What I Learned On My First “Boots on the Ground” CleanTech Glamping Trip

Should you’re an everyday reader round right here, you in all probability bear in mind my fundraiser for getting more “boots on the ground” coverage and product reviews. I didn’t elevate what I had hoped to lift, but still had a pretty successful Indiegogo campaign. On this article, I’m going to offer readers an replace on how this undertaking goes and the way the primary take a look at journey went.

Constructing My Personal Trailer

Whereas I’d like to have a Rivian, F-150 Lightning, or a Silverado EV to drag gear round with, none of these choices are within the playing cards. They’re both too expensive, and within the case of the Silverado, not obtainable to mere mortals (however obtainable to company fleets in restricted numbers). So, I’m utilizing my Chevy Bolt EUV, equipped with a Torklift EcoHitch, to drag a small trailer loaded with “glamping” gear as an alternative of a bigger automobile to haul a camper.

As a substitute of shopping for a trailer from a trailer producer, I did what many individuals on a small finances do: I began with a Harbor Freight trailer. They’re low cost, they’ve a light-weight aluminum body, they usually’re sturdy sufficient for lighter hundreds. I couldn’t discover one in inventory at any of the closest shops, however noticed on the web site {that a} location an hour’s drive away had one in inventory. However, it turned out that they didn’t, and I spent weeks failing to discover a new one.

So, I needed to go used. The used one I might discover was next-to-new, however the proprietor didn’t have all the paperwork. Then, I came upon the state didn’t like what little paperwork I had, and the trailer must undergo a six-month course of to get a title and a license plate. So, I needed to half the trailer out, purchase some elements from a distinct trailer, add in some new elements from Harbor Freight and House Depot, and present up on the MVD with a trailer that was legally a distinct one. After weeks of trouble, I lastly had a trailer with a license plate.

I then set to work constructing a wooden field on the trailer. Whereas I’d prefer to say that I used composites or in any other case did one thing cool to avoid wasting weight, I used to be already not on time on this by like two months, so I needed to suppose sooner. I constructed an old-school balloon body wooden field, however caught with smaller studs and thinner plywood. This required tons and many pilot holes to keep away from splitting the thinner wooden, however I nonetheless ended up with a powerful field (I added some additional reinforcement after this picture was taken:

I couldn’t construct essentially the most aerodynamically environment friendly field, however I did construct it so it principally tucked in behind the Bolt EUV’s form. In contrast to a Tesla Mannequin X or Y, the Bolt EUV has a a lot increased roofline within the again, which is mostly unhealthy for aero, however on this case, it left extra room for the trailer field within the vacuum zone behind the automobile.

The top result’s a trailer I can nonetheless transfer round by hand, even with all the tenting gear loaded inside. In my street testing, the automobile’s dashboard reported a median of two.2 miles/kWh at 70 MPH. A Higher Routeplanner (ABRP) confirmed a “reference quantity” (that’s speculated to signify completely flat floor, preferrred circumstances, 65 MPH) of two.57 miles/kWh primarily based on OBD-II power utilization information it collects. This made for a reference determine about 15% much less environment friendly than the automobile is unloaded, which is fairly spectacular for pulling a trailer.

As you may in all probability see within the above picture, there’s an enormous black tube on prime of the wooden field. That’s a ten gallon Yakima Roadshower. Should you’re not aware of the Roadshower, it’s mainly an aluminum tube with a black coating which you could put water in, and in good solar it serves as a photo voltaic water heater. It additionally has a Schrader valve you should utilize to pressurize the tank and get water stress.

One different cool factor I used to be in a position to do is design a janky mechanism to maintain the aspect door open and function a small awning. The rear door swings right down to function a ramp for loading and unloading e-bikes, too! I’m ultimately going to improve these doorways to one thing higher, however they work properly for now. The field can also be going to get a coat of low cost paint.

What I Loaded Inside

Should you’re an everyday reader, you in all probability noticed that a whole lot of my latest articles have been critiques, and a few from the highest of a ten,000-foot mountain with views for dozens of miles. As a substitute of telling readers all about each bit of drugs, I’ll share some hyperlinks to the gear I’ve already reviewed, after which get into the gear I haven’t reviewed but.

One piece of drugs that actually got here in useful was the EcoFlow Wave 2. Whereas we have been on prime of a mountain, the circumstances turned out to be fairly terrible. Not solely does extra UV gentle fall on the tops of excessive mountains (thinner air), however the entire area was experiencing report warmth. On the way in which up, I truly observed temperatures climbing a we climbed the street to the highest, which implies there was a thermal inversion impact happening at night time. Having air-con was nice, even when we couldn’t energy all of it day and all night time (extra on that in just a few).

One other important piece of drugs was the Trelino Evo L composting toilet. The realm we camped in had a vault rest room, however who needs to place footwear on and stroll 100 yards in the dead of night (and, on journeys apart from this one, the chilly)? Plus, this was only a take a look at journey and we plan on doing future journeys in locations with out bogs.

One other cool piece of equipment we examined (however received’t be taking up all future journeys) was the EuyBike S4 scrambler bike. The rationale I share that is to level out that we’ve efficiently taken a motorcycle alongside to assessment in a scenic and difficult location. Should you signify an e-bike producer and need your bike, scooter, or different outdoor-oriented cleantech product examined someplace good, be sure to reach out to our team.

In Part 2, I’m going to discuss how things went with our Shiftpod insulated shelter, Jackery 3000 Pro power station, and some of the things I’m changing for the next trip.

Featured picture by Jennifer Sensiba.

I do not like paywalls. You do not like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Right here at CleanTechnica, we carried out a restricted paywall for some time, nevertheless it at all times felt improper — and it was at all times powerful to determine what we should always put behind there. In principle, your most unique and finest content material goes behind a paywall. However then fewer folks learn it! We simply do not like paywalls, and so we have determined to ditch ours.

Sadly, the media enterprise remains to be a tricky, cut-throat enterprise with tiny margins. It is a endless Olympic problem to remain above water and even maybe — gasp — develop. So …