- Last updated: September 23, 2022
Did you know that towing with an electric vehicle can reduce your driving range by almost 50% when towing near the limit. Heck, even more sometimes…
If you own an electric vehicle and you strongly want to tow a camper, this post is for you.
Towing a travel trailer more specifically is an exciting thing on its own, pair that with your electric vehicle and there’s a certain level of stress that is added on. Good-old range anxiety.
Even gasoline powered vehicles can have a significant reduction in driving range when paired with a sizable travel trailer. While driving at highway speeds gives you longer driving range with gasoline and diesel powertrains, it’s the opposite with electric vehicles.
Whether you wanted to tow with a Nissan Leaf, or a Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck, each weight category will have 3 travel trailers recommended for towing with electric vehicles. Each trailer will be listed in its UVW weight, meaning when the entire trailer is unloaded. No luggage or liquids.
Top Campers for Towing with Electric Vehicles
Camper Trailers 500 to 1000 LBS
This first category of camper trailers is in the lightest class at 500 to 1000 pounds, in the grand scale of things, weighing next to nothing. Almost any electric vehicle can tow a trailer this little, heck, even 4-cylinder < 100 horsepower vehicles have the capability.
Oddly enough, the lighter trailers tend to cost more than many of the heavier ones. Still, they serve a purpose and the following campers are recommended if your EV cannot tow over 1,000 pounds.
SylvanSport Go
Priced at a steep $12,000, the SylvanSport Go is a fairly unassuming trailer that weighs in at 840 pounds. When fully unfolded, this camper transforms into an impressive tent camper that can easily sleep 2 people.
While thats impressive, it gets even better. This trailer can do a few other things that for its size, is a big PLUS for the engineers behind it.
On top of the trailer, there’s a rack you can store your bicycles or kayak. If that’s not your cup of tea and you’d prefer to store things inside the trailer, you can fold it upwards and store your bicycles, kayaks, a four-wheeler, or something similar, inside.
After you’ve arrived at your destination, you can remove the stored items and fold down the tent that is stored in the sliding roof of this camper.
For an extra $2,000, you can have a built-in solar panel kit and a few other useful add-ons. This light weight camper is PERFECT for towing with an electric vehicle due to its slim (folded down) design and great aerodynamics.
Polydrop Camper
If there was a Cybertruck of campers, it would be the Polydrop Camper. This is yet another wonderful, American made camper on this list. It has unique angles and overall design specifically for functionality and aerodynamics.
On the low end, the camper weighs in at 820 pounds and when fully equipped, it would surpass our weight bracket here to 1,600 pounds.
Air conditioning, solar and built-in lithium-ion battery would be included in this list, but that would surpass the weight towards the 1,600 pound mark.
At under 1,000 pounds you still have plenty to brag about. First off you have the option to add a smaller 1.2kWh battery pack and a 1,000 watt inverter (with USB ports) to make off-grid living, somewhat possible. On top of that, you can customize the kitchen and add extra options that would bring the base starting price of $16,990 to go higher.
The big take away with this one as was with the one mentioned previously is that it has excellent aerodynamics. According to Polydrops, their design is 70% more efficient than other more traditional campers.
LIVIN’ LITE QUICKSILVER 8.0
Coming in at 840 pounds and around $15,000 used, this little pop-up camper is perfect for towing with an electric car. Like with the #1 pick above, this camper pops up and can be folded back down when towing or not in use.
This camper is built 100% with aluminum. Even with the extra add-ons like an AC unit, kitchen, and 110V electric hook-up. This trailer takes a more traditional look, however it is the roomiest of the three in this weight bracket.
Camper Trailers 1,001-2,000 pounds
This is the weight range where your electric vehicle will need to have some power behind it and at the same time, you’ll actually be able to stand upright in the camper.
The whole point of a travel trailer is to make it useable and be as much like a small studio apartment as possible. While we’re not quite at the full studio apartment size just yet (unless you count the ones in Hong Kong for rent), things will be getting a lot more interesting here.
The following travel trailers are priced at or slightly above in the used market (over the class mentioned earlier). You’ll need something like a Tesla Model 3, a Kia EV6, a Chevy Bolt EV, or something stronger to pull and get somewhat reasonable range.
Scamp 16′
Scamp is an American company that has been in the business of making light weight, fiberglass trailers for decades. Their standard 16′ camper has been popular among many who not only go camping but also live in them full-time.
Im mentioning this camper because even at the 16′ foot length, it weight just a tad under 2,000 pounds at 1,900 pounds (excluding propane tank). The 13′ foot variant weighs in at between 1,200 and 1,500 pounds all-in.
Looking at this camper, it reminds many of the Airstream travel trailers, some might call them the Rolls Royce of travel trailers.
Many of the new ones come with all the creature comforts you could think of, including an AC, propane tank, spare wheel, electrical hook-up, water hook-up, refrigerator, and much more.
