If you watch the popular YouTube channel RV Miles, you might have caught their recent video detailing how fast the RV industry is getting hit by the current fuel crunch. Gas prices are climbing again, and as Jason Epperson pointed out, it is not just the usual spring blend markup. Between global oil supply disruptions and crude oil prices swinging all over the place, diesel alone jumped over a dollar a gallon in just a month.
The RV industry is feeling the pain right as the spring buying season kicks off. Just look at the stock market. Winnebago, Thor, and Camping World have all taken a massive beating lately. Investors know that RV purchases don’t work out when fuel prices are high, and they also know that diesel prices are about to explode and stay high for most of the RV season.
And, the investors are right. Buyers are genuinely spooked, and honestly, who can blame them? Buying a fossil fueled RV right now means strapping yourself to an unpredictable roller coaster. The industry’s complete reliance on gas and diesel means their market stability is entirely at the mercy of global events. Unless they seriously look at decoupling from oil, they are going to ride this boom and bust cycle forever.
The Price Excuse Doesn’t Hold Up
The obvious excuse for not making a hard pivot to electric is price. Manufacturers love to claim that massive battery packs and EV drivetrains are just too expensive. But, let’s be realistic about what people are actually paying right now for their ICE rigs. When a luxury Class B van or a Class A motorhome regularly costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, there is absolutely room in the budget for cleaner and more efficient technology.
If a buyer is already dropping a quarter of a million dollars, an electric drivetrain isn’t the dealbreaker the industry pretends it is. Companies like Grounded are already showing what is possible, like when they built a 250-mile camper van on the BrightDrop platform. The technology is here, but the legacy builders are dragging their feet.
RV culture in general is still happy with fossil fuels, but new buyers aren’t willing to jump in when prices are high. Investors know this, and they know that failure to adapt will mean an industry that goes the way of Harley Davidson as younger buyers don’t get attracted to the lifestyle.
Trailers Can’t Wait For Better Trucks
Trailer manufacturers technically have an easier task since they don’t have to build a primary drivetrain. A travel trailer can be pulled by anything. A gasoline truck, a diesel truck, an electric truck. A team of horses. The trailer just gets pulled along for the ride.
But, doing nothing and hoping buyers switch to electric trucks later isn’t an option. It is a massive cop out. They can’t just keep building heavy, unaerodynamic bricks. They need to actively participate in the transition. Some companies, like Aliner with the Amp model, are taking this seriously by improving already efficient options and adding green value to make them work well with EV tow vehicles.
Other manufacturers are trying to reinvent things more thoroughly. Building in aerodynamic shapes and battery assisted axles turns a trailer from a massive towing burden into a self sustaining part of the solution. We have seen startups nail this concept recently. The Pebble Flow and the Lightship L1 both use their own battery packs and motors to propel themselves, basically eliminating the towing penalty.
Sadly, though, you won’t find most of these options on an RV dealer lot. The industry is going on like it’s the 1990s.
Tethered to the Pump
The RV lifestyle is supposed to be about freedom. Not only do you get freedom to roam, but freedom to have the comforts of home out closer to nature. For some people, this is a luxury. For others with medical conditions, sometimes it’s about the only way to stay close to nature.
Right now, most of the RV industry is tethered to the gas pump and propane sellers. If legacy brands want to survive the next decade of inevitable fuel shocks, they need to start pushing the envelope on electrification and efficiency today.
The Iran conflict should serve as a wake up call, not a reason to hit the snooze button.