OXNARD, Calif. , March 21, 2023 — Bowlus, a manufacturer of luxury recreation vehicles, announced last Tuesday its move to be the first fully electric RV company. The move to all-electric follows the success of the Bowlus Volterra, the world’s first all-electric RV, which Bowlus launched last August.
All models, including the Volterra, Terra Firma, and Heritage, will be fully electric. Founder Geneva Long envisioned the move to an all-electric RV ten years ago when she reimagined the original riveted aluminum travel trailer for fully immersive luxury land travel that makes RVing less taxing and more restorative.
Long and her team have engineered the Bowlus brand for lightness with a GVWR ranging from 2,500 lb. to 4,000 lb. depending on the model lineup – about half the weight of existing and concept/ideation trailer trailers – which means the Bowlus is easily towed by the widest range of electric vehicles for ultimate range in the zero-emission luxury camping experience.
The Bowlus Power Management System, with a capacity of up to 17 kWh (depending on model), when combined with Bowlus AeroSolar™, allows travelers to be self-sufficient without needing fossil fuels or campgrounds. This step removes the last inconveniences for luxury travelers. Bowlus has pioneered a long list of firsts, including the first lithium-powered RV that could power air conditioning off-grid in 2016, while much of the industry still presents these features in concept RVs.
“Our move to fully electric is important because it sets a precedent,” said Long. “Where most RV brands use old technology involving propane and gas or traditional batteries, we are making new ground, just like we always have. Picture yourself enjoying nature without the noise of a generator – it’s a fully immersive experience to be all-electric.”
With roots dating back to 1934, Bowlus’ unique trademarked design includes over-the-air updates, the latest in communication systems, luxurious spa-like en-suite features, and premium bedroom and dining areas. Bowlus is known for a history of industry firsts, being the world’s first aluminum-riveted travel trailer. The brand is dedicated to innovation in support of the brand’s mission to elevate and enhance the luxury traveler’s experience.
Last month Bowlus announced its most accessible product, the Heritage edition, with a starting price of $159,000.
SOURCE: Bowlus press release
##RVT1097b
While immersing yourself seamlessly into nature without a noisy generator, you better hope you didn’t park in the forest, or simply under a shade tree because that solar panal array is not going to keep your A/C running 3 hours a day. That leaves immersing yourself seamlessly into the Mojave desert so you can run your A/C maybe 5 hours a day. All you have to do is pick the 5 hours out of 24 when it is below 100 degrees outside. Run A/C overnight for 5 hours when it’s 99 degrees out or run it for 4 hours in the afternoon when it’s 119 degrees out? Choices choices choices.
Agreed. I have a single 100A/H lithium battery and 160 watts of portable solar and can keep my propane fridge running with occasional use of the water pump and lights indefinitely as long as there is some sun during the day to top of the battery. My wife and I love to “camp” with our MH across the country in state parks (with or without shore power) with natural shade and have no illusions of “sticks and bricks” living on the road. We are not full time but love extended travel. I believe folks can get caught up in the confusing overlap between “living” in an RV and using an RV for what it is designed for, “recreational use”.
$159,000 for the basic model. GET REAL
How much does a Bowlus RV cost?
Prices start at $159,000 MSRP. Bowlus is a company that builds some of the most luxurious travel trailers in the world. Wrapped in streamlined retro-looking packages, those RVs are also among the most expensive ones on the market, easily surpassing the $300,000 mark when you add the options you want and need.Jan 31, 2023
So? Just because you and I can’t afford it, does not mean there is not a market for it. Free-market offerings don’t have to appeal to everyone, just a target market that is large enough to sustain the product and manufacturer. Bentleys and Roll Royces are out of my price range, but they seem to do well. No point in disparaging them, just because we are not the target market.
Actually, Bentley and Rolls did NOT do well as a stand alone company. Rolls sold off Bentley years ago…and then bankrupted itself. Neither original British company exists today. The Bentley name is now owned by Volkswagon, and the Rolls-Royce name is owned by BMW. That said, I wish Bowlus well…they don’t have to sell many rigs at that price to be a multi-million dollar company, and as long as it’s a labor of love, they manage their finances well, and they don’t expect to compete on a mass scale, they should be fine.
We are on our first trip with our new RV. It has a 12V fridge & a 165W solar panel that is supposed to keep the fridge going. It doesn’t. So I have to spend a ton of money to add more solar and get lithium batteries just to run the fridge. I’m really missing the two-way fridge in my old trailer. It was so much simpler and reliable. In my opinion, all electric vehicles and RVs will be available only to the elite who can afford the solar, lithium, etc. Then all the wealthy people can say how “green” they are.
