Inside the Lightship Electric RV: Campgrounds Aren't Ready for This

pcmag.com:

With interest in RVing and electric vehicles skyrocketing in recent years, Lightship(Opens in a new window) is jumping into both spaces with the Lightship L1, a tow-behind trailer with an on-board battery system that helps the trailer propel itself and preserve fuel efficiency on the vehicle in front.

We got a first look at the L1 in March, but had a chance to climb aboard at the recent Electrify Expo in Long Beach, California. "You guys are some of the first people to ever get inside this thing," says Lightship co-founder Ben Parker.

Pull-behind trailers are notoriously fuel inefficient, but by having its own battery-powered propulsion system, the L1 offsets strain on the trailer hitch and towing force needed to bring it down the highway. This results in nearly zero loss in fuel efficiency for the vehicle in front, whether it's gas-powered or electric, Lightship says.

The Lightship L1 has a starting price of $125,000 or $118,400 after an available tax credit. Pre-orders, which require a $500 deposit, opened in March at lightshiprv.com(Opens in a new window), and "in the first week, [they] filled up over a year of production," says Parker. "I can't disclose numbers, but we are quite confident in our business having enough market fit and demand that we will self-sustain."

Deliveries are expected to begin in 2025. The company aims to reduce prices over time and offer more accessible variants.

"We want to be in the mainstream, not a niche brand," Parker says. He notes that the current price is comparable to an Airstream. In time, he says the company's trajectory will mirror Tesla's, where he used to work as a battery engineer. Tesla started out with the pricey Roadster model, and has steadily reduced prices since then (the