Pebble Flow Electric RV Trailer - My First Journey Towing With R1T

[DaveA]

It's CCS1. I would be cautions about spreading the rumor that they can use Tesla Superchargers - Pebble has not made this claim, and the one Pebble owner who posted an image of him charging his Pebble at a Supercharger also mentioned that it was a Magic Dock Supercharger, which can charge any vehicle.

There are very few Magic Dock Superchargers around. Tesla stopped building them more than a year ago when they switched their strategy to NACS agreements with manufacturers. Pebble does not have an agreement with Tesla as far as I can determine, which means they don't have access to Tesla's Supercharger network.

If it can use magic dock then it would be compatible with an adapter with any V3 Supercharger, no?

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[Donald Stanfield]

If it can use magic dock then it would be compatible with an adapter with any 3rd gen Supercharger, no?

I thought the magic dock ones were CCS and NACS so compatibility isn’t an issue. The V3 regular ones are only NACS and require an agreement with Tesla like most manufacturers have.

 

[DaveA]

I thought the magic dock ones were CCS and NACS so compatibility isn’t an issue. The V3 regular ones are only NACS and require an agreement with Tesla like most manufacturers have.

Hmm, I had assumed the manufacturer needed an agreement with Tesla to use V3 and V4 w/ Magic Dock. Appears it is just V3 as you said.

 

[BigE]

The Pebble's battery is 45kWh - about 1/3 the size of a Rivian Large pack. It also has 1.1kW of solar on the roof, which is charging the Pebble battery even in motion.

The design of the trailer means you DO get noticeably better efficiency than a normal travel trailer - even an Airstream which honestly isn't that streamlined if you look at the actual numbers. Worst case, the Pebble is still better than the Airstream. Best case (using Tow Assist) it's more like a teardrop when it comes to effective range while towing.

However, the biggest contribution comes from Tow Assist, not from aerodynamics. You have complete control of the Tow Assist, so you can turn it on or turn it off, or even use it to *hurt* your efficiency by tow-charging the Pebble battery as you drive. All controlled by an iPad "remote". This adds additional flexibility to charge planning. You can use up the Pebble battery when you need it, and not use it or even recharge it while driving when you're not worried about charge options.

Well one of the beautiful things about the Pebble is that it is almost trivial to unhitch it and use the "remote" to drive it into a charging stall. So if you need a charge for your trailer, even if there is no dedicated pull-through, it's no big deal at all. You don't even have to waste time - start charging your Rivian then unhook and drive the trailer into a different stall. It will be full before your Rivian is, then you can hitch up (which it will do by itself BTW, you only have to hook the chains on and plug in the trailer plug) and be on your way as soon as your Rivian is finished.

And of course you can plug it in at a campground, just like any other trailer, even at campgrounds that forbid EV charging. So you can fill that Pebble battery overnight. And if they do allow EV charging, you can also plug in your Rivian.

Wow, that does sound great, maybe. I say that as pulling up to say a Tesla SC site is always with fingers crossed. We just pulled a 6x12' U-Haul for like the million time last week..~395 miles to the NC mountains. 3 SC stops as the 3rd we needed to have a good 40% SOC upon arrival. We lucked out at all 3 in that we could wrangle our way to a SC without blocking anyone, especially as there is no way to drop a 2,500 lb U-haul with no tongue jack. But for the most part, pulling a camper or trailer with a Rivian long distance is not for the faint of heart.

 

[JamuJoe]

Wow, that does sound great, maybe. I say that as pulling up to say a Tesla SC site is always with fingers crossed. We just pulled a 6x12' U-Haul for like the million time last week..~395 miles to the NC mountains. 3 SC stops as the 3rd we needed to have a good 40% SOC upon arrival. We lucked out at all 3 in that we could wrangle our way to a SC without blocking anyone, especially as there is no way to drop a 2,500 lb U-haul with no tongue jack. But for the most part, pulling a camper or trailer with a Rivian long distance is not for the faint of heart.

 

[emoore]

Hmm, I had assumed the manufacturer needed an agreement with Tesla to use V3 and V4 w/ Magic Dock. Appears it is just V3 as you said.

