High level use case - full time camper topper

[ksears]

Hey all! This is my first post, so I apologize if this is improper or duplicative in some way.

I have a desire for the Terra at a high level, which I think ultimately serves creating the best vehicle. I see this idea as filling a hole in the market due to no vehicle specifically delivering on all of the associated requirements that are necessary to make this happen, and this new vehicle feels like an open opportunity to fill that gap.

The ultimate truck bed camper:
The popularity of lightweight, compact truck bed campers that are small enough to fit into a garage is surging (GFC camper, SuperPacific camper, etc). These units are compact enough to be left full-time on the vehicle with minimal affects on aerodynamic efficiency, while adding a massive amount of utility through also having a lockable truck cap for tools, and a camper with you at all times.

As a middle-class tech employee, living in an urban environment like downtown Denver with a single-vehicle lifestyle and a garage-- having a system where I can store a camper inside, and also depart at the drop of a hat to go work from the road in comfort is "van life" nirvana.

Use-case agnostic features that also perfectly serve this use case:

• > 5kw bed power. I know current target specs says 120/220v power which sounds great, but I just want to reiterate how important it is to be able to access the wealth of power that these EV's can output. Being able to cook with high powered induction appliances is hugely important, and it would be great to be able to power other things while that is happening (charging an auxiliary battery, etc.).
• Having the cab accessible in some fashion from the bed.
  • Whether it's being able to roll the window down all the way so people can crawl through into the cab (no, you do NOT have to market it this way) or even have the back fold down in a similar fashion to the Silverado EV. This would allow you to get out of hairy situations in an emergency.
  • More interestingly, this would also allow you to use the vehicle HVAC system for heating and cooling the small truck camper!
• HVAC feeding the bed: More intentionally, if you just had another HVAC duct going into the bed with an air-tight cover for when it's not in use.. This could allow people to keep their pets in the bed with a truck cap in a conditioned space, and also enable using it for camping with a truck camper shell.
• Keep the square shape of the bed! This design geometry is crucial for aftermarket camper shell attachment, since for manufacturing simplicity they are all square shaped.
• Air suspension: This is not a necessity in my mind, and I know this one is a bit controversial, but it would be great as an option. Here's why: The Rivian R1T in its lowest suspension setting with a GFC V2 truck camper comes in at like 79" tall, meaning it will just fit into my 80" tall garage (84" garage openings are average). Again, this caters to allowing this vehicle to wear a truck camper at all times for folks with average or even below average garage door openings (additional 4" could easily be eaten up by a ski rack, etc.).

That's really it. The theme of these ideas are to maximize the utility of things that already exist. I'm sure some of these things can't be marketed due to legal issues, but I don't think you need to market them, because we are ALL already thinking it. Once people start seeing truck caps/campers on these things, the PEOPLE become the marketing channel.

That's all folks-- happy to be here and very excited for the release of these trucks! Go Scout go!

 

[cyure]

Hey all! This is my first post, so I apologize if this is improper or duplicative in some way.

I have a desire for the Terra at a high level, which I think ultimately serves creating the best vehicle. I see this idea as filling a hole in the market due to no vehicle specifically delivering on all of the associated requirements that are necessary to make this happen, and this new vehicle feels like an open opportunity to fill that gap.

The ultimate truck bed camper:
The popularity of lightweight, compact truck bed campers that are small enough to fit into a garage is surging (GFC camper, SuperPacific camper, etc). These units are compact enough to be left full-time on the vehicle with minimal affects on aerodynamic efficiency, while adding a massive amount of utility through also having a lockable truck cap for tools, and a camper with you at all times.

As a middle-class tech employee, living in an urban environment like downtown Denver with a single-vehicle lifestyle and a garage-- having a system where I can store a camper inside, and also depart at the drop of a hat to go work from the road in comfort is "van life" nirvana.

