems in Colorado. Pebble will probably do what Tesla did and flee to Austin that might not be much better at this point.
I keep waiting for a tech or manufacturing startup to do not only the smart thing, but even the civic-minded thing: find a dead manufacturing town, and gentrify it with a new manufacturing anchor – mainly because I already know just the place, not too far from here.
My father grew up in Prichard, Alabama, which is in the Mobile metropolitan area. It was once one of the largest paper producing cities in America, a thriving working/middle class city – in the 1960 census, it was the 4th most populous city in Alabama at nearly 50,000 people, and still growing like a weed. Over the next fifty years, to paraphrase a line from “The Outlaw Josey Wales,” first the paper mills ran out, then the thriving ran out, then the people ran out. Today, it is a corrupt, bankrupt, dilapidated shithole of crime and neglect – think of Detroit on a smaller scale. Entire blocks of my dad’s childhood neighborhood are returning to the wild, and whether because of overgrown vegetation, pavement that hasn’t been resurfaced since “The Rockford Files” was still on TV, piles of broken house left in the middle of the street, or taking hostile fire, whole streets are impassable to anything but an MRAP.
Today, the current population is less than 19,000, with a 32% poverty rate, a 46% unemployment rate, and eye-popping crime rates.
But if you put on your rose-colored “house flipper” glasses, it’s also an established small city with a municipal water system, hundreds of acres of abandoned industrial properties just waiting to be put back into use, broad rail access from every direction with spurs running into several of those previously mentioned industrial properties, and even deep water ports on the Mobile River that are part of the eighth largest port of entry by volume in the United States, from which you can access virtually every inland port in the eastern United States.
I’m still hoping that some tycoon – whether up-and-coming or already established – will be told about the place and choose it for an episode of “Extreme Makeover: Industrial Edition” of sorts. Yes, the city has been allowed to deteriorate into the kind of place which, if it were a country, I would restrict immigration visas from, but it sure does have great bones, and it could be had cheap. And look at Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz and their Alabama facilities. I’ll bet the state would make you a helluva deal on tax breaks for doing it, aside from ridding the state and the local area of a 40-year problem. And that’s before one or both of you sweeten the pot by including incentives for general investment in the infrastructure of the place.
Any industrial or manufacturing tycoons reading this, who might like to make Prichard great again?
There are so many former company towns like that but you would think because of how Alabama industry is growing maybe it would come up as an option we. Pine bluff Arkansas is another that is sort of rebuilding after a paper plant was no longer viable and is a multi decade problem.
Slate is using that former catalog printing plant I think partly because it recently closed so it’s still in good condition with a work force around it that hasn’t decented into complete chaos. Plus the building probably has semi modern systems already. I know most of the time it’s cheaper to build a new building to spec the retrofit an old one. That might be changing some if we change manufacturing like some of these companies are doing.
These trailer companies are just operating out of a standard industrial park. Fiber glass work is done in what almost equates to big sheds most of the time. And alot of the Chinese factories are almost like the too. I’ve heard excuses like “skills gap” but I don’t think it has anything to do with it. Because where they put these places people don’t have the skills to do the work. I bet mobile has more skilled fiberglass people then the California exclave of Colorado that lightship is using. On top of that the people working there must have a long commute because that area would be too expensive for them to live near. Its probably a similar story in Fremont.
Skilled fiberglass people? Around here? In a coastal area with tons of marinas packed with scores of fiberglass boats, and many more boat manufacturers?
Nah, no way it would work. LOL
Mmmmm – Anyone need a refill on their vaporware?
sure, I’ll just fire up the ice charger on this one and I’ll be good to go!
This really feels like a hybrid tow vehicle with extra steps. The existing Ford hybrid pickups with pro-power are great for boondocking without a generator as it is, and the next generation of EREV pickups and SUVs will be even better.
The madness of adding a drivetrain and engine to a vehicle that that can’t fit into a normal auto shop is incomprehensible to me.
Because your RV isn’t enough to maintain already, we’ll throw in a random Chinese 4 banger likely unsupported by a service network anywhere in N. America, generator, control system, batteries, and fuel and cooling systems.
I see the tech bros have arrived to disrupt an industry they know absolutely nothing about again. Hint: You didn’t invent the onboard generator for RVs. All you did was make it massively more complex by adding a drivetrain.
This feels like a solution in search of a problem. If you’re fine burning gas, just buy a gas tow rig. Then you don’t have 10s of thousands of dollars of battery, engine, and drivetrain wasting away in your trailer the 355 days a year that you’re not using it.
Although if I were going to use one of these, I would want the gas engine to run on the way to the campground to keep the battery topped up, then run it entirely on silent electric power once I’m at the site. Of course, that’s exactly what I do with my current (much cheaper, much less complex) setup – the gas truck keeps the lithium battery charged so when I get to my site I have a full charge. And my solar panel replaces whatever I use during the day. This is a whole lot of complexity for little to no gain.
The more I see of these expensive, complicated trailer solutions to range issues, the more the F-150 hybrid seems like a good idea. No range anxiety because it runs off regular gas, and when you get to your site it can function as a 7.4 kW generator if you need it to. And in day-to-day use it has ridiculous amounts of power and gets surprisingly good mileage. Mercedes should see if Ford will loan her one for the EAA outing next year.
“No range anxiety because it runs off regular gas, and when you get to your site it can function as a 7.4 kW generator if you need it to.”