These little things aren’t cheap for their size, with the 13′ foot trailer costing between $18,000-$22,000. Jumping to the 16′ variant, you’ll be looking at a $3,000 up-charge on the high end of the price spectrum.
Like anything that is made in limited quantity, prices tend to stay stable, if not appreciate over time.
Jayco Humingbird 10RK
This is a travel trailer that a Tesla Model Y or a Hyundai Ioniq 5 can tow without a problem. Looking at the trailer from the outside, it is properly equipped with off-road ready tires and plenty of ground clearance.
While this is taking a step back with interior comport, it does have the have a great bed, air conditioning, a kitchen built in the back, and water hookups.
For the 2019 models, these are priced anywhere between $12,000 and $17,000. Consider this camper if you plan on going off-road and need a trailer to handle it.
Roulette ProLite E-Volt
This is a camper made in Quebec, Canada and for its size, it has a surprisingly low gross weight. This is the perfect little camper to tow with a Model Y, or an Audi E-Tron. From the outside it look sleek and like something you can actually live in. When you step inside, you’ll notice a foldable bed, a bathroom, kitchen and table ready for use. Air conditioning is included and there’s even an awning. Water and electric hookups are standard, but the only downside with this camper is that it is readily available in Canada, but not so much in the United States.
The most staggering thing about this camper is its UVV weight of 1,990 pounds. The icing on the cake with the camper is its built-in 400-watt solar panels and the built-in 3,000-watt inverter that receives juice from a 250 AH battery pack. Brand new it was around $30,000, but prices in this market may vary and could likely be higher. Give it a search, if you can find it we recommend this one the most.
Camper Trailers 2,001-3,000 pounds
When it comes to a livable travel trailer size, anything between 2500 to 3000 pounds unloaded is pretty good. In most cases, you’ll be getting a trailer between 16 and 19 feet long.
After going through 30 or so travel trailers, the following three units mentioned are most recommended based on their features, price and weight.
The one thing you’ll notice immediately is that their unloaded weight is just shy of 3,000 in total. This is entering the Tesla Model Y, X, Audi E-Tron, BMW iX, and all the new electric trucks territory.
R-Pod RP-180
The R-Pod is yet another classic brand that has been around just over a decade. Maybe you might not call it classic, but the design has been true to the company from day one. Without even seeing the R-Pod emblem on the trailer, its icon shape is hard to mistake.
The big takeaway from the RP-180 is how much they are able to cram inside the trailer. You get a two person table, a decent size kitchen, a toilet, shower, a horizontally aligned bed that conserves space, and a weight that can be pulled by many vehicles.
Unloaded trailer weight hovers at around 2,980 pounds, and the cost varies from as low as $15,000 to nearly $30,000 for newer models.
Escape E160RBT
For around $26,000 brand new, the K-Z E160RBT travel trailer makes an excellent trailer to tow for crossover and truck electric vehicles. This is one of the better looking campers you can buy, using only a single axle setup, empty this unit weight at 2,880 pounds. The trailers body is made of aluminum, but the sidewalls are made of fiberglass.
The total length of this trailer is 19.17 feet and the entire layout is very straight forward. The one thing that some may like or dislike is the tent bed that folds out. Many (including the AvtoWow team) don’t like the blatant foldout bed that tells everyone “hey, we’re sleeping”. However, due to this the entire unit weight quite a bit less than other similar units.
I can get into all the features, but you’d probably guess all of them. Air conditioning, toilet, shower, kitchen, water and electric hookup, awning, propane hookup, and a few other things.
If you look at some of the earlier models from 2017-2019, you can find them below $20,000.
JayCo Hummingbird 16MRB
Some companies lead the way in design, including AirStream and R-Pod. When you look at the Jayco Hummingbird 16MRB, you’ll notice the similarities with the R-Pod. These units started being produced back in 2018, but prices at the moment have hardly come down. Used models can be around for $17,000 on the low end, but expect to pay $20,000-$25,000 for these, easy.
At just under 2,800 pounds dry, the big difference you’ll notice right off the bat is the bed setup. This trailer a foldable couch that has multiple purposes. You can either casually sit and hang out, or you can unfold the entire bed and hit the hay.
Between the R-Pod 180 and this one, the R-Pod would be the wiser choice considering that you can find a used model in the mid teens, all day. There may not be a lot of them, but they DO pop-up throughout the year.
Wanna tow something bigger?
At this point of the automotive industry, there’s a few dozen electric vehicles that can tow travel trailers heavier than 3,000 pounds.
Obviously vehicles like the Model Y, E-Tron, iX and a few others can easily tow 3,000-4,000 pounds.
When you jump to something between 4,000 and 5,000 pounds, the Tesla Model X can handle it without a problem.
It wasn’t until 2022 when Ford, GMC and Rivian introduced their pickup trucks into the market, these vehicles have what it takes to tow greater than 5,000 pounds, with confidence. There’s a plethora of travel trailers that weight more than 3,000 pounds. Just check out RVTrader.com so you can browse an endless catalogue of listings.
