- Electric RVs are on the horizon
- Airstream owner Thor Industries has unveiled a plug-in hybrid RV
- PHEV RVs offer more range for less money than electric RVs
Electric trucks and SUVs have arrived, and in the quest for low-carbon camping, fully electric RVs aren't far behind.
While full-electric vanlife is starting to take off, large electric RVs—motorhomes—are a bit far behind with their higher range and charging challenges. In particular, as the infrastructure is being built for electric vehicles, the capacity to accommodate these large, commercial truck-sized vehicles has yet to be scaled up.
Currently, RVs are included they're pieces that haven't been on the market, and plug-in hybrid RVs may be the answer to the charging conundrum. Using a new version of the Harbinger mid-size commercial electric truck chassis, the production-bound demonstration RV unveiled by Airstream owner Thor Industries on Monday says it's the first Class A hybrid vehicle.
Harginer Hybrid Class A Chassis
RV is the “top hat” on PHEV, series-hybrid hardware
The total range of this very large PHEV will be about 500 milescompanies estimate, including a combined electric range of about 150 kilometers, in the presented configuration, including about 350 miles from the gasoline-powered expansion point—a four-cylinder engine with no mechanical connection to the wheels and a generator set power.
In terms of layout and dimensions, it's in the same ballpark as the 2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger plug-in hybrid, albeit with a V-6.
The partnership joins Harbinger, the first “chassis company” for commercial trucks, a staple in the RV market. Thor, with 60% of the US RV market, is Harbinger's only RV customer. Harbinger has about 22 customers and is just starting to prove its chassis in real-world use.
Earlier this year Harbinger placed 4,000 “binding” orders from a list of customers that included Bimbo Bakeries, Thor, and Mail Management Systems. In an interview with Green Car Reports about the startup, Harbinger CEO John Harris said the company has introduced complete chassis assemblies to customers, and “they're going to start using those chassis for revenue-generating projects.”
Harbinger delivers the frame, suspension, transmission, safety and systems for the car. From there, it's just a matter of fitting a different vehicle's “top hat” over the chassis—in this case, an RV.
“We're focused on it and we're not distracted by a million different things that people want on the upfit side,” said Harris.
And since the Harbinger chassis is built to handle the everyday rigors of commercial vehicles, Harris points out that customers will experience higher levels of durability than RVs are typically built for.
THOR Hybrid Class A Test Vehicle
Double diesel torque
The chassis as used in the RV is built as an 800-volt system and has a permanent magnet electric motor. making 440 hp peak (280 hp continuous) and 1,140 lb-ft in the motor. Thor says that comes to double the torque of a diesel engine in such a system, and the electric drive unit is good for a 450,000-mile service life. The double-wishbone front suspension and steer-by-wire system aim to make this big car relatively soft and compatible with advanced driver assistance and safety systems.
Multiple sets of 35-kwh battery packs are used to provide 140 kwh here, or up to it's 175kw in production; each has a steel aluminum enclosure and weighs just 462 pounds, fitting snugly into the frames of these trucks. It is likely that the Thor operating system will get that high battery size or close to it, which amounts to a total battery weight of 2,300 pounds.
Harginer Hybrid Class A Chassis
When the plug-in's battery power drops to a low level, the 1.4-liter naturally aspirated engine fires up. Harbinger CEO Harris called it a “production, high-volume, large OEM engine.” Although he did not say what the maximum value of the system would be, he said that maintaining highway speed in such a car takes about 50 kw.
This is Harbinger's first range-extender system in its electric trucks, Harris confirmed, and marks the debut of its range-extender system. While this type of hybrid-hybrid system has powered powertrains for most of the past century, it has been slow to catch on in passenger cars and light trucks due to noise and vibration concerns and poor highway mpg.
“With the hybrid series we have enough electric power to meet all the uses of the car – overtaking, overtaking, hill acceleration, etc.,” he said. “So for a range extender, you need an engine that provides enough power to meet that kind of hard cruising, and you want that range extender to operate in a very efficient environment.”
In a joint release, the companies promised that the RV hybrid will have what sounds like a very electric driving experience, with “confident and powerful acceleration for hybrid driving in the mountains” – suggesting that the Harbinger may leave plenty of battery buffer for sudden power needs. . To that point, Harris noted that with a series hybrid system, “how much headroom you have beyond that is not that important.”
THOR Hybrid Class A Test Vehicle
Good mpg for long trips, and a good battery for home backup
An RV battery pack can be charged by an extended motor, integrated solar cells, and/or an integrated solar system. The companies noted that the demonstration vehicle “has the ability to function as a home backup power source,” and has the ability to charge power tools, electric camping equipment, and the like.
They'll go further with every gallon of gas, too, whether there's a plug-in charge or not. A large gas RV usually returns gas mileage in the 6-8 mpg range. Performance will be better when running as a series hybrid, without plug-in charging, but Harris doesn't have the numbers yet. If you look at the initial payment of the plug-in it will be much better, he emphasized.
“Going 500 miles on 40 gallons would be a happy day for most people” he summarized, pointing out that there are many variations in the auxiliary loads of RVs that can mean a low electric range of 125 miles or a high of 200 miles.
“As long as we're putting out a range extender, an all-electric EV, it's the same platform,” said Harris. “The challenge with that usage is that it's very variable—you can drive 500 miles and then 10 miles—it's a really hard case to use pure electricity. We can do it for them; the range will be 250-ish miles and it will be more expensive because there are more batteries. The 250 mile mark is something that almost forces an RV but not quite there and 500 miles is kind of an easy home run. Very few people want to drive more than 500 miles in one shot in an RV.
THOR Hybrid Class A Test Vehicle
A good place to use among EV orders
Before a pure EV can work for an RV, we need to see more energy density, Harris says—both in terms of weight and per dollar.
“The extended platform, the range-extender architecture, is why we use it here because it offers more range for less money, so that there is a more compelling and less expensive platform,” he said.
Thor has revealed that it will come to one of their operating companies in 2025 and has not yet said which one will feature a plug-in hybrid powertrain. While Airstream may be the obvious one, with a history of aero-engineered motorhomes starting with the cult favorite 1970s Argosy line, its RV makers also include Tiffin, Entegra Coach, and Thor Motor Coach.
Regardless of the brand, the Thor RV plug-in will be a predictor of the future, in a way that makes regulators happy.
“RVs using the hybrid platform will be commercially available in 2025 from the Thor family of companies,” the two companies revealed. Those RVs will qualify as California Near-Zero Emission Vehicles (NZEV) under CARB's latest Advanced Clean Truck rules, they added.
While far-flung concepts like the Stella Vita electric RV are completely redefining what large RVs are, this PHEV may be how large RVs step up their game into the plug-in future, just like the smaller RVs—preferred by Winnebago and Thor a. a few years ago-they went into production.
Thor Industries says it's taking this to its dealer open house, starting today, where it's available for test drives, where they'll have the opportunity to “help guide the way to market for this special product.”