Use-case agnostic features that also perfectly serve this use case:

• > 5kw bed power. I know current target specs says 120/220v power which sounds great, but I just want to reiterate how important it is to be able to access the wealth of power that these EV's can output. Being able to cook with high powered induction appliances is hugely important, and it would be great to be able to power other things while that is happening (charging an auxiliary battery, etc.).
• Having the cab accessible in some fashion from the bed.
  • Whether it's being able to roll the window down all the way so people can crawl through into the cab (no, you do NOT have to market it this way) or even have the back fold down in a similar fashion to the Silverado EV. This would allow you to get out of hairy situations in an emergency.
  • More interestingly, this would also allow you to use the vehicle HVAC system for heating and cooling the small truck camper!
• HVAC feeding the bed: More intentionally, if you just had another HVAC duct going into the bed with an air-tight cover for when it's not in use.. This could allow people to keep their pets in the bed with a truck cap in a conditioned space, and also enable using it for camping with a truck camper shell.
• Keep the square shape of the bed! This design geometry is crucial for aftermarket camper shell attachment, since for manufacturing simplicity they are all square shaped.
• Air suspension: This is not a necessity in my mind, and I know this one is a bit controversial, but it would be great as an option. Here's why: The Rivian R1T in its lowest suspension setting with a GFC V2 truck camper comes in at like 79" tall, meaning it will just fit into my 80" tall garage (84" garage openings are average). Again, this caters to allowing this vehicle to wear a truck camper at all times for folks with average or even below average garage door openings (additional 4" could easily be eaten up by a ski rack, etc.).

That's really it. The theme of these ideas are to maximize the utility of things that already exist. I'm sure some of these things can't be marketed due to legal issues, but I don't think you need to market them, because we are ALL already thinking it. Once people start seeing truck caps/campers on these things, the PEOPLE become the marketing channel.

That's all folks-- happy to be here and very excited for the release of these trucks! Go Scout go!

Hello! Welcome to the community!

 

[ksears]

Hello! Welcome to the community!

Thanks! Excited to have a vector to channel my excitement around series-hybrid vehicles

 

[J Alynn]

Hey all! This is my first post, so I apologize if this is improper or duplicative in some way.

I have a desire for the Terra at a high level, which I think ultimately serves creating the best vehicle. I see this idea as filling a hole in the market due to no vehicle specifically delivering on all of the associated requirements that are necessary to make this happen, and this new vehicle feels like an open opportunity to fill that gap.

The ultimate truck bed camper:
The popularity of lightweight, compact truck bed campers that are small enough to fit into a garage is surging (GFC camper, SuperPacific camper, etc). These units are compact enough to be left full-time on the vehicle with minimal affects on aerodynamic efficiency, while adding a massive amount of utility through also having a lockable truck cap for tools, and a camper with you at all times.

As a middle-class tech employee, living in an urban environment like downtown Denver with a single-vehicle lifestyle and a garage-- having a system where I can store a camper inside, and also depart at the drop of a hat to go work from the road in comfort is "van life" nirvana.

Use-case agnostic features that also perfectly serve this use case:

• > 5kw bed power. I know current target specs says 120/220v power which sounds great, but I just want to reiterate how important it is to be able to access the wealth of power that these EV's can output. Being able to cook with high powered induction appliances is hugely important, and it would be great to be able to power other things while that is happening (charging an auxiliary battery, etc.).
• Having the cab accessible in some fashion from the bed.
  • Whether it's being able to roll the window down all the way so people can crawl through into the cab (no, you do NOT have to market it this way) or even have the back fold down in a similar fashion to the Silverado EV. This would allow you to get out of hairy situations in an emergency.
  • More interestingly, this would also allow you to use the vehicle HVAC system for heating and cooling the small truck camper!
• HVAC feeding the bed: More intentionally, if you just had another HVAC duct going into the bed with an air-tight cover for when it's not in use.. This could allow people to keep their pets in the bed with a truck cap in a conditioned space, and also enable using it for camping with a truck camper shell.
• Keep the square shape of the bed! This design geometry is crucial for aftermarket camper shell attachment, since for manufacturing simplicity they are all square shaped.
• Air suspension: This is not a necessity in my mind, and I know this one is a bit controversial, but it would be great as an option. Here's why: The Rivian R1T in its lowest suspension setting with a GFC V2 truck camper comes in at like 79" tall, meaning it will just fit into my 80" tall garage (84" garage openings are average). Again, this caters to allowing this vehicle to wear a truck camper at all times for folks with average or even below average garage door openings (additional 4" could easily be eaten up by a ski rack, etc.).

