New company building an electric travel trailer: Lightship

[ecarfan]

Just read this TechCrunch article about a new company in California called Lightship, founded by two ex-Tesla employees, that is developing an all-electric aerodynamic travel trailer with a large onboard battery which can power the trailer while in motion so the EV tow vehicle’s range is not adversely effected. The Lightship website does not have any information about the trailer, the company is still in stealth mode (sort of, they are obviously talking to journalists). In the video on the homepage the two founders talk about their motivation for starting the company (EV range hit while towing), they mention there will be solar on the trailer roof, and there is a rendering of a trailer connected to a pickup truck (shown below) but you can’t make out much and its just a render.

Yes, the battery-powered trailer approach is basically the same as what Airstream has announced with their eStream trailer, which is also not yet for sale but at least there is information available about it. The TMC discussion about that trailer is here

Anyway, I’m pleased that more than one company is preparing to offer an electrically powered RV trailer.

This is from the Lightship video.

 

[ecarfan]

Electrek has published their take on Lightship but offered no real insight into the company. Oddly, Electrek used a photo of an Airstream that Tesla modified to serve as a “pop up” sales office to illustrate the article.

 

[ThomasD]

If you can't charge the trailer when you charge the car you are just towing more weight with no benefit

 

[ecarfan]

If you can't charge the trailer when you charge the car you are just towing more weight with no benefit

To me it’s not that simple. Say for a trip I want to tow the trailer 300 miles without stopping to charge, which isn’t remotely possible with an X100D when towing a 15 to 20 ft RV trailer. So I set the electric trailer power level to something like 50% (assuming setting it to 100% means the tow vehicle uses no additional energy compared to when not towing something) and after my 300 mile trip the car still has 100 miles or range remaining and the trailer battery is at 50%. I charge my car at the campground 240V/50A outlet for 10 hours and then charge the trailer from the same outlet or charge it from the TT-30 outlet at the campsite.

Without the trailer battery I could not make that 300 mile trip. In fact I can’t tow my current trailer more than 150 miles at 55mph on a level dry road without having to stop and charge the car. The trailer battery extends my towing range and gives me a big safety margin while providing electrical power to everything in the trailer. I can charge it at the campground.

It opens up all kinds of possibilities. It would allow me to use campgrounds that have no electricity at all if I can charge say within 100 miles of the campground.

 

[ecarfan]

I received an email announcement today from Lightship:

We’re finally ready to share that our first product, the Lightship L1, is coming *very* soon!

Mark your calendars for our Digital World Premiere on March 8th. We will send you an email when we're live so you can be one of the first to see and reserve your L1.

We're also hosting an in-person Physical World Premiere at SXSW in Austin, Texas from March 11 - March 13, 10a - 10p daily. Experience the L1 in person, meet Lightship team members, hang out, and enjoy beverages, snacks, and live music at our sunset sessions each evening. If you'll be in Austin, add our L1 Launch Party, on March 11th, starting at 6pm, to your SXSW schedule. The Lightship experience will be located at 318 5th Street.

There is a short form partway down the page at Lightship | Fully electric Travel Trailers where you can sign up for email notifications.

I’m really interested to see what this company has come up with.

 

[ecarfan]

Lightship has revealed it’s first product, the L1 all electric trailer, including an electric drivetrain to power the wheels. It looks very interesting, but unfortunately there are no details provided, just two videos with brief views of the exterior and none of the interior.

Based on construction images shown in the videos, the roof is covered in solar panels though they are visually not obvious when viewed at an angle (Edit: see my next post where I found a top down view of the roof). While towing the roof is in the lowered position for reduced drag and then is raised electrically when at the campsite. Raising the roof reveals huge windows on all sides. I assume there are window coverings that can be lowered if desired.

Based on the 243” length of a Ford F-150 Lightning truck (I assume that is what is shown in the video) the L1 is about 27-29 ft long, which to me is very large because I am used to my 18 ft Safari Condo Alto trailer. In the world of RV trailers of course, that is not huge.

The lowered roof and rounded corners will certainly contribute towards lowering energy usage while towing. The downside of that type of trailer design is that it reduces interior storage capacity and there is no enclosed bathroom area (maybe with a curtain hanging from the ceiling?).

Again, so far Lightship has not revealed even the most basic specifications for the L1. Hopefully they will be providing details soon, perhaps when they show it at SXSW in Austin TX this month.

 

[ecarfan]

I’m on the Lightship email list and just received an announcement email from them. It has multiple links that I’m guessing are supposed go to different emails offering more information but they all go to the same brief video.

The email includes these interesting views.

And this view is shown for a fraction of a second in the video.

 

[ecarfan]

At the bottom of the homepage is another video presented in a frustratingly difficult to view format. It shows the trailer door.

 

[ecarfan]

I may have misjudged the trailer length in my earlier post. Based on this view the length may be 24-25 ft.

