LightShip - The Future?

[turbopilot]

New forum for LightShip position holders. Is this the new "Airstream" for the future? I think so. Took a position 6 months ago.

 

[turbopilot]

And here is a long standing thread about LightShip on the Airstream forum where several position holders have participated.

 

[offroader09]

Lifespan of the batteries would be a concern and the cost to replace them. That could have a big impact on resale or even using as a trade in. A 20 year old RV is not uncommon but based on todays batteries this may have a 8-10 year service life. I do like the idea of a powered drivetrain. Diesel/electric would be cool. Once parked the diesel generator could power the coach.

 

[mjeds]

$150,000? hmm seems a bit over priced IMO

 

[turbopilot]

$150,000? hmm seems a bit over priced IMO

Unless the venture capitalists supporting this concept are prepared to sell them at a loss I suspect the price will be higher than $300k. This "trailer" (since this thing is self powered it is really not a trailer) is aimed at the Tesla Cybertruck, Rivian and Ford Lightning demographic. The solar panel array alone is probably worth $50k. Powered chassis maybe $60K. Solar panel array and associated high voltage DC battery is setup to backup your house or back charge your EV pickup.

 

[Bigblockyeti]

I think this is as much the future as is a $150/hr minimum wage.

 

[mjeds]

Unless the venture capitalists supporting this concept are prepared to sell them at a loss I suspect the price will be higher than $300k. This "trailer" (since this thing is self powered it is really not a trailer) is aimed at the Tesla Cybertruck, Rivian and Ford Lightning demographic. The solar panel array alone is probably worth $50k. Powered chassis maybe $60K. Solar panel array and associated high voltage DC battery is setup to backup your house or back charge your EV pickup.

View attachment 20613

that's no $50K solar array, that looks to be about 18-20 panels. I had 40 on my home that didn't even cost $50K, I paid $23,000 installed. for 20 200 watt panels and 20 300 watt panels.

I would say at best that is a $15k-$20k setup at retail.

 

[Voyageurs]

Lifespan of the batteries would be a concern and the cost to replace them. That could have a big impact on resale or even using as a trade in. A 20 year old RV is not uncommon but based on todays batteries this may have a 8-10 year service life. I do like the idea of a powered drivetrain. Diesel/electric would be cool. Once parked the diesel generator could power the coach.

Based on todays batteries and the likely amount of cycles they would receive in a trailer the batteries life would probably be 30 to 50 years….or longer.

 

[offroader09]

Based on todays batteries and the likely amount of cycles they would receive in a trailer the batteries life would probably be 30 to 50 years….or longer.

Telsa battery warranty is 8 years. If true then maybe the trailer will come with a 30 year battery warranty and that would be a huge selling point.
The U.S. Department of Energy, meanwhile, predicts today's EV batteries ought to last a good deal past their warranty period, with these packs' service lives clocking in at between 12 and 15 years if used in moderate climates. Plan on a service life of between 8 and 12 years if your EV is regularly used in more extreme conditions.

 

[Voyageurs]

Telsa battery warranty is 8 years. If true then maybe the trailer will come with a 30 year battery warranty and that would be a huge selling point.

I doubt they’ll make the warranty that long. Some engines last 20 years or more but their warranties are only 3 to 5 years. Warranties are huge liabilities for manufacturers.

A tesla battery probably gets more cycles in a year than a trailer battery does in 10 years. Batteries don’t care much about age. They care about cycles.

 

[Voyageurs]

Telsa battery warranty is 8 years. If true then maybe the trailer will come with a 30 year battery warranty and that would be a huge selling point.
The U.S. Department of Energy, meanwhile, predicts today's EV batteries ought to last a good deal past their warranty period, with these packs' service lives clocking in at between 12 and 15 years if used in moderate climates. Plan on a service life of between 8 and 12 years if your EV is regularly used in more extreme conditions.

Hard to say. We have fleets of 8 year old tesla cabs here. Many with north of 400,000 kilometres. They typically have 12 percent degradation and that’s older technology. And they get supercharged multiple times per day. I think we’ll all have to wait a decade to get a true picture of how the batteries hold up.

 

[redbaron]

Is there air conditioning?

 

[Voyageurs]

Is there air conditioning?

Can’t see why there wouldn’t be.

 

[turbopilot]

Here are the electrical specifications for the LightShip:

All-electric (L1 Long Range)Battery capacity 40kWh, 80kWh options
All-electric towing range Up to 300 miles
Solar generation capacity Up to 3kW
Off-grid power 7 days (while running appliances)

As you can see they predict a EV pickup that would tow a regular 7,500 trailer 100 miles on a charge will pull the LightShip with EV assist up to 300 miles on one charge.

They don't acknowledge that a hybrid pickup with an inverter generator (like the Ford PowerBoost with ProPower On Board), will do much better (possibly up to 700 mile range on a 31 gallon tank) because the Ford can share power generated by the ICE and/or regenerative braking with the LightShip.

 

[turbopilot]

Is there air conditioning?

Air Conditioning will be from a high voltage electric motor heat pump compressor found on hybrid and EV vehicles. The HVAC system is in the aerodynamic shroud over the hitch.

 

[turbopilot]

LightShip continues to flow interesting information about this new camper over on their FaceBook page. Here is one post that is counterintuitive for RV's. I always thought an RV dishwasher made no sense.

 

[Bigblockyeti]

A dishwasher in an RV does sound a bit counterintutive and it could be a water saving feature, if and only if you don't actually know how to wash dishes by hand. For the cost, I would rather have a crew cab F350 included than a dishwasher.

 

[DennisT]

LightShip continues to flow interesting information about this new camper over on their FaceBook page. Here is one post that is counterintuitive for RV's. I always thought an RV dishwasher made no sense.

View attachment 20665

We always thought the same thing when we were mostly “camping”.

Now that we are full time we use mostly normal dishes, silverware, etc.

We kind of chuckled when we looked at our Superstar since it had a dishwasher. I will say we are glad we have it now. Doesn’t use much water at all and we run when full.

 

[mjeds]

I bought a Loch Capsule counter top dish washer for my little travel trailer, works great for my needs:

Capsule

This is Capsule

lochelectronics.com

stores under the sink and out of the way when not needed.

 

[Neal]

Any updates on this @turbopilot