A camping trailer for the electric car age
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The Pebble Flow. Image: Courtesy of Pebble
A new electrified camper from an ex-Apple engineer's startup promises to take trailer camping into the zero-emissions era.
Details: The Pebble Flow is a self-propelled trailer designed to eliminate range anxiety for electric vehicle (EV) owners looking to tow a camper.
- It's got a 45 kWh battery powering electric motors that push the trailer along while it's being towed, improving range and efficiency.
- The same battery, in combination with rooftop solar panels, can provide enough energy to stay off the grid for up to seven days, Pebble says.
- The interior is bright, airy and seriously windowed — think an Apple Store on wheels.
Plus: High-tech features like "Magic Hitch" (which autonomously hitches the Flow onto a user's vehicle) and "InstaCamp" (which automatically deploys stabilizers, stairs, an awning and so on) are meant to solve some of RVing's biggest hassles.
- And, as with some EVs, a charged-up Pebble Flow can serve as a backup home energy source during power outages.
Of note: While the Flow was clearly designed with EVs in mind, it can work with any vehicle capable of towing at least 6,200 lbs. — and gas-powered vehicles will get an efficiency boost too.
Yes, but: It'll cost you. Shipments are set to begin late next year, starting at $109,000.
What they're saying: Pebble founder and CEO Bingrui Yang is pitching the Flow as not just a camper, but an "extension of home."
- "When you park at home, this is a really nice office — it's actually a nicer office than a lot of people have," Yang tells Axios.
- "And you can use it as home energy storage — you don't need to buy another set of batteries for home storage, or generators. And when you want to spend time as a family in the outdoors, just take this as an RV."