 

[RichardL]

PCMag has an article (that I cannot link here) with some additional info
27 X 8.5, it does have a bathroom with what looks like a solid screen, kitchen, dinette and sleeping. But they say it is an ‘open canvas’!
6.75 when down, 10’ when raised
80kwh system, motion controlled by forces on the tow hitch - nothing directly from the tow vehicle.
$125k, deliveries in 2024

 

[ecarfan]

Thank you. This is the article Head Out on the Highway: First Look at Lightship's Electric RV

The Lightship L1 has a starting price of $125,000 or $118,400 after an available tax credit and is available now for pre-order at lightshiprv.com(Opens in a new window) with a refundable $500 deposit. The final product is expected to go into production in 2024. "We'll have more information coming on option packages," says Lightship. "The primary vehicle models we will announce at launch are an 'Essential' and 'Long Range' version of the L1 with the principal difference being the addition of the drive motor in the Long Range version."

Interesting. They will offer it with and without the drive motor. Presumably either version has the same 80kWh battery pack.

The price does not surprise me at all. This is an expensive trailer to build and production quantities will be small.

 

[ecarfan]

These images from Lightship appear to be CGI, not photos of the actual trailer.

So this appears to be the sleeping area. Given that the vehicle is 8 1/2 ft wide I guess it is bigger than it looks.

There is a lot of counter space, more than I think is needed, but that is a consequence of the design intent; the roof lowers so nothing can stick up too high (I’m sure the sink faucet folds down). Of course under that counter is storage space, and I’m sure that under the seating there is also storage. And now I understand the bathroom arrangement. Though I assume that the bathroom windows at the rear have shades that are waterproof. It must be a wet bath with a hand shower nozzle on a flex hose.

Kitchen appears to include an oven. Not sure where the fridge is. Would like to know its capacity. And the fresh/grey/black water tank capacities. And lot of other details! I assume the HVAC is a heat pump. I see electrical outlets behind the sink which is an odd and inconvenient location.

My impression is that it is a pretty amazing design and I like the clean simple lines.

 

[ecarfan]

I do have a concern about the trailer door design. When you first open it, it is a two step process; first raise the upper part, then open the lower part. Then, if you leave the upper part open, is there a screen to keep out bugs?

The upper door section must be electrically operated because when it’s in the “up” position it could be unreachable for a short person.

I understand the door has to be in two sections so the roof can go down.

 

[ecarfan]

Searched for some other articles online. Gear Junkie says:

The 27-foot RV weighs just 7,500 pounds when fully loaded.

”Just”? To me that is massive (but what is the empty weight?).

You might think that rules out towing with a Model X. However, I believe the hitch design and electric motor power means that with the motor even partially engaged, the effective tow weight is far less and can be reduced to a very low value with the motor more fully engaged.

That article states the rooftop solar has a max 3kW output.

Electrek also has an article.

The L1 itself is equipped with its own electric powertrain and 80 kWh battery pack (Lightship is not sharing its battery supplier at this time). As a result, the trailer propels itself behind the towing vehicle, offering near-zero range loss. That means a 300 mile range electric pickup towing the 7,500 pound (when fully loaded) L1 will maintain near full estimated range.

 

[ThomasD]

If the GVWR of the trailer is 7500 lbs. The dry weight should be around 5500 to 6000lbs.

 

[Genie]

Lightship has revealed it’s first product, the L1 all electric trailer, including an electric drivetrain to power the wheels. It looks very interesting, but unfortunately there are no details provided, just two videos with brief views of the exterior and none of the interior.

Based on construction images shown in the videos, the roof is covered in solar panels though they are visually not obvious when viewed at an angle (Edit: see my next post where I found a top down view of the roof). While towing the roof is in the lowered position for reduced drag and then is raised electrically when at the campsite. Raising the roof reveals huge windows on all sides. I assume there are window coverings that can be lowered if desired.

Based on the 243” length of a Ford F-150 Lightning truck (I assume that is what is shown in the video) the L1 is about 27-29 ft long, which to me is very large because I am used to my 18 ft Safari Condo Alto trailer. In the world of RV trailers of course, that is not huge.

The lowered roof and rounded corners will certainly contribute towards lowering energy usage while towing. The downside of that type of trailer design is that it reduces interior storage capacity and there is no enclosed bathroom area (maybe with a curtain hanging from the ceiling?).

Again, so far Lightship has not revealed even the most basic specifications for the L1. Hopefully they will be providing details soon, perhaps when they show it at SXSW in Austin TX this month.

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Is the purpose of the drive train to charge the battery downhill/ during braking? I think even the most experienced drivers have never towed a trailer with a drive axle.

 

[ecarfan]

The purpose of the battery in the trailer is to power the trailer wheels to reduce the amount of energy the tow vehicle uses to tow the trailer.

The trailer hitch is not a normal hitch, it is very different and dynamically adjusts to maintain a constant, low force on the tow vehicle hitch.

To the driver of the tow vehicle it’s as if the trailer is exerting no force on the vehicle. So no special driving skill required.

 

[ecarfan]

The purpose of the battery in the trailer is to power the trailer wheels to reduce the amount of energy the tow vehicle uses to tow the trailer.

I should have added that the other purpose of the trailer battery is of course to power the trailer, since it is all-elecitric, no propane. Heat pump for HVAC, induction stoves, electric fridge.

 

[kabin]

It's a cool idea. Looks a bit fragile. It offers capability for a family of 4 but it's pricey given the EV motors, batteries, and solar panels. 2 options available ($125k and $151.5k). Available possibly in late 2024. There's a refundable $500 reservation.

 

[Watts_Up]

For that size and prize, why not build a full RV, so no need of getting a separate EV truck.