Real-world efficiency stats towing a Lightship AE.1 with a Rivian R1T (Gen1 Quad)

[Anna Kelly]

Thank you so much for all of this detailed analysis! I have visited the Lightship factory which is just down the road from me, and am quite impressed. I have the Gen 2 R1S and did a 5200 mile circle of the western National Parks last fall towing a 16' Airstream Caravel. I generally didn't go much more than about 100 miles between charges (though I was pretty conservative and tried to always keep about 50 miles of range in reserve in case of unforeseen circumstances such as a charging station that was not operational). 200+ miles sounds ideal! I do worry about the time spent charging both the tow vehicle and the trailer at each stop. I wonder if an extra long charging cable would at least allow you to charge the trailer at a neighboring second charger without having to decouple?

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[Thedude]

How does the trailer attach to the truck? Seems like the standard ball hitch setup might not be ideal for a trailer that is propelling itself along rather than just being pulled tight to the ball.

 

[josephponline]

Thank you so much for all of this detailed analysis! I have visited the Lightship factory which is just down the road from me, and am quite impressed. I have the Gen 2 R1S and did a 5200 mile circle of the western National Parks last fall towing a 16' Airstream Caravel. I generally didn't go much more than about 100 miles between charges (though I was pretty conservative and tried to always keep about 50 miles of range in reserve in case of unforeseen circumstances such as a charging station that was not operational). 200+ miles sounds ideal! I do worry about the time spent charging both the tow vehicle and the trailer at each stop. I wonder if an extra long charging cable would at least allow you to charge the trailer at a neighboring second charger without having to decouple?

No problems! I visit the factory every week to see the progress on my build (VIN 15). I think the quality of the product speaks for itself.

I agree with your concept of a long charge connector cable. That would go a long way to eliminating the largest variability at a DCFC for having to either find open spots, find pull through gas-station style chargers, or awkward parking spots. I've done some research and there are cables available, but the reviews are spotty. I believe the issue is cable cooling particularly under DCFC loads. I suspect it will be solved at some point. Equally the charging infrastructure is expanding rapidly, both in terms of capacity and accessibility.

I quoted earlier that I can get a clean 240 highway miles from my truck, I can get closer to 260 (leaving a 5% to 10% reserve). Based on my tow (already quoted in this thread), and the objective data that has come out since that point, e.g., the TFL review where they towed the Lightship and convincingly proved that with the Aero package and TrekDrive returned Tow Vehicle baseline range, I'm now convinced that my pre-purchase test was conservative, in other words, I should be able to get 240 to 260 miles at which point, I'm happy to stop for a charge.

 

[josephponline]

How does the trailer attach to the truck? Seems like the standard ball hitch setup might not be ideal for a trailer that is propelling itself along rather than just being pulled tight to the ball.

It's a standard ball hitch setup with a WDH in the mix.

My understanding of the technology is that there will always be some tension on the ball, i.e., 5% to 10%. Don't quote me on that as I'm not an expert.

The best way I can describe it, while towing, was that when TrekDrive was off, either intentionally for one of my test runs, or because I was below 15 mph, you know there's an +8000 lbs trailer back there, but of course the R1T torque makes it meaningless. When TrekDrive kicks in, you almost forget anything is back there at all. I had to keep reminding myself that I was pulling a 27' trailer.

 

[Tucker74]

Our charging port location is a mixed blessing that may hinder the hitched dual charging, I’m guessing the port is at the rear of the trailer?

Keep in mind in an ideal world your trips go something like this:
* 1st leg - you start at 100% and get ~200 miles (100-20% SOC)
* 2nd leg - you’re charged to 80% and get ~150 miles (80-20% SOC)

The real world is less forgiving though, the chargers aren’t evenly spaced and your dealing with speed & wind variations. You’ll have to charge outside those windows and it’s a big time hit (20->80 is 24min, 20-90 is 40+min). Figuring out how to not unhitch will be helpful. You seem to have the right attitude, it’s just going to take a while pulling an RV with an EV on a road trip

 

[Anna Kelly]

Truthfully, I find some of the charging stops are my favorite parts of the trip (e.g. a nice conversation with someone else who is curious about towing with an EV )

 

[josephponline]

Our charging port location is a mixed blessing that may hinder the hitched dual charging, I’m guessing the port is at the rear of the trailer?

Keep in mind in an ideal world your trips go something like this:
* 1st leg - you start at 100% and get ~200 miles (100-20% SOC)
* 2nd leg - you’re charged to 80% and get ~150 miles (80-20% SOC)

The real world is less forgiving though, the chargers aren’t evenly spaced and your dealing with speed & wind variations. You’ll have to charge outside those windows and it’s a big time hit (20->80 is 24min, 20-90 is 40+min). Figuring out how to not unhitch will be helpful. You seem to have the right attitude, it’s just going to take a while pulling an RV with an EV on a road trip

Port is at the front of the trailer left hand side. Perfect for the gas station type pull through. But I think right now they’re edge cases and it’ll be some awkward parking or decoupling for a while.

 

[josephponline]

Truthfully, I find some of the charging stops are my favorite parts of the trip (e.g. a nice conversation with someone else who is curious about towing with an EV )

On travel days I use charge stops to get my 10,000 steps a day in place of other exercise.

Very different when we would holiday with our young kids, and it was more about the destination than the journey.

We’ve now embraced the journey side of life.

 

[mkhuffman]

I think the charging speed is pretty slow on the camper so an extension cord may be a really good solution if you can pull up between two chargers. A2Z may one day release their DCFC extension cord, which will be handy especially in this situation.

 

[SkiLizardHead2]

On travel days I use charge stops to get my 10,000 steps a day in place of other exercise.

Very different when we would holiday with our young kids, and it was more about the destination than the journey.

