I bought MX with the idea of seeing the world. At the time of purchase sales associates at Fashion Island in Newport Beach CA said I would be able to put my MX in a shipping container and do the same with a travel trailer and tour Europe using my lifetime free supercharging.
As a test I've survived without a travel trailer in Model X in Colorado now for sevelral winters at Telluride, Aspen, Vail , Beaver Creek, Steamboat , Copper Mountain, Winter Park, Loveland, Park City, Mammoth, Snow Summit, Big Bear, June Mountain, Wold Creek etc, . I have it down to a science at this point. My need for a travel trailer is now more centered on a GF's diminished bladder size, and that there is really limited space for two peoples winter gear and clothing, and cooking in bad weather (wind, rain, snow) . Frankly I have the last part solved as well as showering, in 4 years of Tesla winter camping, I have never had to go even a single day without a fresh hot shower. I even have a way of putting a shower accessory kit in my Model X that heats the water using the cellphone app and allows for a fully wind protected shower that even a very tall person can stand up in.
But in terms of my European snowboard tour, I was misled by the sales associates at Fashion Island . . 3 phase charging in Europe will make this hard without additional electronics , supercharging accounts might not be global , and service won't work globally either, my warranty would be void if I bring the car to Europe, though X care has an extended warranty plan that currently works in the USA , Canada, and Mexico. Loss of Europe seems a shame because if any one car company could make this happen or still could make this happen it would be Tesla.
But let's not forget the idea of having some habitable space towed behind me. Towing just a bed in a tear drop seems silly. A shower and toilet is needed, and cooking would be nice.
I'm not sure I would bother with a travel trailer being solo. But car camping isn't for everyone,
I have tried 6 different types of mattresses, many different shower products, whether it's worth it to bring folding chairs, yeti cooolers (every size and type and combination ) Engel fiberglass coolers that keep ice for 2 weeks , 5 different types of stoves and different fuels at different temps and altitudes.
And I have looked at the WINTER ready travel trailers available to us , all the current models, visited the Bowlus factory, talked with ESCAPE, and Oliver , considered New airstreams , vintage airstreams , Avion, Silver Streak , Silver Stream, I am trying to avoid stick built trailers like Lance, and other options that won't last more than a decade or so before delamination , mold and other issues would mean it would have to be discarded.
And in the end.... nothing really works.
In an ideal world...I'd buy a salvaged tesla , mount a trailer on the skateboard platform that is collapsible so it can slip stream my Model X . Not even connect them with anything beyond safety chains , and use the fleet software of Tesla SEMI to make the trailer follow my car like networked Tesla Semi. Both would charge at the superchargers and in a perfect world while going downhill maybe the front Tesla would get regen from the rear to help balance out range.
Why do this? Because range from Supercharger to Supercharger would not be so impacted. If I could direct regen and perhaps transfer power between the two I could arrive at a campsite with a trailer full of charge, and then go off and recharge the lead car. Or in the case of making the entire trailer out of solar panels I could perhaps go into a more remote location, and then drop the trailer to charge up with sun and then charge the drive car too.
Today's travel trailers are a horrible design. As a trailer drops below 30 feet the living room area shrinks dramatically . At 26 feet the living room is a dinette abutting a couch, Abutting a kitchen , and finally abutting a bed. Below 22 feet you are towing a mattress up against a dinette and kitchen. Showers are uncomfortably cramped as are toilets. And nothing is there to take advantage of a FULLY ELECTRIC COACH.
All the collapsible travel trailers are unsuitably insulated for Colorado Winters.
And of course , paradoxically, tests in other threads show shorter tear drop trailers tow with higher energy usage per mile than longer trailers that weigh more but tend to be more aerodynamic with rounded corners and longer length.
A Bowlus 26' empty tin can with no insulation that costs as much as two Model X makes ZERO sense to me,
So much of the vintage trailers remind me of some grandmothers house with old quilts and dowdy upholstery.
Elòn Musk once said that trying to adapt the original roadster Lotus chassis was much more labor than if he built one from the ground up.
So instead a PURPOSE BUILT TRAILER FOR EVs needs to be built . There should be. Way to integrate their aerodynamic Envelopes into one.
...............
I have some awesome ideas.
The possibility of taking, long hot showers.
Most of the coach being living space and the kitchens and bathrooms only being set up as needed and being able to be set up in less than 30 seconds.
Radiant heated floors. ( far more efficient )
Solar hot water heat banks with heat exchangers.
Ways to control water heating remotely from your phone without having to load any new software.
A collapsible and expandible.trailer for improved aerodynamics that sets up quickly and is freeze proof. Modular to even allow storing in a garage.
Audiophile quality sound and a short throw projector that is both integrated into the trailer and can be brought outside to turn the side of your trailer into a mini drivein.
