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One of the great joys of camping it is the silence. There is nothing worse than going out into the wilderness, away from society, and then hearing someone camping above turn on a loud, smelly gas generator.
Pebble, a California-based company that builds a new travel trailer, hopes that an electric RV is just the thing to bring some peace of mind to the glamping life.
U Pebble flow it is a travel trailer with a large battery in its floor. It can run the lights, the shower, the heating and the air conditioning, and everything else you might want to use power for out in the woods. The battery also powers a tow assist feature, so the Flow can give it an extra boost when towing it down the road, easing the load on the vehicle you’re using to tow the camper.
Pebble first announced the Flow in 2023, but hasn’t revealed the full range of features it plans to pack into the camper until today. In an announcement timed for CES week, Pebble says it will assemble and deliver its first campers in the first half of 2025. They’re available for preorder now, starting at $109,000, but going up to $135,500 if you want to be able to to be able control its functions with a companion mobile app.
In the flow
The Flow has the same aesthetic as many current models EVswith large windows and soft and curved features that aim to make it more aerodynamic. It looks like a futuristic luxury spaceship, or a really big fancy toaster, depending on how romantic you want to be. CEO Bingrui Yang is very romantic about it: he chose the name Pebble for the company because natural smooth stones tend to bring joy to people, and he wants the electrified camper to promote the same sense of serenity.
I had the opportunity to wander into the cramped space of a Pebble Flow demo unit at Pebble’s headquarters in Fremont, California. Holds almost everything you want if you are out RV’ing. Inside is a kitchen with induction stove, convection oven, sink, microwave and refrigerator. The wardrobes have ample storage, and there are hidden doors in the floor for more storage. Most of the windows open if needed to let in the breeze. In the back is a queen-size Murphy bed that retracts into the wall to make room. A dining table can be divided into a second bed at the other end of the trailer. A bathroom and a shower are located right in the middle of the floor. A glass wall separates it from the rest of the interior, but the person in the bathroom can press a button to electronically frost the glass if they need a private poo.
To the experienced RV enthusiast, this probably all seems like standard fare for a trailer costing over a hundred grand. Well, you’re right, but what Pebble is hoping is that its EV-like add-ons will make the Flow special.
The Flow is powered by a 45-kWh lithium-ion battery built into the camper’s floor. It is slightly smaller than the batteries built into compact EVs currently on the market, and about half the size of the largest EV batteries in the automotive industry. Pebble says the battery can power internal systems for up to seven days on a full charge. A set of 1 kW solar panels built into the roof can run the battery back part way while you’re on the road, and regenerative charging kicks in while towing. It has vehicle charging technology as well, so you can connect it to the Flow to use it as a backup power source or an EV charger.
The Pebble Flow isn’t really an E-RV in the sense that it can function as a vehicle on its own. You will need another rig to tow anywhere. Pebble says that while towing with a hybrid or gas vehicle will probably get you farther, you can tow with another EV. The 25-foot trailer weighs 6,200 pounds loaded with all the options, so it takes some muscle to move it. Pebble’s website shows the Flow being towed by a Cybertruck. (While I was at the company’s headquarters, I noticed a matte black Cybertruck in the parking lot. It belongs to Pebble’s CTO, who talked a lot about it while I was there.)
The powered tow assist function can be activated when the flow is in motion. While the motors provide a decent push behind a real vehicle, they’re powerful enough to roll the Flow around quite a bit using a smartphone app, even if it only moves about 1 mile per hour on its own. That’s enough to spin it in a very slow circle, but not close enough to remove the block. What it allows you to do is to maneuver the trailer in place in the campsite without having to push and drag it with your car. Just unhook the Flow, grab your iPad, and drive like a giant, slow-moving RC car to the perfect location. Engaging the trailer-assist mode or driving in the campsite will certainly reduce the battery life of the trailer for the actual camping activity, as you can imagine.
Pebble has a feature it calls Magic Hitch (it’s not really magic) that lets you use the app to attach the Flow to the trailer hitch on your towing vehicle. Just drive with the controls on the screen, and when the Flow is close enough, hold a button and the attacker will use his attached camera to find the exact place to attack. Another function, called InstaCamp, allows you to park the trailer on an uneven surface and then press a button to have the camper level itself automatically.
