EV startup Lordstown and RV seller Camping World are partnering to create the first fully electric RV in the US
- Lordstown Motors and Camping World are partnering to create batteries to electrify RVs with the goal of eventually introducing a fully electric RV.
- The eRV will be affordable, especially for millennials, which Camping World chairman and CEO Marcus Lemonis called the future of the RV industry during the joint press conference announcing the partnership on Tuesday.
- Camping World will also be upgrading its infrastructures to create what the companies call "the most comprehensive EV support systems ever designed," according to a news release.
Lordstown Motors and Camping World are partnering to create a comprehensive electric vehicle-targeted plan that includes the electrification of RVs.
As part of the partnership, the two companies will also work with RV makers like Thor and Forest Rivers to create battery packs that replace onboard generators for road travel vehicles like travel trailers, Camping World chairman and CEO Marcus Lemonis said during the joint press conference announcing the partnership.
"The future is now, and the realization of electrifying RVs and the outdoor community is within our grasp and will only grow from here," Lemonis said in a statement on the news release announcing the partnership.
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However, road travel electrification doesn't just stop at battery making. According to Lemonis, the partnership will run "the entire gamut," from creating battery packs that enable travel trailers to go off-grid, to building out an electric motorized RV.
Eventually, Lordstown Motors and Camping World will also launch what Lemonis calls the "first Class E motorhome in America," or an eRV, according to the news release. According to Lemonis, the eRV will be affordable, especially to millennials, which Lemonis called the future of the RV industry during the conference.
"Our goal is to make sure that the electrification of RVs doesn't start or stop with anything," Lemonis said.
In terms of a timeline, Lemonis and Burns hope to have a prototype of an electrified road travel vehicle by summer 2021, the first electrified travel trailer and fifth wheel sometime in 2021, and an electrified model by 2022.
Camping World will also be working to make its public infrastructures electric vehicle fleet friendly by setting up EV charging stations at different Camping World locations.
Besides road travel, the partnership was also created to set up a "national electric vehicle service and collision network" for Lordstown Motor's vehicles, which include the upcoming Lordstown Endurance electric pickup truck, according to a joint news release announcing the partnership.
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This includes using Camping World's service and collision centers, technicians, service bays, call hotlines, and roadside assistance programs to create what the two companies call "the most comprehensive EV support systems ever designed."
"Lordstown's partnership with Camping World will help us help ensure that our fleet customers have the highest possible uptime of their vehicles," Lordstown Motors CEO Steve Burns said in a statement on the news release. "On top of that, working with [Lemonis] and his team to bring EV solutions to the RV market is quite exciting, and I'm excited about the first-to-market opportunities this partnership affords us."