The option to remove water from the air using solar and battery power to extend boondocking.
Integrated washer dryer that operates mostly while charging.
New ways of managing refrigeration other than just relying on a refrigerator box which is too small and awkward in a small space.
The way I see it MODEL X in a shorter trailer version has the MX as the bedroom and the trailer as living room, kitchen bathroom . And in a longer version as a way to have a bed in the trailer with the option of using MX as a "guest bedroom " or just storage.
I wouldn't do this as a one off. But if enough were interested it could be a project worth doing. The other day I met a battery pack designer from Rivian , and I am very good friends with a former skateboard racer buddy who now owns EV West (seller of Tesla parts To convert ICE cars to EV) so Tesla drive trains and battery packs are available . I have access to a multi axis CNC milling machine with tool cassettes. As well as access to wooden lamination presses for snowboards and longboards . And a friend I used to coach , who sells 3 d printers. Other friends of mine have designed Wine refrigerators, I know which compressors to use that are very quiet, efficient, and reliable .
I don't want a stick built trailer. It should be aluminum or perhaps some combination of aluminum , and fiberglass and 3D printed pieces. Sections should be modular to allow for parts sharing.much of redundant walls and cabinetry walls should be eliminated. Insulation should be also part of the structural element,
Lastly , it might be nice if part of the collapsible part of this also allows for the tin can to be opened in good weather like a part of a wall that hinges to form at once an overhang and a bar.
Surfaces and furnishings should be easy to clean as dust and wind seems to conspire to make all RVs instantly dirty ina. Dust storm . I see seating surfaces made of one density foam for sitting in one side and softer foam for sleeping on the other. All cushions should have a slight overhanging skirt of about an inch to keep dust from getting under them.
I tend to design things to avoid problems before others even consider the problem from occurring, yet I don't over design for things which will never be problematic.
Anything considered for the coach should have multiple usage consideration . There should also be redundant systems without Adding ANY additional weight to cover some systems in case of failure, For instance an pair of separate induction cooktops could be used as two burners, or also for heating a water tank. Should one element fail the other could do double duty , and be easily inexpensively replaceable . The induction cooktops could be easily placed outside and be in weather proof containers which would allow for a shower or toilet set up more permanently in the space vacated by the kitchen (nice for boondocking). Or vice versa. (But don't leave kitchens out in Bear country). I just want people to feel free to utilize and configure their campsite to give them the most enjoyment for the least amount of effort.
As a test I've survived without a travel trailer in Model X in Colorado now for sevelral winters at Telluride, Aspen, Vail , Beaver Creek, Steamboat , Copper Mountain, Winter Park, Loveland, Park City, Mammoth, Snow Summit, Big Bear, June Mountain, Wold Creek etc, . I have it down to a science at this point. My need for a travel trailer is now more centered on a GF's diminished bladder size, and that there is really limited space for two peoples winter gear and clothing, and cooking in bad weather (wind, rain, snow) . Frankly I have the last part solved as well as showering, in 4 years of Tesla winter camping, I have never had to go even a single day without a fresh hot shower. I even have a way of putting a shower accessory kit in my Model X that heats the water using the cellphone app and allows for a fully wind protected shower that even a very tall person can stand up in.
But in terms of my European snowboard tour, I was misled by the sales associates at Fashion Island . . 3 phase charging in Europe will make this hard without additional electronics , supercharging accounts might not be global , and service won't work globally either, my warranty would be void if I bring the car to Europe, though X care has an extended warranty plan that currently works in the USA , Canada, and Mexico. Loss of Europe seems a shame because if any one car company could make this happen or still could make this happen it would be Tesla.
But let's not forget the idea of having some habitable space towed behind me. Towing just a bed in a tear drop seems silly. A shower and toilet is needed, and cooking would be nice.
I'm not sure I would bother with a travel trailer being solo. But car camping isn't for everyone,
I have tried 6 different types of mattresses, many different shower products, whether it's worth it to bring folding chairs, yeti cooolers (every size and type and combination ) Engel fiberglass coolers that keep ice for 2 weeks , 5 different types of stoves and different fuels at different temps and altitudes.
And I have looked at the WINTER ready travel trailers available to us , all the current models, visited the Bowlus factory, talked with ESCAPE, and Oliver , considered New airstreams , vintage airstreams , Avion, Silver Streak , Silver Stream, I am trying to avoid stick built trailers like Lance, and other options that won't last more than a decade or so before delamination , mold and other issues would mean it would have to be discarded.
And in the end.... nothing really works.
