Lightship details the extreme efficiency of its L1 electric RV

Forward of preliminary manufacturing scheduled for 2024, electrical RV startup Lightship is providing a peek behind its photo voltaic electrical curtain, detailing the efforts that went into its flagship L1 towable trailer to make sure it arrives because the extra aerodynamic choice available on the market.

Lightship is a San Francisco, CA, and Boulder, Colorado-based startup that heralds itself as the first all-electric RV company – designing battery-powered trailers for the all-electric age. It was based in 2020 by Ben Parker and Toby Kraus – two trade veterans with notable tenures at Tesla.

We’ve got adopted Lightship since its inception, by to the official unveiling of its L1 electrical RV trailer at SXSW this previous March. This journey trailer is exclusive in its aerodynamic, modular design and comes geared up with its personal all-electric powertrain and battery pack, assuaging the towing capability for the car in entrance of it.

The result’s a towable EV that may empower future house owners to drive additional and extra effectively with out recharging as a lot. The L1’s debut final spring didn’t disappoint, however we’ve admittedly been left craving extra particulars as an electrical trailer that maintains its towing car’s vary has the makings to be an absolute game-changer in a stale RV trade.

At the moment, Lightship shared particulars of the L1’s improvement course of – significantly the eager focus its creators placed on aerodynamics – as it really works to ship a real one-of-a-kind electrical RV.

As you’ll find out about within the video from Lightship beneath, the startup simulated 1000’s of hours in a digital wind tunnel utilizing superior modeling software program and assist from Angus Locke, who was the lead aerodynamicist on the Tesla Roadster.

This cost-saving method helped Lightship analyze the airflow conduct round competitor trailers and evaluate it to its personal electrical RV designs, enabling its last idea. The startup’s founders additionally gathered their expertise in passenger EVs to develop L1’s distinctive “Twin Mode” design, which permits for a roomy cabin with 7’6″ of headroom when parked in “Camp Mode” earlier than telescoping its hard-sided partitions all the way down to “Highway Mode,” thus decreasing the Coefficient of Drag and Frontal Space by 35-40%.

Lightship goes on to level out three particular areas it optimized the L1 electrical RV trailer:

• Tongue Field: The trailer’s ever-so-important vanguard – dictating how the air interacts with the remainder of the thing downstream whereas in movement. The L1 contains a storage field that helps stabilize the circulation across the entrance of the car whereas serving to scale back the differential between the car towing in entrance of it, no matter whether or not it’s an EV or an ICE truck.
• Boat-tailed Rear: Shallow angles on the again assist keep away from inducing robust vortices, which may improve drag whereas sustaining the central portion of the cabin to make sure a queen-size mattress can nonetheless match.
• Electrical Powertrain: The star of the present. Lightship’s L1 Lengthy Vary RV comes geared up with its personal electrical motor and battery, propelling itself whereas decreasing the load on the tow car and leading to improved vary.

R&D is significant on this course of as Lightship appears to ship a slam dunk on its first try and enter the RV market. Nevertheless, simulations and pc designs can solely go to date. In some unspecified time in the future, real-world testing is important. To really put the L1’s aerodynamics to the check, it towed an Important model (no electrical powertrain) 60 miles at a 60 mph tempo utilizing three totally different automobiles: a Rivian R1T pickup, R1S SUV, and gas-powered Ford F-150. For added comparability, Lightship additionally towed a “bullet-shaped trailer. Listed here are the outcomes:

General, the L1 is extra environment friendly than its competitor, no matter whether or not the towing car is electrical or combustion. Remember the fact that the info above doesn’t account for the L1 Lengthy Vary, which guarantees to supply near-zero vary loss due to its personal drivetrain system.

Present electrical pickup and SUV house owners are seeing enormous cuts to vary when towing, making lengthy journeys with a trailer tougher than a conventional ICE car. Nevertheless, Lightship’s L1 RV has solved that subject, even with out its electrical motor.

The Lightship L1 is at present available for pre-order with $500 down and is priced between $125,000 and $151,500, relying on which model you go for. Manufacturing is anticipated to start in late 2024.

Remember to take a look at Lightship’s aerodynamic testing within the video beneath: