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Lightship, a startup building electric camper trailers, is taking a page from Tesla's playbook to efficiently ramp up its vehicle production.

Why it matters: Founded by former Tesla execs, the startup is looking to grow manufacturing following an EV slump. 

Follow the money: Lightship raised $30 million in additional equity following its $34 million Series B announced in early 2024, CEO and co-founder Toby Kraus tells Axios Pro.

"I expect we will do at least one more equity round, more like growth-oriented or Series C. That's definitely in our future," Kraus says.

The capital already raised gets Lightship through its initial period of growth, but won't get it to the point of producing 40 vehicles a month, says Kraus. 

Lightship investors include Prelude Ventures, Obvious Ventures, Congruent, Allegis Capital, RV manufacturer Thor Industries, TechNexus Venture Collaborative, HyperGuap and Alumni Ventures.

Zoom in: Lightship has delivered "a half dozen" of its trailers to customers, and is in the process of ramping up to deliver 40 vehicles per month over the next two to three years, CEO and co-founder Toby Kraus tells Axios Pro. 

"That's really how we get to be a profitable company," says Kraus who was the former head of finance for Tesla overseeing cost-cutting of the Model S. 

The production expansion plans include doubling the square footage of its factory in Broomfield, Colorado, to 70,000 square feet and growing manufacturing to deliver 70 to 80 vehicles this year.

"We're in the thick of it. The production hell thing, to use a Tesla term," says Kraus. 

The big picture: U.S. EV sales declined modestly last year compared to 2024 thanks to the removal of the federal tax credit.

Big U.S. automakers have pulled back EV plans, and the sector has moved into cost-cutting mode.

Investors no longer have an appetite to fund EV losses into perpetuity, says Kraus.

How it works: Lightship makes a camper trailer that has batteries, a motor and sensors in the tow hitch that monitor the pulling force and deliver torque.

The batteries and motor reduce the towing force close to zero, enabling efficient towing with either an EV or gas-powered truck. 

The camper is also decked out with design features like panoramic windows, aerodynamic tow mode, and an integrated solar system. 

The intrigue: Kraus says the most important lesson he learned while at Tesla was how to build an EV company that can be profitable and survive in the long term.

At Tesla, Kraus says he had a weekly meeting with Elon Musk to work on making the Model S profitable, going from losing $25,000 per car to a gross margin of 25%.

The bottom line: Getting to profitability on producing an electric camper trailer will take ruthless, Tesla-style execution. 

Lightship is using the Tesla production playbook

Lightship CEO previously took Model S from loss to 25% margin

Large, futuristic luxury motorhome with a black upper cabin and white lower body rests on dry grass, set against rugged desert rocks at sunset; a pickup-like cab is visible on the right.

A battery-powered camper trailer made by Lightship. Photo: Courtesy of Lightship

Lightship, a startup building electric camper trailers, is taking a page from Tesla&#x27;s playbook to efficiently ramp up its vehicle production.Why it matters: Founded by former Tesla execs, the startup is looking to grow manufacturing following an EV slump.

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Lightship is using the Tesla production playbook

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