Posted by Kevin Jost | Jan 17, 2024 | Business Development, Electrification, Startups, Vehicles
Electric RV (recreational vehicle) startup Lightship today announced the completion of a $34 million Series B financing round to accelerate production of its L1. The round was co-led by Obvious Ventures and Prelude Ventures and joined by Allegis Capital and RV manufacturer Thor Industries and its investment partner TechNexus Venture Collaborative, with returning investors Congruent Ventures, HyperGuap, and Alumni Ventures joining the fund raise.
Founded in 2020 and based in San Francisco and Broomfield, CO, Lightship pitches itself as America’s first all-electric RV company on a mission to reimagine the recreational vehicle experience by designing and producing aerodynamic, battery-powered trailers that provide a propulsion assist during towing. As the transition to an all-electric transportation ecosystem accelerates, the company believes it is building a critical element to enable the electrification of pickup trucks and SUVs, while bringing the increased convenience and superior performance that electrification offers to a pastime enjoyed by 1 in 10 American families.
“The electrification transformation doesn’t stop at passenger cars,” said Andrew Beebe, Managing Director at Obvious Ventures. “What Ben, Toby and the team are bringing to life will revolutionize the road trip forever. We’re thrilled to co-lead this round with Prelude Ventures and partner with Lightship to bring the L1 to campgrounds around the country.”
The new financing helps Lightship, which debuted the L1 in March 2023, as it builds the manufacturing system and supply chain to produce the trailer beginning this year with pilot manufacturing at its new production facility in Broomfield.
The team behind Lightship, co-founded in 2020 by CEO Toby Kraus and CPO Benjamin Parker, has been designing, prototyping, and testing the L1—a new class of aerodynamic, battery-powered travel trailer propelled with an electric drivetrain that enables near-zero range or mile-per-gallon efficiency loss for the vehicle towing it. Unlike traditional designs, the L1 is built from the ground up for efficiency with a telescoping vehicle design that can minimize frontal area during travel to create the most aerodynamic trailer of its size. The all-electric RV features a massive battery energy storage system, electric propulsion, and enough solar to power the vehicle for a week off-grid.
“We take pride in what we’ve created at Lightship and have been humbled by the reception of the L1,” said Kraus. “Building an all-electric RV from the ground up and a brand-new U.S.-based manufacturing company around that product has taken the hard work and dedication of an incredible team with outstanding support from our network of investors. We have a bold vision for the future of recreational travel, and this is just the beginning of what’s to come from Lightship.”
The new funding is a significant accomplishment as the market has fundamentally changed for all startups, particularly for hard tech startups and EV startups, according to Kraus. But he thinks “the good companies will hang around.”
“It’s really important, particularly for companies like us, to not just be building something that is super cool, but also be focused on doing so sustainably from a business sense,” he added. “And that means developing a product that we have gross margin on and eventually be profitable on.”
The L1’s hyper-efficient design is said to be three times more aerodynamic than a traditional travel trailer for a longer range and greater efficiency. An electric powertrain and up to 80-kW·h of onboard battery capacity allows the trailer to propel itself and achieve near-zero range or efficiency loss for the tow vehicle. This means that a 300-mi range EV (electric vehicle) used to tow the L1 remains a 300-mi range EV, and a 25-mpg gasoline truck remains a 25-mpg gasoline truck, according to the company.
Its battery system can provide a week of off-grid power without charging. With up to 3 kW of solar power, the RV is engineered to power the living needs of its occupants and eliminate reliance on propane and other fossil fuels. An ecosystem of electric appliances, connected features, and modern amenities is intended to provide a seamless camping experience.
The travel trailer is 27 ft (8.2 m) long and 8 ft, 6 in (2.6 m) wide. It has a height of 6 ft, 9 in (2.1 m) in road mode, and 10 ft (3 m) in camp mode. The sleeping capacity is 4-6 people, depending on the configuration. Ultimately, the company aims to launch limited series production at the end of 2024 in Colorado at a starting price of $125,000.
What Lightship showed in March at SXSW was an alpha fully functional prototype vehicle not fully engineered. It “was pretty, but the hard part is then making it real,” said Kraus.
Since its debut in March, the “technology verticals” have advanced significantly, according to Kraus. Chief among them is the integration of the power system architecture including the solar and battery energy sources. The team has made significant progress on the system for controlling the drive unit using a force sensor in the hitch as well as on the UI (user interface).
The RV program has entered its beta phase, currently focused on production engineering the concept to hit mass, cost, performance, and durability targets.
“Durability is key for us,” said Parker. “We’re doing a lot of testing now, and we’ll continue to do that up through the start of production, making sure that the vehicle is built to last.”
Another huge focus through the design/development cycle now is on manufacturability and delivering the product at the right weight, said Parker. The weight target for the dual-axle vehicle is 7500 lb loaded, putting it in the largest segment of the market for towing with half-ton trucks.
“It would be really easy to make a trailer like this that weighs 10,000 lb, but there are very few trucks that could tow it at that point,” he said. “So, it’s been critically important for us to have done the refined design to make sure that we hit the weight target that we’ve publicized so that it is something that you can pull with an F-150 just the same as a Rivian.”
“The point is to build a vehicle that we can make margin on and sell at that $120,000 starting price point, which is the mainstream of the premium trailer segment,” added Parker. “The very challenging thing is to get both, to make it weigh the right amount and cost the right amount.”
Lightship will start its first build in February. Those early vehicles are for testing and validation for safety, getting several cycles on them before shipping to customers.
“We’re not in early days focused on pushing volume,” said Kraus. “The first vehicles are going to be very much hand-built. The long pull for us really is getting through all of the validation testing, safety, and durability.”
The L1 is available now for a $500 reservation at www.lightshiprv.com.
- Lightship L1 at sunset.
- Lightship L1 with Rivian R1S tow vehicle from above showing solar array.
- Lightship L1 at camp.
- Lightship L1 with family at sunset.
- Lightship L1 opened up.
- Lightship L1 interior.
- Lightship L1 interior.
- Lightship L1 interior.
