Imagine how peaceful camping would be without the loud gas-powered engines running. Electric vehicles are upgrading the camping experience as we know it. Not only are EVs silent, but they also offer unique advantages over gas-powered cars for camping.
EVs are going more off-grid
If you haven’t noticed already, more electric vehicles are going “off-grid” to explore the outdoors, go camping, etc.
In fact, campers are more likely to own an electric vehicle. According to a survey by Kampgrounds of America (via CNN), about 4% of regular campers own an EV, compared to just 1% of Americans.
EV startups like Rivian (RIVN), with its “Electric Adventure Vehicles,” are designing vehicles built for on- and off-road performance. Rivian’s vehicles are made with one mission in mind: “to protect our planet and the cultures that inhabit it for generations to come.”
Although Rivian EVs are “made for the plant,” they are also some of the most hardcore vehicles you will come across.
Rivian’s R1T electric truck offers up to 410 miles of range, an extendable truck bed (up to 83.9″), a gear tunnel and frunk for extra storage, and even an included “Rivian Torch” flashlight in the driver-side door.
Bowlus Volterra next to a Rivian EV (Source: Bowlus)
The R1T can also plow through +3 feet of water, rock crawl a 100% grade, and tow up to 11,000 lbs.
Rivian’s R1S electric SUV offers just as much capability with up to 400 miles range, 14.9″ of ground clearance, and room for seven. It includes up to 104 cu ft storage space an 7,700 lbs towing.
Rivian R1T next to the Airstream Trade Wind (Source: Airstream)
EVs are upgrading camping as we know it
Rivian is not the only company designing EVs for camping and exploring. Ford, Hyundai, Tesla, Volkswagen, and others are building electric vehicles and features to upgrade the experience.
Electric vehicles already offer distinct advantages over ICE cars, like when towing. Matt Lin, who takes his Ford F-150 Lightning and a camping trailer out every few weeks, explained how the instant torque helps when towing.
“I’m not constantly sitting there watching transmission temps climb, I’m not watching motor temps climb on hills,” Linn said. He lives in “Hill County,” Texas.
Ford F-150 Lightning towing (Source: Ford Pro)
Linn added he uses the “frunk almost as an outdoor kitchen because it takes a lot of electrical strain off of the camper.” He uses it to run his coffee maker, ice maker, etc.
Meanwhile, automakers are not the only ones working to improve the camping experience with EVs. Trailer companies are releasing unique new products and features to make EV camping even easier.
2024 Airstream Trade Wind (Source: Airstream)
Mike Kowal, who pulls an airstream RV with his Rivian R1S, said the SUV learns how the trailer impacts range and adjusts estimates. He can tow about 200 miles with the trailer.
Travel trailer and RV companies joiAirstream, known
Know for its iconic “Silver Bullet” design, Airstream unveiled the Trade Wind in Sept. It’s the company’s most independent travel trailer so far, featuring its biggest battery bank and solar system.
Thor Industries, which owns Airstream, is focusing on aerodynamics to improve efficiency. Thor’s head of product development, McKay Featherstone, said, “As we specifically target electric vehicles, it just becomes doubly important.”
Airstream isn’t the only one. Rivals like Bowlus are going all-in on electric and solar tech for off-grid camping.
Tesla towing Bowlus Volterra (Source: Bowlus)
Bowlus, which launched the “world’s first all-electric RV,” revealed its new Rivet luxury travel trailer last month. As its most rugged RV yet, the Rivet features a “yacht-quality” battery and solar system for “indefinite time off-grid.”
The Rivet’s +25-ft floor plan includes a separate bedroom, a luxury bathroom with a hotel-style shower, a spacious living room, and a kitchen. Also included is a fridge/freezer, air conditioning, heat, two-burner induction cooktop, microwave, and more.
“We’ve had customers cross coasts, all the way up to Canada, all the way across Canada and back down, all with an electric vehicle,” Bowlus CEO Geneva Long explained.
One of the biggest obstacles right now is charging. Many campsites across the country have older infrastructure and need an upgrade.
KOA has dedicated EV chargers at about 5% of its campsites, which could reach around 50% in the next 5 to 10 years.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More.
Forget fumbling with cables or hunting for batteries – TILER is making electric bike charging as seamless as parking your ride. The Dutch startup recently introduced its much-anticipated TILER Compact system, a plug-and-play wireless charger engineered to transform the user experience for e-bike riders.
