Electric RV specialist Pebble has officially unveiled its flagship product – an all-electric travel trailer called the Pebble Flow. This ultra-aerodynamic trailer features active propulsion assist, universal charging, and solar panels on its roof, enabling extended stays off the electrical grid. Check it out.
Pebble is a California based startup that has been working toward today’s unveiling to deliver a reimagined RV experience that is not only sustainable, but “magical.” The company was founded by Bingrui Yang, who previously led iPhone development at Apple for nine years before leading hardware development for some familiar names in autonomous robotaxis – Cruise and Zoox. During an interview this past June, Yang spoke to Pebble’s mission in revitalizing a relatively stale RV segment:
Pebble was developed to create a hassle-free way to live, work and explore. Consumers have been stuck with the same RV experience for decades. A lot of people want to get into such a lifestyle of freedom but are turned off by the pain points in today’s products. At Pebble, we are automating the hardest parts of the RV experience with the same technologies that power the most advanced automotive innovations, making the whole experience simply effortless and magical. If you know how to use an iPhone, you’ll be comfortable using our product.
Pebble stepped out of stealth mode and into the public eye this past summer with $13.6 million in seed funding in its pockets to help get its flagship electric mobility product over the finish line. Since then, Pebble has merely teased brief glimpses of its all-electric Flow RV ahead of its official launch.
Today, Pebble has given us a peek behind the startup curtain, showcasing the Flow travel trailer in its entirety, alongside an opening of pre-orders. See for yourself below.
Pebble opens pre-orders for its $109k+ electric RV
As you can see from the image above, the Pebble Flow is not your typical travel trailer. In addition to being 100% electric, the RV is an exercise in aerodynamics. In fact, Pebble states the Flow is 300% more aerodynamic than a conventional travel trailer, reducing drag and extending range – very important for towing, especially with today’s EVs that lose a lot of range while towing.
Better still, the Pebble Flow is equipped with its own dual-motor active propulsion assist system, helping bear the brunt of its own load and again, helping maximize range and efficiency regardless of whether there’s an ICE or electric vehicle towing it.
Founder and CEO Bingrui Yang’s previous job experience is present in the DNA of Pebble’s first electric RV, which features tons of automation features that can be controlled directly from the company’s app.
For instance, the Flow’s Magic Hitch feature enables the trailer to position itself and automatically hitch onto the towing vehicle in front of it. “InstaCamp” mode can deploy or retract the trailer’s awning, stairs, lights, and auto-leveling stabilizers to set up or pack up camp in seconds with the tap of a button.
If you’ve ever towed a travel trailer, one of the biggest stress points is backing up and parking, but not with the Pebble Flow. This travel trailer is fully remote-controlled when unhitched, enabling owners to maneuver and park more easily from outside, instead of from the driver seat of their towing vehicle.
For easier off-grid living, Pebble has equipped its electric RV with 1kW of integrated solar atop the roof, enabling self charging from the Sun whether parked or in motion. No matter if you’re out in the wild or parked at home, the Pebble Flow’s 45 kWh lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery pack can not only power all appliances onboard, but can act as an emergency power source during outages. Pebble states this amount of energy storage is 3.5x that of a Tesla Powerwall, offering the capability to operate off the grid for up to seven days when paired with the solar panels.
Today is also the first time we get a full glimpse of the interior of the Pebble Flow, which is touting nearly as much innovation as its exterior. Have a look.
Pebble Flow’s interior, performance specs, and availability
Starting with the sleeping situation, the Pebble Flow sleeps up to four people and comes equipped with a retractable Murphy bed that folds up into a work desk, as well as a (near) full convertible bed. The kitchenette features a 4-in-1 convection oven, 6 cu. ft. (169L) fridge, and a removable induction cooktop that can be used at your campsite or tailgate.
The bathroom features one-touch privacy electrochromic glass, housing a full size shower, toilet, and hot water.
270-degree windows wrap the walls of the towable RV to help bring the outdoors in during working hours or nap time and the aforementioned Pebble app enables owners to control lights, locks, and interior temperature from anywhere. Pebble also says the Flow will come plug-and-play ready to support Starlink satellite internet. Here are some additional specs:
Dimensions: 25’ L x 7’6” W x 8’8” H
Required towing capacity: 6,200 lbs
GVWR: 6,200 lbs
Murphy Bed: Queen
Dinette Convertible Bed: 50” x 80” (slightly larger than a full)
Fresh Tank: 37 gallons
Grey & Black Tank: 50 gallons
AC Power: Capable of powering all appliances onboard at once
Charging: AC and DC compatible
Charge Rates: Pebble is not sharing at this time
AC Output: 240V powering a NEMA 14-50 outlet
Pretty cool, right? Right. But such technology does come at a cost, as does most sophisticated leisure beyond car camping. The Pebble Flow starts at a price of $109,000 with the standard 45 kWh battery pack. However, if you want the dual-motor drivetrain and the features mentioned above like Remote Control, Magic Hitch, and Easy Tow, you’ll need to add the Magic Pack.
Combined with the Magic Pack, the Pebble Flow starts at $125,000. The travel trailer will make its public debut at the LA Auto Show from November 17-26 alongside a press conference held by its creators.
