Range anxiety is one primary roadblock that prevents people from transitioning to an electric vehicle for their daily driver that often covers under 50 miles a day, so the concept of an electric recreational vehicle sounds like a sales disaster. To assuage those fears, Airstream’s parent company Thor Industries has partnered with commercial EV chassis builder Harbinger to create the world’s first plug-in-hybrid Class A motorhome, and it could be a real winner.
Called the Thor Test Vehicle, this RV has a BMW i3–style hybrid system that uses a small low-emission gasoline engine that solely functions as a range extender when the 140-kWh battery pack runs out of charge. It has solar panels on its roof and an 800-volt system that enables truly rapid DC charging when necessary. The standard electric range hovers around 150 miles, which isn’t bad, but the compact internal combustion range extender significantly extends the RV’s total range to approximately 500 miles. Its battery can also serve as a backup power source, which EVs like the Ford F-150 Lightning proved can be lifesaving in the event of a natural disaster.
Though details are limited right now, the two companies claim the Thor Test Vehicle’s electric powertrain will provide up to twice the torque of a diesel engine and deliver excellent acceleration. It even has a double-wishbone front suspension configuration and active driver-assist features to make time spent on the road safer and more comfortable. Class A motorhomes are the largest class of RVs size-wise, are built on a single chassis that may have more than two axles, and range in size from 26 feet long to 45 feet long. The Thor Test Vehicle looks to be on the smaller side of that size range, though no official dimensions have been released.
Thor and Harbinger expect it to qualify as a Near-Zero Emission Vehicle (NZEV) under the Advanced Clean Truck legislation adopted by the California Air Resources Board when it becomes commercially available next year.
