Like a growing number of Americans, you might look back fondly on your younger days, strapping on a backpack and hiking into the woods for a weekend of camping adventures. But the days of sleeping on the hard ground are but a memory for most campers who prefer to have at least a few of the comforts of home wherever they bed down for the night.
Honda
That’s given rise to a growing market for lightweight, towable RVs like the Scamp Lite and Airstream Basecamp. And they could soon get some serious competition from Honda Motor Co. The automaker today pulled the wraps off the new Base Station Prototype, a small and modular package it believes could “revolutionize and redefine the towable EV space.”
“Base Station is a perfect example of what can happen when you let a team of researchers, designers and engineers pursue bold new ideas to create new value for our customers,” Jane Nakagawa, vice president of the American Honda R&D Business Unit, said during a preview of the new camper.
Big Things in a Small Package
The camper is small enough to fit into the typical garage or parking space, Honda noted, and, at under 1,500 pounds, can be towed by even some subcompact crossovers and sedans. The futuristic design of the Base Camp Prototype is no accident. Honda didn’t want to roll out just another small RV. While it folds into a compact, aerodynamic package, the prototype quickly pops open into a roomy living space with a 7-foot ceiling and room for as many as four. That includes a fold-down, queen-size futon, as well as an optional bunk bed for the kids.
Base Station shows a lot of creative thinking, such as the LED light ring surrounding its big side window. The design is modular, with a variety of different options available, including a fold-out kitchenette and shower. The modules, meanwhile, can be swapped in and out without the need for power tools, said the development team leader Dillon Kane.
“The goal is to democratize camping with a light, towable camper you can tow with a compact crossover or EV,” Kane explained during a sneak peek event at the Honda R&D center in Torrance, California where primary development work has been taking place.
A Focus on Comfort, Wherever You Go
Along with the kitchen and shower, Base Station can be equipped with a fully functional climate control system. You can easily plug it in should you settle in at one of the countless RV parks that dot the American landscape. But the Honda RV is designed to let you travel far off the beaten path and still enjoy many of the comforts of home.
The Base Station Prototype features a roof-mounted solar array. And its modular design also provides room, should a buyer choose, to mount a lithium-ion battery backup system, rather than having to rely on a generator for power at night or on rainy days. The pack Honda is developing should provide enough justice “to get you through a long weekend,” said Kane.
Related: The Idea of a Self-Driving RV Seems To Have Everyone Excited
A Package for Everybody
The flexibility of the Base Station design could give Honda a let up on the competition which, from a price standpoint runs around $17,000 for a stripped-down version of the Scamp Lite 13’ model to more than $54,000 for a well-equipped version of the Airstream Basecamp 16X. Honda officials haven’t yet set pricing but expect a production model “would be priced competitively in the towable RV market,” Honda’s U.S. sales chief Lance Woelfer said Tuesday during a media conference call. Translation: a stripped-down Base Station would almost certainly start at the low end, though a fully equipped package, especially with the solar array and battery backup system, would climb substantially higher.
“We wanted Base Station of be for everybody,” Nakagawa said.
Final development work is still underway and Honda hasn’t formally confirmed whether it will actually put the Base Station into production. But listening to individual members of the R&D team leaves little doubt the Japanese manufacturer is itching to get out there with Base Station. “We will share more information in the coming months,”, “including our future intentions” on building Base Station, Woelfer said.
