Parking a travel trailer can really suck. Another awesome feature of the eStream is that it can park itself. It’s a win for everyone.Īnd that’s not all. And with an ICE, you’ll stop at the pump less, leaving your bank account a little fatter. With an EV, this means that a road trip with a camper doesn’t have to stop at a charger nearly as often. The E.Home used up 74 kWh of its 80 kWh battery. In testing, it and the E.Home drove 240 miles crossing the Alps, using up 82 kWh of its 95 kWh battery. This is a vehicle with an EPA range of 218 miles. The E.Home has about the same specs as the eStream, and as a test, Dethleffs hooked it up to an Audi e-tron Sportback. This technology has been in development for four years, with German RV company Dethleffs (owned by Airstream parent company Thor Industries) and ZF road testing the E.Home camper. The great thing about the eStream is that its EV system is self-contained, so that it can help any tow vehicle get better range, regardless of how that tow vehicle is powered. Even my little 1,100-lb U-Haul camper takes my Volkswagen Touareg VR6’s normally 18-20 mpg and sends it down to about 11-12 mpg. Of course, that’s similar to an ICE vehicle, where hauling a camper can put a big dent in fuel economy. There are now countless EV towing tests out there and each one has roughly the same result: The tow vehicle loses around half of its range towing a boat, cargo trailer, or camper. It doesn’t matter if your tow vehicle is powered by gasoline or by electricity, towing a camper drags down your range. So the tow vehicle will always be doing the towing, but the trailer’s drivetrain will be lending a hand to make things easier. Airstream’s reps tell me that the goal is to assist, not to push the tow vehicle or even match the tow vehicle’s output. When you punch the accelerator in your tow vehicle, the eStream’s powertrain gives an assist. The first is that the eStream assists the tow vehicle in hauling it. Airstream says that this EV setup has two main benefits.
Together, they make a combined 242 horsepower and 132 lb-ft torque. Located under the trailer is an 80 kWh battery pack feeding a pair of electric motors. Instead, it’s what’s below the floor that Airstream wants to talk about. I love this interior.īut the interior isn’t the headlining feature here. It looks cute inside, too.Īirstream wouldn’t let me physically step into its functional eStream prototype, and apparently, the company decided not to do any demonstrations during the Open House. It’s 22 feet of gorgeous aluminum that sleeps up to four. On the surface, the Airstream eStream is just like the company’s other trailers. I wrote about this concept earlier this year, but seeing it in person among literal hundreds of those other campers really illustrates just how much potential Airstream has to change the RV game. One trailer stands out as moving the needle on camper innovation the farthest, and it’s the Airstream eStream. You might see neat tricks like a power awning, a big bathroom, or a chandelier, but few features will really blow you away. They take a box, bolt some wheels to it, and fill it out like a tiny apartment. I’ve found many awesome campers here, including adorable pocket-sized fiberglass trailers and fifth wheels with more than a single story and multiple bedrooms.īut the majority of the RVs at the Open House are just different flavors of the same thing.
All kinds of RV manufacturers are here, from the country’s largest conglomerates to tiny independents, and they’re trying to entice dealerships with the best fare that they can put on the road. This week, I’m at the RV Open House in Elkhart, Indiana. Some manufacturers are using this time to introduce innovative concepts for the future and Airstream’s showing off what is quite possibly the smartest RV/camper of the modern day. The RV industry is enjoying an incredible boom as Americans choose to hit the open road as opposed to staying in resorts and hotels.
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