Interested? Beginning today, Pebble’s all-electric solar EV is available for pre-order, and deliveries are expected to begin by the end of 2024. In the meantime, check out Pebble’s video of the Flow below, which offers our best look at that solar roof:
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If you’ve ever wondered what happens when you combine a fruit cart, a cargo bike, and a Piaggio Ape all in one vehicle, now you’ve got your answer. I submit, for your approval, this week’s feature for the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week column – and it’s a beautiful doozie.
Feast your eyes on this salad slinging, coleslaw cruising, tuber taxiing produce chariot!
I think this electric vegetable trike might finally scratch the itch long felt by many of my readers. It seems every time I cover an electric trike, even the really cool ones, I always get commenters poo-poo-ing it for having two wheels in the rear instead of two wheels in the front. Well, here you go, folks!
Designed with two front wheels for maximum stability, this trike keeps your cucumbers in check through every corner. Because trust me, you don’t want to hit a pothole and suddenly be juggling peaches like you’re in Cirque du Soleil: Farmers Market Edition.
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To avoid the extra cost of designing a linked steering system for a pair of front wheels, the engineers who brought this salad shuttle to life simply side-stepped that complexity altogether by steering the entire fixed front end. I’ve got articulating electric tractors that steer like this, and so if it works for a several-ton work machine, it should work for a couple hundred pounds of cargo bike.
Featuring a giant cargo bed up front with four cascading fruit baskets set up for roadside sales, this cargo bike is something of a blank slate. Sure, you could monetize grandma’s vegetable garden, or you could fill it with your own ideas and concoctions. Our exceedingly talented graphics wizard sees it as the perfect coffee and pastry e-bike for my new startup, The Handlebarista, and I’m not one to argue. Basically, the sky is the limit with a blank slate bike like this!
Sure, the quality doesn’t quite match something like a fancy Tern cargo bike. The rim brakes aren’t exactly confidence-inspiring, but at least there are three of them. And if they should all give out, or just not quite slow you down enough to avoid that quickly approaching brick wall, then at least you’ve got a couple hundred pounds of tomatoes as a tasty crumple zone.
The electrical system does seem a bit underpowered. With a 36V battery and a 250W motor, I don’t know if one-third of a horsepower is enough to haul a full load to the local farmer’s market. But I guess if the weight is a bit much for the little motor, you could always do some snacking along the way. On the other hand, all the pictures seem to show a non-electric version. So if this cart is presumably mobile on pedal power alone, then that extra motor assist, however small, is going to feel like a very welcome guest.
The $950 price is presumably for the electric version, since that’s what’s in the title of the listing, though I wouldn’t get too excited just yet. I’ve bought a LOT of stuff on Alibaba, including many electric vehicles, and the too-good-to-be-true price is always exactly that. In my experience, you can multiply the Alibaba price by 3-4x to get the actual landed price for things like these. Even so, $3,000-$4,000 wouldn’t be a terrible price, considering a lot of electric trikes stateside already cost that much and don’t even come with a quad-set of vegetable baskets on board!
I should also put my normal caveat in here about not actually buying one of these. Please, please don’t try to buy one of these awesome cargo e-trikes. This is a silly, tongue-in-cheek weekend column where I scour the ever-entertaining underbelly of China’s massive e-commerce site Alibaba in search of fun, quirky, and just plain awesomely weird electric vehicles. While I’ve successfully bought several fun things on the platform, I’ve also gotten scammed more than once, so this is not for the timid or the tight-budgeted among us.
That isn’t to say that some of my more stubborn readers haven’t followed in my footsteps before, ignoring my advice and setting out on their own wild journey. But please don’t be the one who risks it all and gets nothing in return. Don’t say I didn’t warn you; this is the warning.
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The OPEC logo is displayed on a mobile phone screen in front of a computer screen displaying OPEC icons in Ankara, Turkey, on June 25, 2024.
Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images
Eight oil-producing nations of the OPEC+ alliance agreed on Saturday to increase their collective crude production by 548,000 barrels per day, as they continue to unwind a set of voluntary supply cuts.
This subset of the alliance — comprising heavyweight producers Russia and Saudi Arabia, alongside Algeria, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates — met digitally earlier in the day. They had been expected to increase their output by a smaller 411,000 barrels per day.
In a statement, the OPEC Secretariat attributed the countries’ decision to raise August daily output by 548,000 barrels to “a steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories.”
The eight producers have been implementing two sets of voluntary production cuts outside of the broader OPEC+ coalition’s formal policy.
One, totaling 1.66 million barrels per day, stays in effect until the end of next year.
Under the second strategy, the countries reduced their production by an additional 2.2 million barrels per day until the end of the first quarter.
They initially set out to boost their production by 137,000 barrels per day every month until September 2026, but only sustained that pace in April. The group then tripled the hike to 411,000 barrels per day in each of May, June, and July — and is further accelerating the pace of their increases in August.
Oil prices were briefly boosted in recent weeks by the seasonal summer spike in demand and the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, which threatened both Tehran’s supplies and raised concerns over potential disruptions of supplies transported through the key Strait of Hormuz.
At the end of the Friday session, oil futures settled at $68.30 per barrel for the September-expiration Ice Brent contract and at $66.50 per barrel for front month-August Nymex U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude.
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss Trump’s Big Beautiful bill becoming law and going after EVs and solar, Tesla, Ford, and GM EV sales, Electrek Formula Sun, and more
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