Startup Lightship on Wednesday unveiled the production version of its battery-powered travel trailer.
Originally called the L1, the trailer is now known as the AE.1, and is due to start production in mid-2025 at the company’s Broomfield, Colorado, facility, Lightship said. The first 50 units will be Cosmos Edition models priced at $250,000, but Lightship expects tax credits to reduce the effective price to $239,900.
Unveiled in 2023, the Lightship trailer uses a battery pack to not only power appliances, but also propel the trailer. The propulsion system means EVs towing it won’t lose range, and internal-combustion vehicles will get more mpg, Lightship claims. At the time of its unveiling, Lightship said an 80-kwh pack would allow a 300-mile EV towing the trailer to “remain a 300-mile EV.”
Lightship AE.1 Cosmos Edition
Battery power—supplemented by a solar roof—allows campers to avoid the noise of a generator or the hazard of propane tanks, Lightship notes, while enabling features like an “automotive grade” climate control system and a full bathroom and kitchen, the latter equipped with a dishwasher, refrigerator, microwave, convection oven, and induction cooktop.
The start of production has slipped a bit from Lightship’s original target of late 2024, and the asking price for the Cosmos Edition is much higher than the $125,000 base price the startup previously announced. That likely applies to one of three additional grades—Atmos, Panos, and Terros—that will follow the Cosmos Edition. That launch version will initially be offered to early reservation holders before being opened to all customers, and Lightship is also taking reservations for the three other grades.
RV life with electric vehicles will require some new approaches, and Lightship isn’t the only company working on them. Airstream in 2022 unveiled the eStream, a travel trailer that’s also designed to boost EV range, or mpg in gasoline or diesel vehicles. Colorado Teardrops connects a battery pack in the trailer to the tow vehicle, which is then used to give it an extra charge.