Want to spend a week living off the grid but don’t want to fire up a generator or put up a tent? Airstream may have the answer for you.
Known for its wind-swept recreational vehicles, the Ohio-based manufacturer recently rolled out a 22-foot, all-electric trailer that, according to CEO and President Bob Wheeler, provides “a peek into our future.”
The eStream concept features a pair of 40 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery packs that can operate everything from its heat pump climate system and induction stovetop to its onboard TV and WiFi system. It also features a built-in hybrid drivetrain to help reduce fuel consumption by its tow vehicle. And once you find a place to camp, you can unhitch and remotely park the eStream using a smartphone app.
In developing the electric RV, Airstream had to “rethink almost everything,” McKay Featherstone, the company’s product development chief, explained during a media Zoom call this week.
Starting from scratch
Like conventional Airstream models, the concept vehicle sports a silver, aerodynamic body shell. But its even more windswept, according to Featherstone. There are a few differences from a regular model — there are no propane tanks up front, for one thing. And the normally high-mounted air conditioning unit has been swapped out for a more energy efficient heat pump mounted under the load floor. Among other things, that created room to mount enough solar cells that can generate 900 watts of current.
Combined with the twin battery packs, the trailer can operate entirely off the grid “and power everything,” including air conditioning, “for well over a week,” according to Featherstone, though it also can be plugged into a standard 120-volt outlet at a campsite, a 240-volt home charger, or one of the new 400-volt high-speed chargers popping up across the country.
Using one of those Level 3 fast chargers, the eStream can replenish its batteries in less than an hour. Using a more conventional charger still gets it back up and running overnight, according to Airstream.
The eStream not only can run itself on the internal battery packs, but also it features a Vehicle-to-Load system that allows it to “export power,” Featherstone explained, “including powering your home” in the event of a blackout.
“Swinging for the fences”
The trailer’s electrical system goes to work long before you reach a campsite. While eStream isn’t self-propelled — like the motorhome concept Airstream Thor Industries recently showed off — it does boast a plug-in hybrid system developed by German auto supplier ZF.
It kicks in additional torque through the 5,500-pound trailer’s two main wheels. And that takes a load off whatever tow vehicle you might use, increasing its fuel economy. The drive system has a variety of advanced driver assistance systems built in, including torque vectoring and electronic stability control. That can help maintain control in hilly or winding terrain, as well as on windy days.
First revealed at the RV SuperShow in Florida last month, the eStream gives Airstream “a chance to make a statement, to do something bold,” Featherstone told reporters on Tuesday.
That said, CEO Wheeler cautioned that, “We swung for the fences here. It’s loaded with features. Not everything is going to make sense for every customer.”
Taking the pulse of potential buyers
There are four primary targets — though they may overlap — Wheeler said: early EV adopters, those who want something more sustainable than a conventional RV, those looking to spend extensive time off the grid, and “newbies … who haven’t trailered before.”
Airstream plans to take the pulse of those potential customers and that will “influence what you will see,” he added, “in a couple of years.”
With the auto industry quickly electrifying, it seems, Airstream expects that trend to carry over to the RV industry. “It’s very likely” the company will start out producing an electric model “in parallel with things we make today,” said Wheeler. And if demand is strong enough, electrified models could become the norm, rather than the exception, in the Airstream line-up.