That's really it. The theme of these ideas are to maximize the utility of things that already exist. I'm sure some of these things can't be marketed due to legal issues, but I don't think you need to market them, because we are ALL already thinking it. Once people start seeing truck caps/campers on these things, the PEOPLE become the marketing channel.

That's all folks-- happy to be here and very excited for the release of these trucks! Go Scout go!

Welcome aboard. It’s already been shown that the rear window of the Terra will roll down so first item off your list. Second item is air suspension. While not likely standard it will be an option -has been publicly stated by Scott Keogh-two items checked off.
While I would normally agree with a standardized bed shape (in construction/design so cross using items is always an advantage) in this case I would argue against it but here’s why. The evolution is coming for EV trucks. Why not be the first company to have a solar clad in-bed camper as you note that can trickle charge your Terra ALL the time. If it’s low enough and people are going to leave them in place then take full advantage. It’s not like temp solar panels that blow off when moving. Then, make the in-bed portion in a shape that fits the majority of truck beds but then has something like an adjustable coupling to seal at top of truck beds-or maybe they are made as a per-vehicle manufacturer shape so the majority of the unit as of today can fit in a Rivian, a Lightning or a Terra but the coupling/skirt-some trademarked outdoorsy name completes the rig. Now when you are driving your 500 miles, after you’ve been parked in your office lot for 40 hours the prior week, the camper has served as a solar battery (integrate it in the base inside the bed portion) and you have significant extra battery life.
Solar panels have been discussed but that’s a set up take down scenario. In theory these could essentially be permanent and always collecting energy when outside and sunny

 

[ksears]

Welcome aboard. It’s already been shown that the rear window of the Terra will roll down so first item off your list. Second item is air suspension. While not likely standard it will be an option -has been publicly stated by Scott Keogh-two items checked off.
While I would normally agree with a standardized bed shape (in construction/design so cross using items is always an advantage) in this case I would argue against it but here’s why. The evolution is coming for EV trucks. Why not be the first company to have a solar clad in-bed camper as you note that can trickle charge your Terra ALL the time. If it’s low enough and people are going to leave them in place then take full advantage. It’s not like temp solar panels that blow off when moving. Then, make the in-bed portion in a shape that fits the majority of truck beds but then has something like an adjustable coupling to seal at top of truck beds-or maybe they are made as a per-vehicle manufacturer shape so the majority of the unit as of today can fit in a Rivian, a Lightning or a Terra but the coupling/skirt-some trademarked outdoorsy name completes the rig. Now when you are driving your 500 miles, after you’ve been parked in your office lot for 40 hours the prior week, the camper has served as a solar battery (integrate it in the base inside the bed portion) and you have significant extra battery life.
Solar panels have been discussed but that’s a set up take down scenario. In theory these could essentially be permanent and always collecting energy when outside and sunny

Thank you!

• Great about the window! I thought I had seen a rendering showing the window going down but couldn't recall. I think that's going to be hugely important!
• Also love to hear that about air suspension-- the R1T is currently the only truck that would fit in my garage with an in-bed camper
• Totally agree on offering a proprietary camper option! I think that absolutely makes sense, and would be epic to have solar panels feeding the car (I pitched that idea to GFC recently). Though I'm a bit jaded by Rivian maybe biting off more than they can chew and offering all these concept accessories that have either been abandoned (original camp kitchen) or haven't materialized yet (roof top tent). It's all amazing in concept, though I have a hard time believing Scout will have the bandwidth to deliver something like that while scaling production (and I'm impatient! )

 

[J Alynn]

Thank you!

• Great about the window! I thought I had seen a rendering showing the window going down but couldn't recall. I think that's going to be hugely important!
• Also love to hear that about air suspension-- the R1T is currently the only truck that would fit in my garage with an in-bed camper
• Totally agree on offering a proprietary camper option! I think that absolutely makes sense, and would be epic to have solar panels feeding the car (I pitched that idea to GFC recently). Though I'm a bit jaded by Rivian maybe biting off more than they can chew and offering all these concept accessories that have either been abandoned (original camp kitchen) or haven't materialized yet (roof top tent). It's all amazing in concept, though I have a hard time believing Scout will have the bandwidth to deliver something like that while scaling production (and I'm impatient! )

Yeah-the problem is your an auto maker or your an accessories maker. You can’t be a start-up and successfully tackle both

 

[ksears]

Yeah-the problem is your an auto maker or your an accessories maker. You can’t be a start-up and successfully tackle both

Yup, agreed.

