The World’s First Self-Towing Camper Has Actually Gone Into Production

For years, various companies have been promising the world revolutionary new camper trailers with their own drive motors that can assist the tow vehicles hauling them down the road. Now, one company has actually achieved the milestone of putting such a design into series production. This spring, the wild Pebble Flow self-propelled camper is hitting the road in customers’ hands.

The two main companies developing self-trailering technology are Lightship and Pebble, and both are exploring the “what if?” it presents. What if you could tow a big camper and keep most of your range or fuel economy? What if your camper had a ginormous battery that powered everything inside it? What if campers didn’t look so boring anymore?

There is always a ton of skepticism when a startup company promises to revolutionize or “disrupt” a market. Anyone who has tossed enough money at Kickstarter projects can tell you that some ideas are just too good to be true. In recent years, we’ve seen engineers from Tesla, Rivian, and similar leave their EV automaker careers to pursue bringing innovation to the RV industry. I’ve written about both Lightship and Pebble extensively and understandably, readers have had their doubts. It’s a massive undertaking to bring a vehicle into production, and having that vehicle be a camper presents its own unique challenges.

First To Market

The first production self-towing camper is now officially the Pebble Flow. Pebble says production has kicked off and deliveries will begin later this spring. What those customers will get is still pretty awesome. If you’re interested in reading about Pebble’s history, click here to read previous coverage. Otherwise, let’s get into it.

Some people hate the work involved with travel trailers. You have to reverse your tow vehicle to the trailer and align the tow ball perfectly. On the road, you have to be mindful that you’re hauling a 7,000-pound or so brick behind your truck. Having that huge load makes great changes to your vehicle’s driving dynamics, including acceleration, braking, and cornering. Of course, it also hurts your fuel economy or electric range.

Once you get to your destination, you might find out that campgrounds have narrow spaces lined with trees and infrastructure. If you do things the old-school way like I do, you will reverse your rig into the tiny spot by furiously checking your mirrors, craning your neck, and maybe even jumping out of your truck to check clearances. I love the challenge of getting big things into small spaces, but a lot of folks don’t.

That’s not me assuming things, either, but by spending years talking to people who complain about these sorts of things. The complaints don’t end there, either. A lot of folks aren’t fond of the setup that comes after finally parking the trailer. You have to level the unit, drop down the stabilizers, kick in wheel chocks, hook up power, hook up water, hook up sewer, deploy the awning, and more. Some folks just want to drop the tongue and get right to camping. The Pebble Flow is the camper for those people.

Pebble’s team leaned on their experience in the automotive industry for design. The Flow travel trailer rides on an all-aluminum spaceframe, has an aluminum skeleton under the body, and that body is draped in composites. The result is a trailer that looks like it came out of a car factory. Here’s what I said when I toured the prototype trailer in late 2023:

In person, the body of the trailer appeared to be built well. The composites seemed solid and the body has fewer places to leak than your typical camper. I also love the design. Many campers just look like uninspired boxes, but this looks like it could have been penned by a Porsche designer. You can even spot some automotive-inspired design from the trailer’s lighting and its lines.

That prototype trailer had a solid fit and finish and a style that was something else for a camper. I also like how Pebble is embracing some newer trends in the RV world, like equipping the Flow with huge windows to give their trailer an airy feeling.

Smooth Operator

The secret sauce of the Pebble is what’s underneath the skin. Like Lightship, Pebble has developed a propulsion system for the Flow travel trailer. If you order your Pebble with the Magic Pack, you’ll get what Pebble calls Easy Tow. This system consists of two motors mounted to the trailer and driving the trailer’s axle.

This axle is designed to help the tow vehicle haul the Pebble trailer. When you drive your truck, and it doesn’t matter if it is electric, gas, or diesel, the Easy Tow system activates the trailer’s drive axle to ease the load on the tow vehicle. The objective isn’t so that the trailer overpowers the tow vehicle.

Instead, there is always tension on the coupler, and the tow vehicle is always doing more work than the trailer. But the trailer is reducing the work to help save range or fuel economy. The Pebble Flow has a gross weight of 6,800 pounds. When the drive motor is helping, it’s as if you’re towing a significantly lighter trailer. The dual-motor system feeds from a 45 kWh LFP battery, and Pebble says that the drive system should be good for up to 250 miles of range.

