Tag: electric

YouTuber Everyday Chris has owned his Tesla Cybertruck for a few months now and has been sharing his experiences on his channel. He has been a long-time fan of Tesla, and says that the Cybertruck allows him to do things none of his other Teslas can do—including towing his new “house on wheels.”

The mobile home in question is the sleek Pebble Flow RV, and it’s a fitting rig here given that it was created by former Tesla and Apple employees. Besides the streamlined looks, the trailer weighs about 6,200 lbs and is quite roomy on the inside.

The camper costs between $109,000 and $125,000 and is powered by a 45 kWh Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery that can be charged up using the solar panels on the roof. When fully depleted, you can also top it off using CCS DC fact charging. It also has a bi-directional Nema 14-50 plug that can be used to charge your EV while parked or power your home in an outage.

One of the best features for EV drivers is the camper’s dual motors which improve the efficiency while towing. While he was not permitted to share numbers yet, Chris describes the range as “amazing.”

But the Pebble is not only an RV—it is also an RC car. The dual motors allow the pebble to rotate and drive itself short distances by using an app on your tablet. This significantly improves the hitching process for those who do not travel regularly. The trailer even has its own guidance system to seek out your vehicle’s hitch and align the ball and coupler automatically. This certainly seems more user-friendly than having your spouse stand behind your vehicle waving you in like an aircraft marshal.

As the company representatives explain, their mission is to make the process easier for those who are intimidated by RV driving. Chris and his family had avoided RV ownership for what they perceived as being too much of a hassle or too dangerous on the road. “When I’m driving it, I don’t feel like I’m towing anything,” Chris explains. “What was I so scared for?”

Once you arrive at your camp area, you can unhitch your camper using the app, back it up into your campsite, and put it into the “Instacamp” setting which will automatically lower the stabilizer jacks and staircase. The camper will even level itself when you have parked on uneven terrain.

The interior is very clean and functional. The max ceiling height on the interior is 6 feet 6 inches. There is ample storage and a very well-appointed kitchen. The bathroom is an interesting design since it is covered entirely with smart tint glass that can be clear or frosted when you want privacy. As is typical for a camper this size, the lounge area can be transformed into a full-size bed. But there is also a large queen-sized bed on the other end of the camper.

During the tow test, Chris found that the Cybertruck still had plenty of power and good visibility thanks to the extensive number of cameras. They even did a launch test on a small side street while no other cars were around. The acceleration was noticeably slower compared to standard operation, but impressive for the size of the load.

The biggest downside is the fact that as of right now, the most useful features of this RV require an app. Hopefully, Pebble will remain in business for years to come, but if they do not, then it’s only a matter of time before your smartphone and tablet app become incompatible with your device. It’s one thing to purchase new smart light bulbs if your preferred smart home company goes under. It’s another thing to lose that functionality in something as large and expensive as an RV. We have to assume that the base RV features would still be usable even if this happens.