The problem I see with that idea is the on board battery of the F150 hybrid is only 1.5 kWh. At 7.4kW its going to be drained in 12 minutes. Which means you’ll be firing up a 400 HP twin turbo V6 or an even bigger V8 to supply 10 HP of power. So if you’re using 7.4 kW in the trailer (like you’re running the A/C or a electric heater) that big ass engine is either going to cycle every 20 minutes or so as it charges both the battery and supplies power or its going to stay at idle as long as there is a drain on the battery to minimize battery cycles. Either way its probably going to be well out of it’s efficiency sweet spot. I dunno how much gas these engines consume to provide that 7.4 kW but I imagine much more than the generator in this trailer. Plus what happens when the truck leaves?
Furthermore as the article pointed out the waste heat of the trailer ICE can be used to keep the camper warm, which in colder climates I think is a significant bonus. I dunno if they use the waste heat for the water heater too, if not they should.
As an RVer or trailer camper for a couple of decades now, I agree.
Want to make the market happy with a product it’s crying for? Put all that thought into materials instead of systems. The systems have worked just fine for half a century now just the way they are. Make a better and cheaper box to put those systems in, that won’t leak and rot. Cut the GVWR by half while doubling the strength and structural integrity. Put a roof on it that does not need one bit of maintenance after it leaves the factory. Establish some goddamn manufacturing standards.
Because otherwise, I have yet to see a new model camper trailer with features, benefits, and/or pricing that makes it look like a better value for the money than simply doing a stem-to-stern renovation of an old Airstream, with modern appliances and electronics inside. And doing that would take a hell of a lot of money. And I would still rather spend a hell of a lot of money on that than this.
Here in the Midwest, RVs are mostly a seasonal thing that gets “put away for the winter”, aka “winterized”. I’m not sure how well/how many seasons those battery packs will work until they need to be replaced (like aging tires and/or rubber roofs). Mostly, I just see a bigger money pit with a faster depreciation curve.
I’ll set aside the snark about how this can’t be THAT much of a problem, considering that one of the coldest countries in the world has the highest rate of EV adoption.
Instead, I’ll simply point out that we know how to store lithium batteries long-term (keep the charge at 50% + 10%), and how to avoid cold-weather damage (don’t quick-charge lithium iron phosphate batteries below freezing). Between thermal management hardware and software, a 120V trickle charger would probably be enough.
Many RVs end up in outdoor storage yards with no power available. Sure, you can spring for enclosed storage and/or pay for a plug, but that just adds to the price.
Thankfully, the companies building these huge battery trailers want you to use them as home batteries when you’re not using them. Like giant Tesla powerwalls on wheels. The batteries themselves should be fine in the winter, no different than an electric car.
Put in a 50 amp inlet, wire it for 50 amps and participate in a virtual power plant when at home. Let’s not pass up this thing earning it’s spot in the driveway.
I’m sure that most HOA’s would love this solution……
Most HOAs don’t allow trailers parked in the driveway or next to the house.
yup. One of my friends had their boat parked in their driveway overnight preparing for the next days outing and the HOA was already threating to have it towed away within 24 hours. He woke up with a notice and threat of a fine hanging on his front door.
Only a complete idiot would live in a place like that. I hope he saw the light and moved away from NannyTown…
Just one reason among many why most HOAs can kiss my ass.
When my wife and I were shopping for the house we live in now, our very first requirement, before we even got to number of bedrooms or size of the lot or whatever, was “ABSOLUTELY NO HOA.” We live in a better, more solidly built house (built 1964) in a friendlier neighborhood because of it.
The only time I have to deal with HOA horror stories is at my job, where I sell building materials to exasperated contractors who have to deal with HOAs. Among their many issues, they are the only entity worse about insisting on materials that simply don’t exist on the market than architects. “The covenant plainly states that you must use these colors for the material for your project!” Welp, they don’t MAKE that in those colors, asshole.
That’s why to choose a house without a HOA. My camper has the place of pride at the end of the driveway. Lots of boats living in driveways too. If it moves occasionally and not attracting pests the town doesn’t have an issue with it. Unmoving junk they do.
That assumes that you have the space available AND the local rules allow you to park a vehicle of that size on your property.
Very true. As always where to live is a balancing act.
Greetings from the sugar-white shores of The Free State of Florida.
It’s interesting for sure. I’m curious to see if they can actually MAKE them. The whole idea of a giant “off grid” camper though, doesn’t make much sense to me. Just how far into the wilderness can one tow a giant travel trailer?
If you use a Raptor R I’m pretty sure you can drag one of these really deep into the wilderness. No comment on how much of it will be left when you get there, though. lol
But in all seriousness, there are lots of places where you could take this. When I was out in Arizona a couple of weekends ago, I saw fifth wheel campers and motorhomes parked all over BLM land. It was a similar deal the last time I was exploring the more remote parts of California. You won’t take this down any serious trails, but up a fire road to a clearing by a lake? I could see it.
The bigger question, I think, is if the kind of people who like to set their stakes down for the weekend somewhere will want an outrageously techy and expensive camper, or just do what they have always done?
Fair points!
I guess if they can bring it to market (a big if), we’ll find out if anybody is willing to pony up that kind of cheddar.
You would probably be surprised by the number of giant trailers parked in a grassy field out in Wyoming where we camp every summer. I assume they must buy a new one every few years since driving on those “roads” has to just wreck them, but they do it.
Interesting. I suppose my experienced is colored by living in a place where there is no public land.
If by “wilderness” you simply mean “lack of services/utilities” – ever driven I-10 coast to coast, son? You’ll find plenty of such wilderness, right on the shoulder of the interstate. There’s even more of it if you take a random exit in a random direction somewhere in west Texas or Arizona.
Fair enough!