Lightship video review

[Electrified Outdoors]

There’s a pretty large price gap between 60k and 250k for this light stream

True.....I can't justify it currently....for those that can its an amazing piece of technology. 250k is not that much when you start talking about RVs....under 100k is on the low end. Basically its priced like a Class C.

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[Dark-Fx]

To me, this is missing the main point of camping. You can stay in a lot of 5* resorts for that much money.

It's not camping if you're not digging a hole in the ground to poop in.

 

[turbopilot]

I know it seems expensive but has anyone looked at the cost of a airstream? Heck our little Apex 245BHS Ultra-Lite was in the 40k range. The one the wife wants which is the Imagine 2970RL (rear living room) is around 60k.

The price is not really that bad when you consider that its going to make towing a breeze with an EV as well as have power for off-grid camping. Its out of our budget though for sure. Can't justify it for our needs.

I agree. The base price for the Airstream Pottery Barn Edition (top of the line under 30') is $175K. For this you get a trailer with propane appliances, a tiny 2.4 kWh battery and only 300 watts of solar. The AE.1 is all electric, self propelled trailer with a 77 kWh battery, 1.8 kW of solar and the Trek Drive vehicle assist motor for $250k.

The problem with the YouTuber's coverage of this roll out event is that it tended to concentrate on the shiny fiberglass shell when the real story is the hidden chassis. The technology and cost is in that chassis that you can't see.

 

[Electrified Outdoors]

If they want to give me one to use for a camping season I would be happy to show its value in the real world. I am not holding my breath though.

Its still exciting to see what the future of camping will be with all this tech making its way into the world of travel trailers.

 

[MasterofWilford]

You can't even legally or safely tow the Lightship with the R1S. It's 8,300 pounds fully loaded.

Pebble Flow is significantly cheaper, lighter at 6,800 fully loaded, can independently move unhitched, and can self-hitch. Larger battery would be great, but I don't think I'll be off the grid for. more than 5 days.

 

[DaveA]

You can't even legally or safely tow the Lightship with the R1S. It's 8,300 pounds fully loaded.

Pebble Flow is significantly cheaper, lighter at 6,800 fully loaded, can independently move unhitched, and can self-hitch. Larger battery would be great, but I don't think I'll be off the grid for. more than 5 days.

Just imagining when 1 of the 4 lifting mechanisms on Lightship fails when you get to a campsite. Trip over. Slide outs are bad, and slide ups will be worse. Pebble for me.

 

[turbopilot]

Just imagining when 1 of the 4 lifting mechanisms on Lightship fails when you get to a campsite. Trip over. Slide outs are bad, and slide ups will be worse. Pebble for me.

Many issues to consider with RV trailer EV or ICE range extension. The LightShip, in "Drive Mode" (canopy retracted resulting In a height of 6"10") only requires about 250 watts per mile for the TrekDrive motor to return full range to the tow vehicle when the LightShip is hooked up in motion. That is about the same in motion energy usage as a Tesla Model 3. Why so low? The low aerodynamic profile of the LightShip in "Drive Mode" behind a tow vehicle reduces by about 50% the electrical energy needed to propel the trailer returning full range to the tow vehicle.

The Pebble Flow, in motion, is 8" 9" tall. This exposes a flat plate aerodynamic area to the air flow of about 16 sq ft. This area will be above the roof line of the tow vehicle and represent a significant aerodynamic drag in motion that increases with the square of the speed.

Returning full range to an EV towing a trailer gets complicated. So there is a very sound reason why the canopy retracts in the LightShip.

 

[RivianG2R1S2024]

Many issues to consider with RV trailer EV or ICE range extension. The LightShip, in "Drive Mode" (canopy retracted resulting In a height of 6"10") only requires about 250 watts per mile for the TrekDrive motor to return full range to the tow vehicle when the LightShip is hooked up in motion. That is about the same in motion energy usage as a Tesla Model 3. Why so low? The low aerodynamic profile of the LightShip in "Drive Mode" behind a tow vehicle reduces by about 50% the electrical energy needed to propel the trailer returning full range to the tow vehicle.

The Pebble Flow, in motion, is 8" 9" tall. This exposes a flat plate aerodynamic area to the air flow of about 16 sq ft. This area will be above the roof line of the tow vehicle and represent a significant aerodynamic drag in motion that increases with the square of the speed.

Returning full range to an EV towing a trailer gets complicated. So there is a very sound reason why the canopy retracts in the LightShip.

Which TVs qualify to tow 8,300 pounds? Other than the CyberTruck and R1T?

 

[turbopilot]

Which TVs qualify to tow 8,300 pounds? Other than the CyberTruck and R1T?

The bigger question may be what is the best tow vehicle for electric RV's given the current state of the EV charging infrastructure. There are very few pull through EV charging stations with two reachable chargers. They are coming but not there right now.

I think the HEV's with on board generators like the F-150 PowerBoost and the new RamCharger Extended Range EV are much better fits for this role, pending EV charging infrastructure build out to support EV's that are towing an EV trailer.

 

[R1Thor]

Which TVs qualify to tow 8,300 pounds? Other than the CyberTruck and R1T?

Silverado EV RST (10k)
Ford F150 Lightning with the Max Tow Package (10k)

 

[RivianG2R1S2024]

The bigger question may be what is the best tow vehicle for electric RV's given the current state of the EV charging infrastructure. There are very few pull through EV charging stations with two reachable chargers. They are coming but not there right now.

I think the HEV's with on board generators like the F-150 PowerBoost and the new RamCharger Extended Range EV are much better fits for this role, pending EV charging infrastructure build out to support EV's that are towing an EV trailer.

Pebble can move on its own so you can unhitch and guide it into a charging spot.

 

[turbopilot]

Pebble can move on its own so you can unhitch and guide it into a charging spot.

The LightShip has the same capability. That is not the issue.

 

[DaveA]

Many issues to consider with RV trailer EV or ICE range extension. The LightShip, in "Drive Mode" (canopy retracted resulting In a height of 6"10") only requires about 250 watts per mile for the TrekDrive motor to return full range to the tow vehicle when the LightShip is hooked up in motion. That is about the same in motion energy usage as a Tesla Model 3. Why so low? The low aerodynamic profile of the LightShip in "Drive Mode" behind a tow vehicle reduces by about 50% the electrical energy needed to propel the trailer returning full range to the tow vehicle.

The Pebble Flow, in motion, is 8" 9" tall. This exposes a flat plate aerodynamic area to the air flow of about 16 sq ft. This area will be above the roof line of the tow vehicle and represent a significant aerodynamic drag in motion that increases with the square of the speed.

Returning full range to an EV towing a trailer gets complicated. So there is a very sound reason why the canopy retracts in the LightShip.

I understand the reasoning and it’s cool and all. But that’s one big moving part that can fail and unless there is a manual override it scares me.

 

[RivianG2R1S2024]

The LightShip has the same capability. That is not the issue.

It can?

The LightShip has the same capability. That is not the issue.

I don’t think so. To clarify, you can control and move the Lightship when it’s unhitched via the Lightship app? It can go forward and back, swivel, like the PF?

 

[turbopilot]

It can?

I don’t think so. To clarify, you can control and move the Lightship when it’s unhitched via the Lightship app? It can go forward and back, swivel, like the PF?

Yes, the functionality is in the Atlas App but it has not yet been released for public demo. Likewise automatic leveling and tongue jack operation has not yet been released for public demo. We are still 7 months before first production unit is sold. So everything now is essentially beta release. See screen shot below.

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