Crowdsource camper design for Cybertruck

[CyberMoose]

I respect using a truck as a truck and that's how I think of my current truck. Personally I don't consider the Cybertruck as just a truck; it has amazing utility, performance and luxury. To me, I think it's just in a class of it's own. Right now I have 3 vehicles and i'm selling 2 of them and i'm just keeping my first truck because I can't think about parting with it. I think the Cybertruck will do whatever we want it to do; commuter, work truck, off roading, or camp vehicle.

As for condensation, I'm not overly worried about it. Condensation happens inside of a vehicle when the warm air cools to the dew point against a surface that is cooled by the outside temperature. This is most commonly seen on the inside of windows in the winter when people blast the heat when they get in their car and the windows are still cold. When the car heats up, the windows are still cold but you don't have to worry about condensation, unless you point the hot air from the vent at a window. Once your desired temperature is reached and the vehicle only has to maintain it instead of working overtime to reach it, there is minimal condensation. I'm not saying that there would be absolutely no condensation, but I don't think it would be enough to cause a problem. I actually used to practically live in my car because I would do so much overtime everyday, it was easier to just sleep in the parking lot and shower at work; I've never had a probelm with a glass sunroof dripping on me in the winter.

Advertisement

 

[Crissa]

If you think condensation happens in a truck, wait until you sleep in a tent.

-Crissa

 

[cybercamper]

Well, the best platform for camping will be in a CyberVan. (This time I will reserve on Day 1)
Pulling the trailer of your choice with a Cybertuck is a great option in the meantime. Hopefully the 110v AC receptacle in the Cybertruck will be a 30A RV outlet. Be sure to replace the absorption fridge in the trailer with a 110v compressor type, you can leave it plugged in even while driving.

How much value does the 110v outlet bring to the Cybertruck?

Well, the Winnebago Travato 59GL (lithium) costs $22,000 more than a regular Travato 59G
Worse yet, the GL only has 9kwh on board, one-tenth of what the Cybertruck has. DAMN

 

[ajdelange]

Some comments on the electrification questions:

Obviously the best place to get 110/220 in such a camper is from the electrical outlets in the bed. The only reason not to take power from there is that you need every ampere hour in the battery for traction to get home. The one question I have with those outlets is as to whether they will be alive or not when the truck is "off". For them to be able to server their intended purpose (nail guns, compressors, saws... at a job site) I would think they would have to be.

Many think about going to a campsite, setting up a solar panel or two and recharging their batteries. There has been tons of discussion as to how little energy reasonable sized panels will give. One typical panel of the type that goes on the roof of a house will give you 1.25 kWh per day under ideal conditions (summer, no shade or clouds) equivalent to perhaps 3 - 4 mile CT range. A solar tonneau has been talked about for a while and that means there will have to be an MPPT upconverter on board My hope is that Tesla will be smart enough to realize that making extra ports on that upconverter available, perhaps as an option, would be a great selling point. This would allow buyers to plug in any of dozens of portable panels and so charge the trucks main battery - not enough to cross the Yukon, perhaps, but at least enough to overcome a good part or all of the phantom drain.

Barring any of this the most practical (IMO) solution to power at a campsite would be one of the Jackery or Yeti packs. These things are chargeable from many portable panels and have AC sine wave inverters built in. Jackery makes them up to 1000 kWh with peak AC output of about 1100 W (enough to run a small microwave). It will run a good sized fridge (e.g. ARB) for a couple of days and can be recharged from portable panels at over 100 W if the sun cooperates). Yeti sells similar units up to 3 kWh with higher peak output but it is, clearly, pretty big, heavy and expensive.

 

[Crissa]

Yeah, hopefully Tesla will have solved the expanded solar/powering trailer problem at early release so we can make cool idea things like these.

-Crissa

 

[Tinker71]

Is there a photoshop pro out or other artist out there that could turn this into a rendering?

