The Pebble Flow electric travel trailer has begun production at the startup’s 60,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Fremont, California, with initial deliveries of the top-flight Founders Edition version expected before the end of June.
Pebble founder and CEO Bingrui Yang spoke about the company reaching production and what it means for the entire recreational vehicle industry as a whole:
“RVing has long been full of hassles – stressful towing, difficult parking, and maneuvering. We built the Pebble Flow to remove those barriers and look forward to seeing our first customers take the Pebble Flow on the road soon.”
Electric Drive Motors Aim to Improve Towing, Setup, and Pack Up
The Pebble aims to solve common RV pain points via a pair of electric drive motors. While underway, the motors are designed to reduce tow effort by participating in acceleration and deceleration, though the company still recommends a tow vehicle rated for its full GWVR of 6,800 lb.
At your destination, the trailer uses those same electric drive motors and a custom app to enable owners to unhitch the trailer and park it without using the tow vehicle. On departure, it can guide itself to the tow vehicle and hitch itself to the ball coupler. The only human intervention necessary is detaching and attaching the safety chains, brake cable, and seven-pin connector.
To power the Flow’s electric motors and electronics, it’s equipped with a 45-kWh battery pack. For reference, that’s a little bigger than the battery pack of a Fiat 500e or about three-quarters of the one in a Tesla Model Y. A tow vehicle with an internal combustion engine should in theory achieve the same mileage as without a trailer – until the battery runs out of charge. The company estimates that a long-range EV towing the Pebble Flow could reach a maximum range of 250 miles – about 100 miles or 66 percent more range than the 150 miles that the F-150 Lightning and Rivian R1S achieve in real-world towing tests.
The Flow can recharge via AC or DC charging (1 hour from empty to full on Level 3 fast-charging). There’s also a standard 1.1-kW solar array and, when equipped with the electric motors, regenerative braking – which also reduces wear on the tow vehicle’s drivetrain.
The Pebble Flow is currently available to order and customize with a fully refundable $500 deposit. Some customers may be eligible for a federal tax credit of up to $10,000. The Pebble Flow Standard – which curiously forgoes the hallmark electric motors – starts at $109,500, while the Pebble Flow Founders Edition currently in production starts at $175,000.
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