(Live Updates) Florida 1/14 to 1/23 - Tampa show + real world use

[josephpRV]

@Rory (Lightship Team) … would appreciate a video walk-through of the production variant of the Lightship, in particular those things that changed from the pre-production version, e.g., the new pop-up table and anything else that changed.

 

[josephpRV]

@Rory (Lightship Team) … great post on Instagram. You had me worried! When I saw 1.44 mpKWH I almost panicked … until you mentioned that was with TrekDrive off … phew !

I’ve already bought into AE.1’s aero + TrekDrive delivering close to Tow Vehicle standard efficiency (I believe the website now says within 5% to 10% which I think is a very safe claim)
and having more and more reinforcement of that data via real world use cases, in cross winds no less, is immensely reassuring.

I suspect you guys are running a series of test scenarios against baseline efficiencies to satisfy a hungry audience. I’m also interested in understanding why you’re making some of those choices. E.g., driving with Trek Drive off … was that a test scenario or were you low on Tow Vehicle range and knew you’d pull into serviced camping, etc.

I’m hungry for the “what” which you guys are increasingly providing data upon, as well as the “why” to speed up my own learning curve come April.

Keep the content coming. Great stuff.

 

[Rory (Lightship Team)]

Hahah! Sounds great, and noted your earlier points of request. By the way, we’ve got the giant QR up for you guys!

 

[turbopilot]

I’m also interested in understanding why you’re making some of those choices. E.g., driving with Trek Drive off … was that a test scenario or were you low on Tow Vehicle range and knew you’d pull into serviced camping, etc.

Depending on the logistics and availability of parking at the next charger, it would seem to me sometimes it might more sense to take the range loss associated with operating "TrekDrive Off" rather than charge two vehicles at a location father down the road. It will be interesting to see how often an EV owner pulling a LightShip can successfully charge both the EV and the LightShip at the same time without going through the hassle of unhooking from the tow vehicle.

One nice addition to the Atlas tablet would be to have a map plotting those charging locations that offer pull through charging that would allow simultaneous charging of both the EV and LightShip.

 

[josephpRV]

I've taken the liberty of token-blitzing my AI tool of choice. After quite a few rounds I'm comfortable with the hypothesis below based on my R1T and the Lightship. As @Rory (Lightship Team) and the team travel around FL and back up to CO and CA, I'm going to enjoy watching their energy based decision making to update my model.

Lightship + R1T Battery Strategy - A Three Axis Model

When towing the Lightship, energy strategy isn’t just about efficiency, it’s about managing three key axes that determine your options mid-drive and at camp:

1. Energy liquidity, prioritize R1T over Lightship (mobility, escape, and ability to fetch energy)
2. Camp viability, prioritize CER* (Camp Establishment Reserve)
3. Charging friction, in-transit decoupling, stall geometry, stop count, and fatigue on long tow days

On short/moderate trips, axes 1 & 2 dominate, on long-haul trips (e.g., 500+ miles), axis 3 may temporarily override energy logic mid-route to reduce stops or hassle. Axes 1 & 2 always dominate when you reach camp.

*The CER is the minimum Lightship SOC required to establish and operate camp (unhitching, leveling, systems bring-up, HVAC, comms). CER is not a fixed number. In boondocking scenarios, it’s a function of daily energy usage, and expected daily solar refill. In practice, CER must float upwards if daily usage exceeds solar recovery.

Core Strategy Principles

1. Spend Lightship energy first, but never below the CER, and
2. Protect R1T energy unless downstream charging is guaranteed and abundant

Why This Works

• Axis 1: Energy that can go get energy is more valuable than energy that can’t.
• Axis 2: A powerless trailer isn’t a campsite, Lightship CER is sacrosanct.
• Axis 3: Charging friction affects mid-drive decisions on long days, but arrival priorities still govern..

The Three Real Scenarios

1. Abundant, concurrent charging at destination, i.e., multiple pedestals / EVSEs, no load constraints

Play: Bias to travel speed. Use TrekDrive aggressively. Spend Lightship energy freely (respecting CER).
Why: Energy is liquid, speed/time can safely dominate.

2. Limited charging at destination, i.e., one pedestal or shared power

Play: Use TrekDrive. Arrive with R1T SOC higher than Lightship SOC, while respecting CER.
Why: A charged truck keeps options open, a charged trailer doesn’t.

3. No charging at destination (boondocking)

Play: Use TrekDrive until Lightship approaches CER. Preserve CER and as much R1T SOC as possible.
Why: Lightship can slowly recharge via solar, the truck is irreplaceable.

One-Line Rule

Spend Lightship energy down to the CER (which floats with usage vs. solar) and protect the R1T unless charging is guaranteed and abundant.

 

[turbopilot]

*The CER is the minimum Lightship SOC required to establish and operate camp (unhitching, leveling, systems bring-up, HVAC, comms). CER is not a fixed number. In boondocking scenarios, it’s a function of daily energy usage, and expected daily solar refill. In practice, CER must float upwards if daily usage exceeds solar recovery.

Great start. Once we understand these variables I don't see why it could not be integrated into the Atlas tablet and let it run real time in route.

We are going to have to have a fair amount of experience to determine a typical CER. But I suspect the weather forecast may be the most important set of variable since HVAC is going to use most of the camping battery capacity. So high and low temperatures and cloud cover will have to be considered when defining the CER.

 

[josephpRV]

Great start. Once we understand these variables I don't see why it could not be integrated into the Atlas tablet and let it run real time in route.

We are going to have to have a fair amount of experience to determine a typical CER. But I suspect the weather forecast may be the most important set of variable since HVAC is going to use most of the camping battery capacity. So high and low temperatures and cloud cover will have to be considered when defining the CER.

Given the continuing accumulation of travel efficiency data (i.e., aero + TrekDrive deliver near to baseline tow vehicle efficiency) my mental model has now shifted to ‘camp dynamics’, and I think the CER, particularly in boondocking situations is going to be critical.

If i have time this week I’ll turn my mind to the math. It can’t be that hard, we have the solar capacity, can make estimations on capability in certain scenarios like time of year, and weather, and make some basic assumptions on daily power usage.