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Colorado Teardrops introduced earlier this month that it has accomplished the prototype model of “the world’s first camper trailer designed to increase the towing vary of electrical automobiles.”
What may sound like a wierd product area of interest might reply a dilemma for some People with luxurious budgets: Whereas an electrical car may work completely advantageous for the overwhelming majority of the yr, the annual weeklong tenting journey might be the deal-breaker.
As some who’ve tried to tow with their EVs—Teslas included—can attest, real-world driving vary whereas towing might be abysmal. Within the vary of 60% to 75% of regular vary is to be anticipated, and a few bigger journey trailers will lower vary in half.
That’s the place the concept for the Boulder, a 12-foot-long electrified teardrop-style tenting trailer launched simply over a yr in the past, is available in. With about 75 kwh of batteries mounted in its decrease body space—inside a couple of kwh of the usable capability of quite a lot of widespread electrical crossovers just like the Tesla Mannequin Y or Volkswagen ID.4—it’s successfully carrying an additional battery pack alongside. In line with the corporate, it has the potential to provide a complete vary whereas towing that’s higher than the towing EV’s unique vary.
Colorado Teardrops Boulder EV tenting trailer
With its prototype announcement, Colorado Teardrops introduced that it “has partnered with a significant automotive producer to advance expertise instantly related to The Boulder.”
The corporate additionally confirmed that it’s accomplished the preliminary section of the Boulder’s improvement. A stage of improvement permitting Stage 2 charging is full, whereas it’s now engaged on the DC fast-charging between the trailer and tow car that would be the enabler for making the concept work.
For all of it to work, that’s, the vacationers might want to pull over and primarily plug the trailer into the EV, letting it fast-charge the car at as much as 60 kw—or doubtlessly a better energy for shorter intervals, as the corporate advised 100 miles of vary returned in 10 minutes.
Colorado Teardrops – The Boulder electrified journey trailer
At its preliminary reveal final yr, the corporate advised that the Boulder’s dry weight can be simply 1,950 lb, with a tongue weight of 185 lb. It is going to sleep a household of 4, together with a queen-size mattress, bunk beds, a eating space with couches, inside local weather management, and a hot-water bathe—plus a fold-out kitchen galley, doubtlessly with an induction cooktop.
The Boulder retains to basic teardrop-camper dimensions, in line with the corporate, however within the meantime it hasn’t shied from trailers which may look extra at dwelling towed by a bigger car like a Ford F-150 Lightning or Rivian R1T. Two future fashions, the 17-foot Golden and the 27-foot Denver, don’t hold to the identical teardrop look, however they’ve hard-shell tops that retract right into a decrease profile when towing. When tenting they prolong to offer 78-inch head room. It now suggests these fashions, which seem to solely be on the rendering/strategy planning stage, will supply battery packs as much as 200 kwh, which might be sufficient to prime out the upcoming Max pack variations of Rivian’s vehicles.
Colorado Teardrops – The Denver 27-foot electrified journey trailer
Like many journey trailers, you’ll should be in it for the approach to life, as you could possibly doubtlessly purchase quite a lot of fancy lodge nights—and much more EV—for the value. Colorado Teardrops asks for as little as $1,000 down, however a $10,000 down fee secures a cheaper price beginning at $45,000. The corporate claims that it’s accepting reservations for the Boulder for supply within the first half of 2023, though that already represents a timeline pushed ahead.
This isn’t the one agency pursuing electrified journey trailers, and it’s not the primary to attempt the concept. Airstream confirmed an eStream idea earlier this yr, incorporating a system developed with ZF, that might be arriving within the subsequent few years. That system, in a unique trailer, managed to get a 240-mile real-world vary out of an Audi E-Tron Sportback EPA-rated at 218 miles.
Retaining a giant automotive-grade battery pack unused the remainder of the yr isn’t so nice for the surroundings or the strained provide chain both, so let’s hope the corporate is pondering massive about how this product might be a part of the dwelling power ecosystem, serving to households put the battery to make use of the remainder of the yr.
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