The all-new all-electric RV startup unveiled its Lightship looks through a trailer. The purpose-built design is with modern-day innovations in aerodynamics, electric efficiency, and renewable energy. It is expected to disrupt the RV industry and change the way how the comparing experience works.
Lightship is a San Francisco, CA, and Boulder, Colorado-based startup that describes itself as the first all-electric RV company designing battery-powered trailers for the inevitable electrified age of mobility. It was founded in 2020 by Ben Parker and Toby Kraus – two industry veterans with notable tenures at Tesla as well as other electrified innovators like Proterra. The original premise of a complete ground-up redesign of the RV for the electric age started where many great ideas stem from, the stomach. Cofounder Ben Parker was frequenting the food trucks outside of Tesla while working as a battery engineer on the Model 3, and noticed the nasty emissions from gas and propane generators pouring out of each truck and into the next.
It was there that the idea for an electric RV was seeded, as Parker left Tesla at the start of the pandemic to embark on a 6,000-mile journey across the US to soul search and speak with RV owners along the way to identify the current wants and needs of a $140 billion a year industry.
Disruption
After incorporating the Lightship brand from the road, Parker soon connected with Kraus, who had also worked extensively at Tesla and shared an interest in bringing similar, environmentally conscious technologies to new industries in support of a cleaner future for his children and beyond.
From there, the cofounders sought to take their knowledge of disruption and holistic design learned at companies like Tesla in order to apply it to the RV industry. Parker explained, “One in 10 American families own an RV, but the RV industry hasn’t experienced innovation for decades. Inefficient, unreliable product designs and a powerful experience that relies on smelly, noisy, gas or propane generators fundamentally hinder the amazing experience of traveling in the outdoors.” Lightship looks to change all that beginning today with the official unveiling of its L1 electric RV trailer at SXSW. This travel trailer is not only unique in its aerodynamic modular design but is also equipped with its own all-electric powertrain and battery pack, alleviating the towing capacity for the vehicle in front of it, allowing owners to driver further and more efficiently without having to recharge as much.