 

[R1TVT]

• Totally agree on offering a proprietary camper option! I think that absolutely makes sense, and would be epic to have solar panels feeding the car (I pitched that idea to GFC recently). Though I'm a bit jaded by Rivian maybe biting off more than they can chew and offering all these concept accessories that have either been abandoned (original camp kitchen) or haven't materialized yet (roof top tent). It's all amazing in concept, though I have a hard time believing Scout will have the bandwidth to deliver something like that while scaling production (and I'm impatient! )

I'm confused - tons of GFC campers have solar and they already sell a kit. And its an accessory to an accessory company, since GFC isn't making proprietary solar panels but they are instead accommodating them in their designs.

Solar Panel Starter Kit

Interested in singlehandedly harnessing the power of the sun, and using it however you please? This Solar Panel Starter Kit includes everything you need to mount one solar panel to the roof of your Platform Camper or Topper, using in-house precision CNC machined 6061-T6 billet aluminum parts...

gofastcampers.com

Rivian didn't bite off anything with a RTT since they just partnered with a thrid party to co-brand their tent. They had some initial supply & production issues with Yakima during COVID, and also experienced low demand for the original camp kitchen due to cost, space and the fact that a bunch of people that go camping already own a lot of the other things that came with it (other than a new fangled induction top). So what did they do? They added a travel kitchen to their gear shop that is basically just the cooktop and can be plugged in anywhere and not take up all the precious cargo space in the gear tunnel

Travel Kitchen - Gear Shop - Rivian

Designed in-house by Rivian, this 2-burner induction cooktop, food prep surface and storage space is built specifically for your R1 and beyond.

rivian.com

If you want a Yakima co-branded RTT, you can absolutely get one here:

R1S Three-Person Tent - Gear Shop - Rivian

Light and durable, Yakima's Skyrise HD Medium Rooftop Tent is the result of our collaboration with Yakima. We've customized the design for a perfect fit on the Rivian Cargo Crossbars.

rivian.com

Personally, I would go for a clamshell set-up like a GFC as opposed to a big, bulky Yakima RTT on an EV truck.

 

[ksears]

I'm confused - tons of GFC campers have solar and they already sell a kit. And its an accessory to an accessory company, since GFC isn't making proprietary solar panels but they are instead accommodating them in their designs.

Solar Panel Starter Kit

Interested in singlehandedly harnessing the power of the sun, and using it however you please? This Solar Panel Starter Kit includes everything you need to mount one solar panel to the roof of your Platform Camper or Topper, using in-house precision CNC machined 6061-T6 billet aluminum parts...

gofastcampers.com

Rivian didn't bite off anything with a RTT since they just partnered with a thrid party to co-brand their tent. They had some initial supply & production issues with Yakima during COVID, and also experienced low demand for the original camp kitchen due to cost, space and the fact that a bunch of people that go camping already own a lot of the other things that came with it (other than a new fangled induction top). So what did they do? They added a travel kitchen to their gear shop that is basically just the cooktop and can be plugged in anywhere and not take up all the precious cargo space in the gear tunnel

Travel Kitchen - Gear Shop - Rivian

Designed in-house by Rivian, this 2-burner induction cooktop, food prep surface and storage space is built specifically for your R1 and beyond.

rivian.com

If you want a Yakima co-branded RTT, you can absolutely get one here:

R1S Three-Person Tent - Gear Shop - Rivian

Light and durable, Yakima's Skyrise HD Medium Rooftop Tent is the result of our collaboration with Yakima. We've customized the design for a perfect fit on the Rivian Cargo Crossbars.

rivian.com

Personally, I would go for a clamshell set-up like a GFC as opposed to a big, bulky Yakima RTT on an EV truck.

Good morning!

Solar panel comment:
Specifically what I was referring to when tangentially mentioning solar panels being part of a proprietary camper was a significant amount of solar, and enough to charge the vehicle to a meaningful degree. Not just slapping a panel on the roof, which yes you are correct that GFC already does this, and anyone can do that. Check out the GoSun Array link below, which in and of itself would add too much thickness to a GFC camper if you slapped it on top. So what I was implying when replying to @J Alynn was that it would be cool if something like that was integrated into the camper shell itself to reduce footprint, and even have a connector to charge the car directly!