At the heart of the new system is a clever combo: a charging kickstand that mounts directly to almost any e‑bike, and a thin charging mat that you simply park over. Once you drop the kickstand and it lands on the mat, the bike begins charging automatically via inductive transfer – no cable required. According to TILER, a 500 Wh battery will fully charge in about 3.5 hours, delivering comparable performance to traditional wired chargers.
It’s an elegantly simple concept (albeit a bit chunky) with a convenient upside: less clutter, fewer broken cables, and no more need to bend over while feeling around for a dark little hole.
TILER claims its system works with about 75% of existing e‑bike platforms, including those from Bosch, Yamaha, Bafang, and other big bames. The kit uses a modest 150 W wireless power output, which means charging speeds remain practical while keeping the system lightweight (the tile weighs just 2 kg, and it’s also stationary).
Advertisement – scroll for more content
TILER has already deployed over 200 charging points across Western Europe, primarily serving bike-share, delivery, hospitality, and hotel fleets. A recent case study in Munich showed how a cargo-bike operator saved approximately €1,250 per month in labor costs, avoided thousands in spare batteries, and cut battery damage by 20%. The takeaway? Less maintenance, more uptime.
Now shifting to prosumer markets, TILER says the Compact system will hit pre-orders soon, with a €250 price tag (roughly US $290) for the kickstand plus tile bundle. To get in line, a €29 refundable deposit is currently required, though they say it is refundable at any point until you receive your charger. Don’t get too excited just yet though, there’s a bit of a wait. Deliveries are expected in summer 2026, and for now are covering mostly European markets.
The concept isn’t entirely new. We’ve seen the idea pop up before, including in a patent from BMW for charging electric motorcycles. And the efficacy is there. Skeptics may wonder if wireless charging is slower or less efficient, but TILER says no. Its system retains over 85% efficiency, nearly matching wired charging speeds, and even pauses at 80% to protect battery health, then resumes as needed. The tile is even IP67-rated, safe for outdoor use, and about as bulky as a thick magazine.
Electrek’s Take
I love the concept. It makes perfect sense for shared e-bikes, especially since they’re often returning to a dock anyway. As long as people can be trained to park with the kickstand on the tile, it seems like a no-brainer.
And to be honest, I even like the idea for consumers. I know it sounds like a first-world problem, but bending over to plug something in at floor height is pretty annoying, not to mention a great way to throw out your back if you’re not exactly a spring chicken anymore. Having your e-bike start charging simply by parking it in the right place is a really cool feature! I don’t know if it’s $300 cool, but it’s pretty cool!
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More.
Tesla has launched a new software update for its vehicles that includes the anticipated integration of Grok, but it doesnt even interface with the car yet.
Today, Tesla started pushing the update to the fleet, but there’s a significant caveat.
The automaker wrote in the release notes (2025.26):
Advertisement – scroll for more content
Grok (Beta) (US, AMD)
Grok now available directly in your Tesla
Requires Premium Connectivity or a WiFi connection
Grok is currently in Beta & does not issue commands to your car – existing voice commands remain unchanged.
First off, it is only available in vehicles in the US equipped with the AMD infotainment computer, which means cars produced since mid-2021.
But more importantly, Tesla says that it doesn’t send commands to the car under the current version. Therefore, it is simply like having Grok on your phone, but on the onboard computer instead.
Tesla showed an example:
There are a few other features in the 2025.26 software update, but they are not major.
For Tesla vehicles equipped with ambient lighting strips inside the car, the light strip can now sync to music:
Accent lights now respond to music & you can also choose to match the lights to the album’s color for a more immersive effect
Toybox > Light Sync
Here’s the new setting:
The audio setting can now be saved under multiple presets to match listening preferences for different people or circumstances:
The software update also includes the capacity to zoom or adjust the playback speed of the Dashcam Viewer.
Cybertruck also gets the updated Dashcam Viewer app with a grid view for easier access and review of recordings:
Tesla also updated the charging info in its navigation system to be able to search which locations require valet service or pay-to-park access.
Upon arrival, drivers will receive a notification with access codes, parking restrictions, level or floor information, and restroom availability:
Finally, there’s a new onboarding guide directly on the center display to help people who are experiencing a Tesla vehicle for the first time.
Electrek’s Take
Tesla is really playing catch-up here. Right now, this update is essentially nothing. If you already have Grok, it’s no more different than having it on your phone or through the vehicle’s browser, since it has no capacity to interact with any function inside the vehicle.
Most other automakers are integrating LLMs inside vehicles with the capacity to interact with the vehicle. In China, this is becoming standard even in entry-level cars.