As for charging, Pebble says the Flow gets juice from shore power at campgrounds, public charging stations, and the optional 1.1 kW of solar panels that you can put on the roof. Additionally, the production Flow does have regenerative braking for energy capture.

The dual-motor system also offers a couple of more trick features. Magic Hitch will allow the Pebble Flow to use cameras and AI to drive itself up to your tow vehicle and hitch itself right onto the tow ball. You just put in the finishing touches with the chains and the power hookup. There’s also a remote control function that lets you decouple from the trailer, hop out of your tow vehicle, and then drive your Pebble Flow like an RC car into your campground slot.

The battery, regardless of whether it’s hooked up to the Magic Pack or not, can pump out 12 kW, 240V power to an external source. This can charge your EV or serve as a huge battery for your house. Once you get to camp, there’s one more neat feature, and it’s InstaCamp. At the push of a button, the trailer will stabilize itself, turn the lights on, and deploy the stairs. You will need to hook up any external connections manually, but it’ll otherwise be ready to camp.

Inside, the trailer runs everything off of electricity. That means no gasoline generator to haul around and no propane to refill for heat and cooking. The front of the trailer features a dinette that turns into a bed.

In the middle, you’ll find your kitchen and bathroom. The bathroom has glass walls, yes, but also trick electrochromic glass that gives tons of privacy when it’s switched on. When I toured the prototype, I was impressed that the bathroom was actually quite sizable and didn’t make me feel like I was trying to shove myself into a shoebox. I’m not a small person, so I appreciate when RVs have showers that don’t make me feel like a burrito in a microwave. Pebble says that the bathroom has a macerating toilet and its layout was inspired by hotel bathrooms.

Across from that is the kitchen, where you get a 4-in-1 microwave, a full-size fridge, a sink, and a Wandering Cooktop that can be removed, passed through the huge pop-open kitchen window, and used outside.

Finally, we arrive at the rear. By day, the rear of the trailer is a workspace with a nice desk for two people to plop down their computers. The trailer is also plug-and-play ready for Starlink, if that’s your jam. By night, a Murphy camper queen-size bed comes down and offers cozy space for two. Add in the front bed, and there should be comfy sleeping for four.

Pebble says that a full battery can last up to seven days. Other stores include 40 gallons for fresh water, 37 gallons for grey water, and 13 gallons for waste. The trailer also measures 24’8″ long and weighs 5,800 pounds empty. But Pebble warns that you need at least 6,800 pounds of towing capacity.

I came out of my tour of the prototype impressed with the quality displayed by the Pebble team.  The one thing I wasn’t a fan of was the use of Alcantara for interior trim. It looked nice and all, but I can see a kid ruining it in no time flat. I haven’t been in one of the production trailers yet, but I would expect them to be as good.

As I said earlier, the huge news here is that Pebble has started production, and deliveries will happen this spring. That means Pebble has made good on its claim of being the first to make a production travel trailer with a self-propulsion system. Congratulations to Pebble on this achievement!

Big Style Comes At Big Money

So, now that production is going, you might want to know about the big question I haven’t answered yet. The Pebble Flow Standard starts at $109,500. For that price, you get the 45 kWh battery and most of the main features, but not the drive system, the remote control, or the automatic hitch.

If you pay $135,500, you get the trailer with the drive system and the self-parking and self-hitching features. Rooftop solar is still a $4,000 option with this model, as is the $1,750 powered awning and $2,250 all-terrain leveling jacks. If you pay another $4,000, you can get the same electrochromic glass as the bathroom, but applied to the exterior windows.

Alternatively, you can pay $175,000 for a Founders Edition and get it with all of the option boxes checked and plus a special Fern green color. I won’t lie to you, dear readers, that’s big bucks for a travel trailer. 

Unfortunately, that means that many of the people who might like a trailer like this, like my elderly parents, cannot afford to buy one. Pricing aside, I am still a fan of the Pebble concept. Even if you don’t get the one with the motor system, it just looks neat, and the battery system is still pretty handy. This is a camper that can power your house when you’re not using it for nine months out of the year. If my inspection of the prototype is any indication, I think these trailers will last pretty long, too. So, I think if you’re a techy kind of person with a lot of money, I think you’ll like it.