We’ve now embraced the journey side of life.

Thank you for all the detailed analysis to towing a 8000lb+ self propelled trailer. However, for all us R1S owners I don't think we can tow the Lightship AE.1 given the 8000+ trailer weight. The Rivian Spec for the R1S is about 7500-7700 lbs. I have been looking at both the Lightship and especially the Pebble flow (6500gvw). Can you share any insight why you went with the Lightship?

 

[josephponline]

Thank you for all the detailed analysis to towing a 8000lb+ self propelled trailer. However, for all us R1S owners I don't think we can tow the Lightship AE.1 given the 8000+ trailer weight. The Rivian Spec for the R1S is about 7500-7700 lbs. I have been looking at both the Lightship and especially the Pebble flow (6500gvw). Can you share any insight why you went with the Lightship?

To your point, with the R1S your options are currently limited. The Lightship AE.1 Atmos spec with 77kWh is over the rated R1S tow capacity. However, their Panos spec with 44kWh might just work for you. I think the Evotrek is too heavy as well. So the Lightship Panos and Pebble might be your only real self-propelled trailer options.

We actually had deposits down on both Lightship and Pebble. Lightship was our early frontrunner after seeing it at Overland Expo Loveland, then Pebble moved ahead on paper based on specs.

After seeing the Pebble in person at Overland Expo Arizona, we ultimately returned to Lightship.
Both are strong products, but they’re optimized for different use cases. Lightship simply matched ours better.

Why we chose Lightship

1. Living space

The interior openness is the biggest differentiator. At Loveland, we had six adults inside the trailer plus a salesperson, all comfortable, talking for over two hours. That’s unusual in any travel trailer, electric or otherwise.

2. Interior connection to the outdoors

The 360° window design changes how the trailer feels. You can experience the surroundings without needing to be outside. For us (especially my glamping-leaning wife), that mattered more than expected.

3. Tow-ability

Their aero package is so smart (road mode to camp mode and back), which means that if I can't dual charge the Rivian and the Lightship in transit, I still get the benefit of their road mode aero-efficiency pushing me beyond 125 to 150 miles before a re-charge. On top of that TrekDrive (as I've tested it) returns me back to usual Rivian efficiency.

4. Larger battery (77 kWh)

The bigger battery improves assisted towing range via TrekDrive and meaningfully extends off-grid capability.

What made Pebble a tough call

1. Auto-hitching and auto-parking

These are genuinely compelling features, especially for solo maneuvering.

2. Office / Murphy-bed layout

Very smart use of space but a little too compact for our liking.

Summary

We originally did not want a 27' trailer. But after spending time inside the Lightship, the added length translated directly into livability rather than just footprint, AND the Lightship facility is 1 hour north of where we live, which for a new category product and early VIN, we figured that'd be advantageous.

 

[SkiLizardHead2]

Thanks so much for your assessment summary of both trailers!

 

[josephponline]

For anyone interested in a deeper dive on Lightship. This forum from my experience is the most active.

https://rvforums.com/forums/lightship/

There are actually some customers out there now using them and posting information which is always helpful for anyone interested in either the product, or more broadly the category that is getting redefined by Lightship, Pebble and Evotrex.

 

[dubaigary]

To your point, with the R1S your options are currently limited. The Lightship AE.1 Atmos spec with 77kWh is over the rated R1S tow capacity. However, their Panos spec with 44kWh might just work for you. I think the Evotrek is too heavy as well. So the Lightship Panos and Pebble might be your only real self-propelled trailer options.

We actually had deposits down on both Lightship and Pebble. Lightship was our early frontrunner after seeing it at Overland Expo Loveland, then Pebble moved ahead on paper based on specs.

After seeing the Pebble in person at Overland Expo Arizona, we ultimately returned to Lightship.
Both are strong products, but they’re optimized for different use cases. Lightship simply matched ours better.

Why we chose Lightship

1. Living space

The interior openness is the biggest differentiator. At Loveland, we had six adults inside the trailer plus a salesperson, all comfortable, talking for over two hours. That’s unusual in any travel trailer, electric or otherwise.

2. Interior connection to the outdoors

The 360° window design changes how the trailer feels. You can experience the surroundings without needing to be outside. For us (especially my glamping-leaning wife), that mattered more than expected.

3. Tow-ability

Their aero package is so smart (road mode to camp mode and back), which means that if I can't dual charge the Rivian and the Lightship in transit, I still get the benefit of their road mode aero-efficiency pushing me beyond 125 to 150 miles before a re-charge. On top of that TrekDrive (as I've tested it) returns me back to usual Rivian efficiency.

4. Larger battery (77 kWh)

The bigger battery improves assisted towing range via TrekDrive and meaningfully extends off-grid capability.

What made Pebble a tough call

1. Auto-hitching and auto-parking

These are genuinely compelling features, especially for solo maneuvering.

2. Office / Murphy-bed layout

Very smart use of space but a little too compact for our liking.

Summary

We originally did not want a 27' trailer. But after spending time inside the Lightship, the added length translated directly into livability rather than just footprint, AND the Lightship facility is 1 hour north of where we live, which for a new category product and early VIN, we figured that'd be advantageous.

For what it’s worth, taking our first trip with our Airstream 22’, nd I’m very I,pressed that I’m getting a consistent 1.5 m/kwh.

 

[josephponline]

For what it’s worth, taking our first trip with our Airstream 22’, nd I’m very I,pressed that I’m getting a consistent 1.5 m/kwh.

That's great efficiency for sure. What are you towing with? I noted a massive efficiency bump between the Gen 1 and Gen 2 vehicles. I have a Gen 1 quad R1T and when it was in for a service a year ago they gave me a Gen 2 dual and (don't quote me), but the efficiency was like 25% better than the Gen 1s.

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