Yep Donald is correct. Magic docks open to everyone but are concentrated in a few areas. A deal with Tesla opens up the majority of V3 and V4 superchargers.

 

[VSG]

If it can use magic dock then it would be compatible with an adapter with any V3 Supercharger, no?

No, absolutely not.
When I say Magic Dock I'm referring to a specific kind of charger, initially based on a V3 charger, that was open to all EVs, CCS or NACS, from any manufacturer. Confusingly, these Magic Dock chargers have a special NACS/CCS plug, designed so you don't need an adapter, and this plug is also called magic dock.

These existed before NACS was made a standard, so they pre-date opening the Tesla network to all vehicles.

However, there are relatively few of them scattered around the country.

Hmm, I had assumed the manufacturer needed an agreement with Tesla to use V3 and V4 w/ Magic Dock. I’m not sure.

Manufacturers need an agreement to use V3 (but it's not all V3 remember, just some of them). Tesla hasn't revealed why it keeps some closed. All of the V3 chargers near me (~25 miles) are closed - none of them are open. But overall I think most V3 chargers are open to those who have made an agreement with Tesla.

Likewise, manufacturers need an agreement to use V4. While I believe all V4 *do* have the special NACS/CCS connector, that connector is not enabled on many V4 stations, so you should plan to encounter just the NACS connector. But to be clear, even when they do have that special NACS/CCS connector, your manufacturer still needs an agreement if you want to charge there.

You can find the Tesla chargers open to everyone by going to https://www.tesla.com/findus and selecting only the "Other EV" filter. It looks like there are now a lot more across the country than when I last looked, but still very few west of the Rockies and only 3 total in Canada.

Then if you also select the "NACS Partner" filter, you will see the dramatic difference in numbers between the open-to-all and the open-only-to-partners stations.

The Pebble can only charge at those "Other EV" stations.

And going to that Tesla website is probably the easiest way to find Tesla chargers you can use, for a Rivian or Pebble - there are so many exceptions that it is impossible to tell otherwise whether any particular V3 or V4 charger is open to non-Teslas.

 

[Proxy]

So… it seems like the big advantages (plus combining one of these with a vehicle with a charge port in front):
1. Great aerodynamics
2. Regen on hills means more efficiency on hilly roads
3. Can use the trailer battery to extend range
4. Being able to pull in and plug in tow vehicle, disconnect and move the trailer autonomously to keep from blocking the parking lot (or move it to charge it), then hook back up when almost done charging

 

[PhatDaddy]

Thanks for this report. Same configuration R1T (except original Pirelli All Terrain tires) and scheduled to take delivery of my Pebble at year end… for a long coast-to-coast trip back to Florida. I’ll be tracking my efficiency to report here.

 

[Leeda]

We have had multiple campers over the years, and I don't like the layout of the Pebble. Airstream's have much better layouts with decades of experience. Good question from one of the other post about how many kwh is going to the Pebble and is it just a wash. We tow a 1969 Shasta we built during COVID (awful CD) and get ~1.1 miles/kWh, and I can't imagine have to charge both the Rivian and a camper at a SC.

I agree, to me it felt like the interior design and functional use was layed out by people with little real world RV camping experience. I will save my money until more practical designs evolve.

 

[mkhuffman]

I agree, to me it felt like the interior design and functional use was layed out by people with little real world RV camping experience. I will save my money until more practical designs evolve.

Personally I have little real world camping experience, but I generally like the layout.

A nice, big (relatively) bathroom is a must if I have any chance of getting my wife to go, and this seems to hit the mark there. Not every towable of this size has a bathroom like that.

The miss for me is the bed and the lack of slide outs. A slide out really helps maximize space, I think. And the bed really needs to be king or we are not sleeping in the same bed. If I am alone, no issues. But with my wife, she needs to be away from my restless legs.

 

[GreggVA]

Great write up and very interested in the continued stats!

 

[SwampNut]

I've been to two Magic Dock chargers, and neither of them dispensed any magic. I got only the Tesla connector, and had to use my own adapter. I don't know how that would play out with the camper. I was able to charge the Rivian with the adapter.

 

[simoncellis]

Thx for write-up

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