Ski RV's, who's sleeping in parking lots?

[carlh]

Spitball crazy ideas but this seems like a good place for feedback. We have a 20yo Coleman tent trailer that is great from a towing perspective but cheap in all senses. We used to have an escape which was well built but harder to tow and store.
With the coming EV push it seems like there would be a market for a well built hardside pop up. On the rivian forum a standard travel trailer gets <1mi/kwh and someone with a trailcraft popul was getting more like 1.5mi/kwh which is a huge range difference.
I’m thinking of a fiberglass model version of a hilo camper with modern systems (lithium, solar etc) probably 25’ and 4-5klbs or so with a powered lift system could be made for $60k and would be awesome for towing with an electric.
Obviously the devil is in the execution but am I crazy on this as a business idea?

[Cruiser]

I thought the new rvs that were meant to be pulled by electric vehicles were gonna have their own batteries and motors cuz towing anything with an ev is fool's errand

[Esses]

I think there’s a 3rd type. The last 40 years have seen a major transfer of wealth (widely reported in other contexts) and one of the results is a lot of 20-somethings with the family money to have whatever they want. And playing outdoors has become attractive to more people than in previous years.

Wow. I own a Sprinter and don't fall into any of these categories. Stereotypes are so fun.

[SchralphMacchio]

I’m thinking of a fiberglass model version of a hilo camper with modern systems (lithium, solar etc) probably 25’ and 4-5klbs or so with a powered lift system could be made for $60k and would be awesome for towing with an electric.
Obviously the devil is in the execution but am I crazy on this as a business idea?

You’re only crazy if you think anyone is going to get rich off of this idea. I think it has its place … and there are definitely people besides Lightship who have been working on lightweight hardside popups. And while EV TVs would benefit, there are a lot of people who tow things with their Outbacks, Explorers, Rangers, etc, who really don’t understand tongue weights, weight distribution, transmission temperature, etc. - and should really be towing a popup and not some 9 foot tall or higher box, even if it is a semi teardrop shape.

I don’t know all that much about the RV industry, but as a former product manager and manufacturer myself, I know enough to be able to confidently assert that the whole industry is decades behind other manufacturing industries. I could be wrong but I am highly skeptical that there is a single domestic RV manufacturer with concepts like Standard Work, kanban, takt time, red cards, root cause countermeasure, etc.

So let’s say you design a great product, figure out a streamlined supply chain and manufacturing process … then you get to deal with building a brand, building a national distribution infrastructure, channel sales, support network, etc. on support … RV shops are way behind - walk into any independent or dealer affiliated shop and you will probably hear many incorrect things about lithium, solar, etc. And at the tail end of it all is 9/10 customers not even understanding why it’s important to strip and seal all perforations and joints on a semi-regular basis, let alone complaining that their electrical system shuts down when trying to run a Keurig in their rig with the air conditioner also running. Not a great market setup for investing in and launching a next gen product!

I thought the new rvs that were meant to be pulled by electric vehicles were gonna have their own batteries and motors cuz towing anything with an ev is fool's errand

It’s actually not as bad as you think. Rivian suspension is very well regarded and the folks who tow with them say it’s a better experience than towing with their diesel trucks, save for only having 70-100 mile towing range. On level roads most of the load is wind drag, not trailer weight. A hardside popup seems like a better first step solution to me than some kind of inertially guided propulsion system that no RV shop is going to have axle parts for.




I took this pic this last weekend actually! Based on the advertising on the side of the R1S I knew this guy was only towing his Xplore unit 30 miles each way. No hookups at this specific site. But I think most RV owners actually camp at hookup sites, not at dry sites - so recharging a tow vehicle via 50A hookups would be super easy.

[Dromond]

This guy goes pretty deep on towing a camper with his Rivian

https://kootenayevfamily.ca/why-an-e...k-why-the-r1t/

[carlh]

Will do more reading. My thoughts are a business model like escape in Canada all factory direct and at that premium but not airstream price and quality level. I agree the mainstream campers are all hot garbage. We tow our Coleman with a Honda Pilot and obviously the gas car benefits from the low drag too, it just an extra 50-100 miles of range has a much bigger trip impact than a gas mileage hit so that seems like the business opportunity.
Comparing our past escape to our current Coleman or modern stick campers is night and day and no one is currently selling a popup in that niche.
The self propelled trailers seem crazy instead of chasing efficiency. A popup with some streamlining and a smooth underside seems like a much better solution.
Well understood this is not a get rich quick scheme but it seems like if you could sell 100 per year it would be a nice business that enabled comfortable living.

[apex dave]

Will do more reading. My thoughts are a business model like escape in Canada all factory direct and at that premium but not airstream price and quality level.

Bigfoot also makes trailers. More $ than Escape but much less $ than Airstream
https://bigfootrv.com/rvs/travel-trailers

[Trackhead]

Welded up a new receiver hitch three place bike rack that fits for my bigger truck camper. Swings out like typical production models. Bought three relatively cheap Amazon “one-up” rip offs that seem bomber to hold bikes.

[SchralphMacchio]

Wow nice work TH!
Nice work on those gussets.
Looks like you didn’t put any stabilizing features into the shank - do you have an anti rattle clamp there?

[Trackhead]

Yeah receiver anti rattle is on it doesn’t budge.

Going on a 2600 mile road trip next week. We’ll see if it holds up

[Xover]

Going on a 2600 mile road trip next week. We’ll see if it holds up

We'll see if you hold up tweaker

[byates1]

If he's tweaking there should be no stopping him...

[Trackhead]

We'll see if you hold up tweaker

I’m old as fuck, but I still twitch harder than you ever have, bitch

[Trackhead]

[byates1]

What's your route?^

[Trackhead]

Pioneer Mtns this weekend …

[byates1]

Fire and brimstone motherfukers.

Sent from my Pixel 8 Pro using Tapatalk

[apex dave]

Nice unit reasonably price Cdn $. Bigfoot 250 is their best for winter. https://classifieds.castanet.net/det...amper/5023723/

[singlesline]

Saw this thing on an electric F150 in the parking lot the other day:

[SchralphMacchio]

Saw this thing on an electric F150 in the parking lot the other day:

Classy AF, and it looks like it might not cut the range in half!

[heckacali]

My friend is selling this sweet rare Tiger 4x4 rig in Truckee

https://reno.craigslist.org/rvs/d/tr...754593521.html

[singlecross]

Somebody go get this…

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Isn't this a pretty good deal for one of these?

https://www.facebook.com/share/zDJ1k3SsnWXDAtaL/

[m2711c]

the price is low, if thats what you're asking. but if really were a "good" deal, i don't think it would have lasted 8 weeks on marketplace. still, probably worth checking out just in case.

[DanoT]

Isn't this a pretty good deal for one of these?

https://www.facebook.com/share/zDJ1k3SsnWXDAtaL/

^^^A good deal at twice the price unless there is some sort of flaw/leaks.