This EV Camper Pulls Its Own Weight, Powers Your Home While Parked

Towing a heavy trailer with an electric vehicle can reduce your range by as much as half. California startup Pebble thinks it can improve towing efficiency and reinvent the trailering experience with its Pebble Flow, an RV with the soul of an EV that helps pull its own weight, hitches itself up and -- thanks to its huge battery pack and solar roof -- can even power your home during an outage.

Beneath its slick, aerodynamic shape, the Flow has a 45 kilowatt-hour battery pack and dual electric motors -- one for each of its wheels. Pebble isn't listing power figures for the motors, but tells us it can help propel the trailer during highway-speed towing to take some of the load off of the host vehicle. The result is a lighter feel when, say, you pull the trailer up a steep incline. You also get improved fuel efficiency if towing with a combustion vehicle and improved range when towing with an electric truck or SUV.

Watch this: Pebble Flow Electric RV Pulls Its Own Weight

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The electric motors also enable Pebble Flow to move under its own power at walking speeds when detached from its host. Owners can use Pebble's mobile app to connect to the trailer and remotely control it. The dual motors can even be rotated in opposing directions, enabling tight tank turns and precision positioning. Sensors located around the Flow can also be used to automatically line up with and automatically connect to your vehicle's trailer hitch.

Deployable stabilizing legs and electronic parking brakes claim to eliminate the need for wheel chocks -- though I'd probably still bring a set, just in case. Meanwhile, the camper's aerodynamic front fairing can be raised to boost efficiency while towing or lowered when parked to reveal the trailer's wraparound electrochromic windows, which go from opaque to semi transparent at the touch of a button.

The 45 kWh battery charges via regenerative braking during towing or via over a kilowatt of solar panels on the camper's roof. It can also be charged via its CCS port in around an hour at a DC fast charging station or connected to any EV charger (Level 1 or 2) or RV hookup for a slower charge. There's enough capacity to power the RV's fully furnished interior -- complete with bathroom, electric kitchen range, refrigerator, lights and more -- for up to seven days off the grid.

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Where most RV and campers sit unused for long periods between adventures, Pebble Flow's bidirectional power system can output 240-volt power via its NEMA 15-50 AC outlet to charge an electric car or power a home during a blackout via its battery pack and solar roof. Think of it as a Tesla Powerwall on wheels that you can live inside part of the year.

The Pebble Flow is expected to hit the open road in late 2024 starting at $109,000. Preorders open today with a refundable deposit at pebblelife.com.