Pebble Flow EV Travel Trailer: Glamping goes electric

One of Great joys Camping It is silence. There’s nothing worse than going out into the wilderness, away from society, and then hearing someone at a campsite turn on a loud, smelly gas generator.

Pebble, a California-based company building a new travel trailer, hopes an electric RV will be just the thing to bring some peace to luxury living.

the Gravel flow It is a travel trailer with a large battery in the floor. It can run lights, showers, heat, air conditioning, and anything else you might want to use energy for in the woods. The battery also powers the Tow Assist feature, so the Flow can give itself an extra boost when towed down the road, easing the burden on the vehicle you’re using to transport the camper.

The lights and appliances are powered by a battery built into the floor.

Courtesy of Pebble

Pebble first announced the Flow in 2023, but it hasn’t revealed the full suite of features it plans to put in the cart until today. In an announcement made for CES week, Pebble says it will assemble and deliver its first campers in the first half of 2025. They’re available for pre-order now, starting at $109,000, but going up to $135,500 if you want to be able to afford it. Control its features through an accompanying mobile app.

In the flow

The Flow has the same aesthetic as many current models Electric vehicleswith large windows and soft curved features intended to make it more aerodynamic. It looks like a fancy futuristic spaceship, or a really big fancy toaster, depending on how romantic you want about it. CEO Bingrui Yang is very romantic about this: He chose the name Pebble for the company because the smooth, naturally occurring stones tend to bring happiness to people, and he wants the electrified cart to promote the same feeling of serenity.

I had the opportunity to tour the cramped space of a Pebble Flow display unit at Pebble’s headquarters in Fremont, California. It holds almost everything you could want if you were out of an RV. Inside there is a kitchen with an induction stove, convection oven, sink, microwave and refrigerator. The cabinets have ample storage space, and there are hidden openings in the floor for additional storage. Most windows open if you want to let in the breeze. In the back is a queen-sized Murphy bed that retracts into the wall to save space. The dining table can be divided into a second bed at the other end of the trailer. The bath and shower are located right in the middle of the floor plan. A glass wall separates it from the rest of the interior, but the person in the bathroom can press a button to electronically freeze the glass if they need a special stool.

To an experienced RV enthusiast, this all probably sounds like standard fare for a trailer costing over a hundred thousand dollars. Well, you’re right, but what Pebble is hoping is that the EV-like additions will make the Flow stand out.

The Flow is powered by a 45 kWh lithium-ion battery built into the floor of the camper. This is slightly smaller than the batteries built into compact electric vehicles currently on the market, and about half the size of the largest electric vehicle batteries in the auto industry. Pebble says the battery can power internal systems for up to seven days on a full charge. An array of 1-kilowatt solar panels integrated into the roof can charge the battery portion while you’re on the road, and regenerative charging kicks in while towing. It also has vehicle charging technology so you can connect to Flow to use as a backup power source or EV charger.

Fill it with a fast charger.

Courtesy of Pebble

Solar panels on the roof.

Courtesy of Pebble

It can charge other things, like electric vehicles.

Courtesy of Pebble

The Pebble Flow is not actually an E-RV in the sense that it can operate as a vehicle on its own. You’ll need another platform to tow it anywhere. Pebble says that while towing with a hybrid or gas engine vehicle will likely get you farther, you can tow with an electric vehicle. The 25-foot trailer weighs 6,200 pounds and is loaded with all the options, so it will take some muscle to move it. The Pebble website shows the flow being towed by the Cybertruck. (While I was at the company’s headquarters, I noticed a matte black Cybertruck in the parking lot. It belonged to Pebble’s CTO, who talked about it a lot while I was there.)

The electric tow assist feature can be engaged when the tow is in motion. While the motors provide good boost behind a real vehicle, they’re powerful enough to move the flow a bit using a smartphone app, though they only move about one mile per hour on their own. This is enough to spin it in a very slow circle, but not close enough to get you to the bottom of the block. What it allows you to do is move the trailer into place at your campsite without having to push and pull it with your vehicle. Simply unplug, grab your iPad, and point it like a giant, slow-moving RC car to the perfect spot. Turning on tow assist mode or driving it around a campsite will reduce your trailer’s battery life during actual camping activities, as you can imagine.

Pebble has a feature it calls Magic Hitch (which isn’t actually magic) that allows you to use the app to hook the flow to the trailer hitch on your tow vehicle. Simply steer it using the on-screen controls, and when the stream is close enough, press and hold the button and the hitch will use the attached camera to find the exact spot to hitch. Another feature, called InstaCamp, allows you to park the trailer on an uneven surface and then press a button to automatically level the camper.