GoSun Rooftop Array

Travel kitchen:
I think their delivery of this "camp kitchen" device and whether it delivers on the integrated camp kitchen is entirely subjective when compared to the concept and renderings of the original camp kitchen design. Personally, I have no interest in a box attached to a hitch, since I can build that myself with ease-- the original had appeal because it slid out of the vehicle without occupying the hitch, which is where I store my bikes

Roof top tent:
I do not want a rooftop tent for a Rivian, nor do I currently want a Rivian! Also, the co-branded rooftop tent is also not what I'm referring to, but the rooftop tent that Rivian announced they would be building themselves, along with the revised hitch-mounted camp kitchen. The only reason I brought any of these up was to illustrate that EV manufacturers like Rivian seem to be biting off more than they can chew with these accessory product announcements, and dialing back their ambitions accordingly

 

[R1TVT]

OK, maybe I need to take a step back b/c I am unsure what you are asking for? Also, I never saw Rivian announce that they were ever planning to build their own Roof Top Tent? Where did you see this? The tent you posted is on an R2 (not in production yet) and was a prototype built by iKamper (not by Rivian).

Again, these are co-marketing deals (not proprietary projects whereby they do their own manufacturing of these accessories). Also - the original camp kitchen that slide out of the gear tunnel was built by Snowpeak I believe.

I'm sure Scout will have a TON of opportunity to co-brand and work with aftermarket companies on all kinds of cool accessories. I wouldn't worry about any distractions regarding their focus on the truck in this case (or for Rivian)... These are just likely alliances for any OEM with and adventure or outdoor orientation to make.

 

[ksears]

OK, maybe I need to take a step back b/c I am unsure what you are asking for? Also, I never saw Rivian announce that they were ever planning to build their own Roof Top Tent? Where did you see this? The tent you posted is on an R2 (not in production yet) and was a prototype built by iKamper (not by Rivian).

Again, these are co-marketing deals (not proprietary projects whereby they do their own manufacturing of these accessories). Also - the original camp kitchen that slide out of the gear tunnel was built by Snowpeak I believe.

I'm sure Scout will have a TON of opportunity to co-brand and work with aftermarket companies on all kinds of cool accessories. I wouldn't worry about any distractions regarding their focus on the truck in this case (or for Rivian)... These are just likely alliances for any OEM with and adventure or outdoor orientation to make.

Haha yeah lets rewind. Everything that you and I are discussing is a tangent from what I actually posted about, which was a camper-agnostic wishlist of vehicle features to support campers like the GFC V2.

J Alynn brought up the idea of a totally proprietary camper, and I was just agreeing that this would make sense for Scout if they could make it work with other priorities. I then started discussing my doubts that any startup EV manufacturer would have bandwidth for advanced proprietary accessory projects like that, and I used Rivian as an example with the camp kitchen and the tent.

You may very well be correct about the tent being a joint venture that I wasn't aware about-- I didn't remember iKamper being mentioned in their 2024 press release about the tent and the V2 camp kitchen, so I just assumed it was fully in-house! Though I think the camp kitchen still is proprietary, so either way I think my opinion remains unchanged about EV manufacturers taking on complex proprietary accessory projects while scaling vehicle production. This discussion is not the point of my post, and I just want that to be abundantly clear

 

[R1TVT]

100% agree. OEM's should focus on building trucks. When the OEM's engineering team considers how 3rd parties and aftermarket companies might make accessories or integrate products (things like bars, racks, toppers, lights, etc.) its a win-win. Scout seems into that approach (more so than Rivian in certain aspects).

 

[ksears]

Agreed! Just watched the TFL update video yesterday and really appreciate those small nods to the utilitarian folks, like the molly panel in the frunk. Also LOVED the pull-out table in the passenger seat! My partner and I work remotely from our car more than I'd like to admit so that we can beat traffic up to the mountains on Thursday/Friday, and pulling over to take meetings/write emails is a somewhat regular occurrence. Really appreciate and want to encourage this idea that cars are more than "just cars" these days.