In case you aren’t familiar with EarthCruiser, this Oregon-based outfit normally specializes in building insane overlanding RV rigs and 4×4 cab-over trucks that I’ve covered before. Pretty much every little kid wants to drive a big truck at some point, and EarthCruiser’s normal fare gives off a Tonka-like feel. However, six-figure rigs aren’t exactly mass-market products, so the firm is branching out to something a little more practical. With a sudden influx of electric and hybrid trucks on the market, EarthCruiser is looking to capitalize on the EV overlanding trend. Thankfully, this isn’t some sort of Cybertruck camper grift, but instead a slide-in camper for trucks like the Rivian R1T and Ford F-150 Lightning — you know, vehicles that actually exist on the mass market.
As of right now, EarthCruiser is fairly mum on details, but here’s what we know. The company says its slide-in camper will be lightweight, aerodynamically-efficient, and integrate with each vehicle’s hardware. Those are some fairly sensible goals, and I’m looking forward to seeing how EarthCruiser achieves them. Weight and drag are two of the biggest killers of EV range, so a slide-in camper that’s lighter and slipperier than a trailer should help mitigate frequent charging stops. In addition, integrating with modern trucks’ hardware should mean taking advantage of the variety of onboard power points on offer. Imagine running a refrigerator or climate control off of an F-150 Lightning’s built-in 240-volt socket. From the renders, it’s easy to see that EarthCruiser is going for a pop-up design, likely to minimize frontal area while still allowing enough space for a sleeping area. The Rivian R1T in the renders has a bed length of just 4.5 feet, so packaging a sleeping area up top feels like a sound concept. In addition, EarthCruiser is using a nicely chamfered hard-side design that should allow for good interior room while still maintaining a compact profile. Overall, there’s lots to like here. I reckon that EarthCruiser will have a home run on its hands should an actual production model look like this.
Of course, just because a product doesn’t exist yet doesn’t mean that a company can’t seek deposits (deposits on vaporware seems to be the trend nowadays). While it remains to be seen if EarthCruiser can drum up many $100 deposits, I have a feeling that the show will go on regardless. It’s not like this is a company that came out of nowhere with no proof of manufacturing expertise. A quick glance at the website shows a field for what truck you’d like to fit the camper to, so I could see this whole deposit thing being a useful exercise in market research. Either way, EarthCruiser claims that more details on the slide-in camper will be available later in 2023, so watch this space. (Photo credits: EarthCruiser)
Let’s Talk About The 4×4 EarthCruiser CORE Dual-Cab Chassis Because Why The Hell Not The Cheapest Tesla Cybertruck Camper Concept Yet Is A $24,000 Truck Cap That Might Fry You Like Bacon Our Daydreaming Designer Imagines A Cybertruck-Shaped Camper Trailer That Almost Makes Sense The Mystery Of The Oldsmobile Toronado Airstream Camper Has Been Solved A Disturbingly Close Look At The 1970s RV Technology That Cooked Your Poop As You Drove Down The Highway Got a hot tip? Send it to us here. Or check out the stories on our homepage. Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member. From the article above, “Weight and drag are two of the biggest killers of EV range… Let me add, “cold as the third killer. Some recent reporting has shown range drops of almost 50% in, shall we say, “typical Canadian winter temperatures”. So unless you are overlanding in Asbury Park in New Jersey or take along a bunch of sled dogs and a giant hamster wheel for them hooked up to a generator I can’t see this concept ever working out very well. So, unless Also, I came across a 1978 Bronco with the pop up camper on it, and it looks stunning, complete with all the 70’s striping on the truck and echoed on the camper. There’s a new automotive dream for me. Where are you overlanding to, a charging station? Plus the 4.5 foot bed is about as long as any of these trucks currently get. If you have 2 people in the camper you’ll have to open the door to have enough room to scratch your ass. I just can’t see EV overlanding vehicles going off road / forest service roads. It is one of the use cases that diesel hybrid makes a bit more sense. A Class C or Class A slide out is different is designed to be walked on. Though you have may have to the side shuffle to move around 🙂 ^ that’s more targeted at the articles I see like “some dude crams a 9 million horsepower Bugatti w16 into a 2nd gen Camaro!… … In this rendering where they didn’t even model an engine”