In an ideal world...I'd buy a salvaged tesla , mount a trailer on the skateboard platform that is collapsible so it can slip stream my Model X . Not even connect them with anything beyond safety chains , and use the fleet software of Tesla SEMI to make the trailer follow my car like networked Tesla Semi. Both would charge at the superchargers and in a perfect world while going downhill maybe the front Tesla would get regen from the rear to help balance out range.
Why do this? Because range from Supercharger to Supercharger would not be so impacted. If I could direct regen and perhaps transfer power between the two I could arrive at a campsite with a trailer full of charge, and then go off and recharge the lead car. Or in the case of making the entire trailer out of solar panels I could perhaps go into a more remote location, and then drop the trailer to charge up with sun and then charge the drive car too.
Today's travel trailers are a horrible design. As a trailer drops below 30 feet the living room area shrinks dramatically . At 26 feet the living room is a dinette abutting a couch, Abutting a kitchen , and finally abutting a bed. Below 22 feet you are towing a mattress up against a dinette and kitchen. Showers are uncomfortably cramped as are toilets. And nothing is there to take advantage of a FULLY ELECTRIC COACH.
All the collapsible travel trailers are unsuitably insulated for Colorado Winters.
And of course , paradoxically, tests in other threads show shorter tear drop trailers tow with higher energy usage per mile than longer trailers that weigh more but tend to be more aerodynamic with rounded corners and longer length.
A Bowlus 26' empty tin can with no insulation that costs as much as two Model X makes ZERO sense to me,
So much of the vintage trailers remind me of some grandmothers house with old quilts and dowdy upholstery.
Elòn Musk once said that trying to adapt the original roadster Lotus chassis was much more labor than if he built one from the ground up.
So instead a PURPOSE BUILT TRAILER FOR EVs needs to be built . There should be. Way to integrate their aerodynamic Envelopes into one.
...............
I have some awesome ideas.
The possibility of taking, long hot showers.
Most of the coach being living space and the kitchens and bathrooms only being set up as needed and being able to be set up in less than 30 seconds.
Radiant heated floors. ( far more efficient )
Solar hot water heat banks with heat exchangers.
Ways to control water heating remotely from your phone without having to load any new software.
A collapsible and expandible.trailer for improved aerodynamics that sets up quickly and is freeze proof. Modular to even allow storing in a garage.
Audiophile quality sound and a short throw projector that is both integrated into the trailer and can be brought outside to turn the side of your trailer into a mini drivein.
The option to remove water from the air using solar and battery power to extend boondocking.
Integrated washer dryer that operates mostly while charging.
New ways of managing refrigeration other than just relying on a refrigerator box which is too small and awkward in a small space.
The way I see it MODEL X in a shorter trailer version has the MX as the bedroom and the trailer as living room, kitchen bathroom . And in a longer version as a way to have a bed in the trailer with the option of using MX as a "guest bedroom " or just storage.
I wouldn't do this as a one off. But if enough were interested it could be a project worth doing. The other day I met a battery pack designer from Rivian , and I am very good friends with a former skateboard racer buddy who now owns EV West (seller of Tesla parts To convert ICE cars to EV) so Tesla drive trains and battery packs are available . I have access to a multi axis CNC milling machine with tool cassettes. As well as access to wooden lamination presses for snowboards and longboards . And a friend I used to coach , who sells 3 d printers. Other friends of mine have designed Wine refrigerators, I know which compressors to use that are very quiet, efficient, and reliable .
I don't want a stick built trailer. It should be aluminum or perhaps some combination of aluminum , and fiberglass and 3D printed pieces. Sections should be modular to allow for parts sharing.much of redundant walls and cabinetry walls should be eliminated. Insulation should be also part of the structural element,
Lastly , it might be nice if part of the collapsible part of this also allows for the tin can to be opened in good weather like a part of a wall that hinges to form at once an overhang and a bar.
Surfaces and furnishings should be easy to clean as dust and wind seems to conspire to make all RVs instantly dirty ina. Dust storm . I see seating surfaces made of one density foam for sitting in one side and softer foam for sleeping on the other. All cushions should have a slight overhanging skirt of about an inch to keep dust from getting under them.
I tend to design things to avoid problems before others even consider the problem from occurring, yet I don't over design for things which will never be problematic.
Anything considered for the coach should have multiple usage consideration . There should also be redundant systems without Adding ANY additional weight to cover some systems in case of failure, For instance an pair of separate induction cooktops could be used as two burners, or also for heating a water tank. Should one element fail the other could do double duty , and be easily inexpensively replaceable . The induction cooktops could be easily placed outside and be in weather proof containers which would allow for a shower or toilet set up more permanently in the space vacated by the kitchen (nice for boondocking). Or vice versa. (But don't leave kitchens out in Bear country). I just want people to feel free to utilize and configure their campsite to give them the most enjoyment for the least amount of effort.