Spot on truths Suru👍!!! The beautiful truth about the virtue signalling from the ruling class.
Suru, you got sucked-in by the salesman misinformation (not saying that in a disparaging way, just mentioning that salesmen are just parroting what the manufacturers want consumers to hear, without including all the caveats) regarding the 12v compressor fridges. I looked at some trailers with a friend, and the salesmen were all pushing the “independence” of the 12v fridge/solar/lithium combo. One of them acknowledged the limitations and the need for much more solar and Lithium when I was telling my friend that the supplied components were not capable of more than a few days without sun, and fewer if you were using the furnace. Not much different than truck/car salesmen telling someone that their 1,000 Cargo-capacity SUV can pull an 8,000 lb trailer, ignoring the tongue wt using all the cargo capacity of the SUV/truck.
Sorry you were misled. Maybe others will see your experience, and be more-informed if they are looking at a 12v fridge-equipped trailer.
Sorry to hear that. The RV industry has been pushing 12 volt fridges hard, but frankly, I’ve been skeptical. A refrigerator with no moving parts in its cooling system has major benefits, not just in the wear-and-tear department, but also in energy usage savings. As an owner of several vintage “Servel” refrigerators, which utilize the same “absorption” technology as RV fridges do, just on a larger scale, I feel the industry went in the wrong direction when it changed direction and went with compressor-based tech for home refrigeration…but it sure worked out for those who want to sell more refrigerators! My oldest Servel was built in 1941, and without knowing much about it’s earlier history, it’s been continuously running in one of my outbuildings for 15 years and counting.
Thanks for the reminder. One of my most vivid childhood memories is of my grandfather firing up the 1940 ish absorption refrigerator in his 1900 shack on his homestead three times a year. Once for planting and once at harvest. The third time he and i would just go camp out and he would turn it on to keep beer cold for a long weekend while he told me stories about the old days and falling in love with my grandmother. We dug a water well by hand one summer and I got a nickel for every gopher tail. Had my first beer with him and learned to sweat MAN sweat.
Thanks for reminding me about that fridge that never failed.
That is certainly one eye-opening “entry-level” price. It is, what? about 8 times the “entry-level” price of a travel trailer.
So, aluminum rivets are not what Airstream uses?
From their website: “Hawley Bowlus made the first riveted aluminum travel trailer in 1934. Hawley hailed from the genesis of commercial air travel as the builder of the Spirit of St. Louis. He quickly found admirers and would-be copycats, including Wally Byam of Airstream, who attempted to duplicate the first Bowlus design.” Apparently, they stopped manufacturing trailers during World War II, and started again in 2013. So, Airstream made a lot more continuously for a much longer time at a much more reasonable price, but weren’t the “first.” By the way, the article was clearly labeled as being from a press release.
This wasn’t an article, it was an advertisement. Zero independent useful information.
It clearly says that the source is Bowlus Press Release. We will publish press releases if we think they might be interesting to readers. And that’s just what this is.
What does it really take to make an “all electric” RV? Simply remove the propane stove and fridge and replace with an electric stove top and compressor fridge. Done.
I think you nailed it, Bill. Plus, in my humble opinion, a Rivian + a Bowlus trailer = double jeopardy.
Not quite. You also need lots of Lithium batteries and solar power to power the all-electric appliances. Limiting factors include clouds, or heavy tree canopy, or both. Much of the east, and the northwest may not be good areas for these trailers, unless you have hookups, which defeats the intent of lots of solar and Lithium. Nothing is ideal, whether all-electric, or fossil fuels.
My all electric RV is great when not plugged into shore power, I keep it warm in cool months burning diesel in the aqua-hot. I cook on my electric grill using diesel in my generator and also keep my fridge cold the same way. If its hot outside I cool it down with my diesel powered AC units. Yes, the all electric RVing lifestyle choice is the way to go for me.
Exactly.
Remember the times of “Blood Diamonds” This is where children and adults were forced into hard (slave) labor. People were dying by the thousands mining diamonds. Well this is exactly whats going on in the battery world. People are being forced to work and die to dig up the materials needed to make the batteries for the electric vehicles.
for the 0.2% of people that can afford a bowlus + a rivian from the picture
And the extraction of petrochemicals has no negative affects on anyone or anything.
On balance, NO. The benefits of petroleum outweigh the impacts 1000 times over. Facts: we have reduced weather related deaths globally from 500,000 per year to less than 5,000 per year as a result of petroleum related modernization. So yeah, the masses are doing better with fossil fuel advances and are doing worse with the Chinese mining lithium in Brazil for Chinese made solar panels on multi million dollar RVs or houses.
Well said.