In the Xiaomi YU7, the vehicle’s AI can not only interact with the car, but it also sees what the car sees through its camera, and it can tell you about what it sees:
Tesla is clearly far behind on that front as many automakers are integrating with other LLMs like ChatGPT and in-house LLMs, like Xiaomi’s.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More.
Robinhood stock hit an all-time high Friday as the financial services platform continued to rip higher this year, along with bitcoin and other crypto stocks.
Robinhood, up more than 160% in 2025, hit an intraday high above $101 before pulling back and closing slightly lower.
The reversal came after a Bloomberg report that JPMorgan plans to start charging fintechs for access to customer bank data, a move that could raise costs across the industry.
For fintech firms that rely on thin margins to offer free or low-cost services to customers, even slight disruptions to their cost structure can have major ripple effects. PayPal and Affirm both ended the day nearly 6% lower following the report.
Despite its stellar year, the online broker is facing several headwinds, with a regulatory probe in Florida, pushback over new staking fees and growing friction with one of the world’s most high-profile artificial intelligence companies.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier opened a formal investigation into Robinhood Crypto on Thursday, alleging the platform misled users by claiming to offer the lowest-cost crypto trading.
“Robinhood has long claimed to be the best bargain, but we believe those representations were deceptive,” Uthmeier said in a statement.
The probe centers on Robinhood’s use of payment for order flow — a common practice where market makers pay to execute trades — which the AG said can result in worse pricing for customers.
Robinhood Crypto General Counsel Lucas Moskowitz told CNBC its disclosures are “best-in-class” and that it delivers the lowest average cost.
“We disclose pricing information to customers during the lifecycle of a trade that clearly outlines the spread or the fees associated with the transaction, and the revenue Robinhood receives,” added Moskowitz.
Robinhood is also facing opposition to a new 25% cut of staking rewards for U.S. users, set to begin October 1. In Europe, the platform will take a smaller 15% cut.
Staking allows crypto holders to earn yield by locking up their tokens to help secure blockchain networks like ethereum, but platforms often take a percentage of those rewards as commission.
Robinhood’s 25% cut puts it in line with Coinbase, which charges between 25.25% and 35% depending on the token. The cut is notably higher than Gemini’s flat 15% fee.
It marks a shift for the company, which had previously steered clear of staking amid regulatory uncertainty.
Under President Joe Biden‘s administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission cracked down on U.S. platforms offering staking services, arguing they constituted unregistered securities.
With President Donald Trump in the White House, the agency has reversed course on several crypto enforcement actions, dropping cases against major players like Coinbase and Binance and signaling a more permissive stance.
Even as enforcement actions ease, Robinhood is under fresh scrutiny for its tokenized stock push, which is a growing part of its international strategy.
The company now offers blockchain-based assets in Europe that give users synthetic exposure to private firms like OpenAI and SpaceX through special purpose vehicles, or SPVs.
An SPV is a separate entity that acquires shares in a company. Users then buy tokens of the SPV and don’t have shareholder privileges or voting rights directly in the company.
OpenAI has publicly objected, warning the tokens do not represent real equity and were issued without its approval. In an interview with CNBC International, CEO Vlad Tenev acknowledged the tokens aren’t technically equity shares, but said that misses the broader point.
“What’s important is that retail customers have an opportunity to get exposure to this asset,” he said, pointing to the disruptive nature of AI and the historically limited access to pre-IPO companies.
“It is true that these are not technically equity,” Tenev added, noting that institutional investors often gain similar exposure through structured financial instruments.
The Bank of Lithuania — Robinhood’s lead regulator in the EU — told CNBC on Monday that it is “awaiting clarifications” following OpenAI’s statement.
“Only after receiving and evaluating this information will we be able to assess the legality and compliance of these specific instruments,” a spokesperson said, adding that information for investors must be “clear, fair, and non-misleading.”
Tenev responded that Robinhood is “happy to continue to answer questions from our regulators,” and said the company built its tokenized stock program to withstand scrutiny.
“Since this is a new thing, regulators are going to want to look at it,” he said. “And we expect to be scrutinized as a large, innovative player in this space.”
SEC Chair Paul Atkins recently called the model “an innovation” on CNBC’s Squawk Box, offering some validation as Robinhood leans further into its synthetic equity strategy — even as legal clarity remains in flux across jurisdictions.
Despite the regulatory noise, many investors remain focused on Robinhood’s upside, and particularly the political tailwinds.
The company is positioning itself as a key beneficiary of Trump’s newly signed megabill, which includes $1,000 government-seeded investment accounts for newborns. Robinhood said it’s already prototyping an app for the ‘Trump Accounts‘ initiative.