I didn't draw the tent, but this package would generally stay on your rig most of the time. It would not weigh much or affect your aerodynamics, You could easily stand up in the tent section from the truck bed. You could even crawl around your campsite while deployed to move to the shade or grab a better spot. You could fit solar panels into the hard shell and remove them to stands while camping/deployed. They would generate decent power while parked everyday. You could use some sort of strap winch system to deploy. One pulling/the other a brake. The tent could be an air beam as others have suggested or an accordion type system or just crawl through the back and insert some poles. I bet you could get this set up in less than 5 minutes in a rain storm. With careful consideration for the tent construction, you might be able to pivot it open part way if you had to carry larger items without removing the entire unit.

If you wanted to get fancy, your stove/kitchen area could be on rails and project out the back.

 

[cybercamper]

Barring any of this the most practical (IMO) solution to power at a campsite would be one of the Jackery or Yeti packs.

No thanks, been there and done that. All electric camping only uses 0.5 to 1 kwh per day. I don't want to stub my toes on a Jackery any more just to save 5 miles of range per day.

 

[cybercamper]

Tinker 71,
Three really good ideas:
1. The front hinge. Should be more durable than a conventional pop up. This concept is already in production https://palominorv.com/truck-campers/rogue-truck-campers
2. stove/kitchen area could be on rails. The kitchen cabinet lives up against the front of the vault, but rolls to the tailgate when camping. So when cooking, you are standing on the ground. The tent above provides shelter.
3. The tent could be an air beam. I'm imagining you could deploy an entire "bouncy castle" using the onboard compressor. Folding it back up could be a challenge unless it's designed to "undeploy" using a vacuum.

 

[Crissa]

I just use the battery in my Mazda 3. The Cybertruck has much more battery capacity.

-Crissa

 

[FullyGrounded]

Yeah, hopefully Tesla will have solved the expanded solar/powering trailer problem at early release so we can make cool idea things like these.

-Crissa

I would love to see Tesla make a trailer with a skateboard floor. I mean, how many CT batteries could fit in a 16-24' trailer (7-8' wide). The extended range that would allow, even with a load - amazing, amazingly helpful, amazingly pragmatic. peace

 

[ajdelange]

No thanks, been there and done that. All electric camping only uses 0.5 to 1 kwh per day. I don't want to stub my toes on a Jackery any more just to save 5 miles of range per day.

Jackery makes 0.5 and 1 kWh packs
The 1 kWh pack would save you 2 mi per day.
OK with stubbing your toe on reservoir battery and inverter though?

 

[Tinker71]

Tinker 71,
Three really good ideas:
1. The front hinge. Should be more durable than a conventional pop up. This concept is already in production https://palominorv.com/truck-campers/rogue-truck-campers
2. stove/kitchen area could be on rails. The kitchen cabinet lives up against the front of the vault, but rolls to the tailgate when camping. So when cooking, you are standing on the ground. The tent above provides shelter.
3. The tent could be an air beam. I'm imagining you could deploy an entire "bouncy castle" using the onboard compressor. Folding it back up could be a challenge unless it's designed to "undeploy" using a vacuum.

I missed a critical arrow showing the operation of the hingle. It rotates 195 degrees. In travel mode the whole camper only adds 3 inches to the height of the rolling cover. (Which would either be retracted or removed.) It does not extend over the hood.

 

[cybercamper]

I missed a critical arrow showing the operation of the hingle. It rotates 195 degrees.

That's a great idea too. Yakima has that design, if I'm following you correctly.
https://yakima.com/products/skyrise-tent-green

 

[cybercamper]

To me one of the most important aspects of this design is to have the Cybertuck heat pump provide the HVAC inside the camper. That is one of the advantages of the "unfolding tent" that Tinker 71 is describing.

 

[TI4Dan]

I think it's a great idea to design a camper for CT, but maybe the purpose should be first considered. Truck campers can cover a wide range of lifestyles from multiple slide outs, full dry bathroom and a big basement to a light weight pop up roof, a porta potti, 2 burner stove and icebox. What are the top priorities for camper concept?