The Guest Suite
I’ve been drooling over this for as long as my buddy, The Hoppy Carver has had it, and my patience has paid off! This is a prototype aluminum Kayak/SUP/Toy hauler from Needmore Trailer’s, fitted with an iKamper SkyCamp Mini. It’s the perfect addition to my Electric Nomad Truck, supporting camping and day trips alike, transporting watercraft and other gear, while providing a cozy spot for friends to sleep. I’m also really excited about ferrying-potential here with river trips! I recently jumped on the opportunity to purchase it, let’s take a look.
I put it to the test on one weekend, mountain trip, and saw virtually no impact on range. It was interesting because after entering in the dimensions of the trailer into the trailer mode feature, the Ford F-150 Lightning prepared me for a range cut of around 30%!!! I thought this was a silly penalty for something under a half ton and if it had held true, my purchase would have been pretty worthless to me. This thing however is not a brick: it cuts through the wind pretty well, unlike my Old Travel Trailer. So after a few miles, when it catches up, the dashboard tells me the range impact is negligible. I think this really demonstrates how much of the mileage penalty seen with EVs can be related to wind resistance, rather than weight, or at least that seams to be how Ford has programed the Lightning to calculate it.
“So far, in my first test it’s taken about the same amount of energy to get where I’m going and I haven’t had too much trouble with charging!”
You might ask, after getting my Electric Nomad Truck dialed in, why would I add something like this? In addition to all of the benefits I’ve already gone through, this thing let’s me hitch a ride with others on camping trips where I might not want to deal with charging, like when going through the EV dessert known as West Virginia. So this rig will support both local-ish electric adventures as well as future cross-country journeys.
