Is there a surge!

[breb]

Is there another big surge in building and buying teardrop trailers? I went and did a search for a list of teardrop trailer manufacturers and was amazed at the list that showed up. I don't believe that was a comprehensive list just what is present on the web at this time. I'm sure that Covid had something to do with the up tic in the camping element of it and along with that the desire to build or buy. What's your take on it?

[Socal Tom]

Could be, I can see it being a way to start a cheap business if you are an out of work craftsman. And TDs are a cheap way to get outdoors, with a big increase in comfort over a tent!

[rowerwet]

They're about the only answer for the reduced towing capacity of modern cars.

[S. Heisley]

There is a surge in the buying of all RV products, including teardrops and even kayaks and canoes.
Now, some large ticket items have a waiting list of 6 months to a year to purchase new.
This was brought on by the COVID problem, as people can feel fairly safe, camping in the outdoors.
Once the COVID problem is solved, there will most likely a glut of RV's on the market, but not as big as what was sold during this time.
I suspect that some people will continue to camp because they will have found out how nice it is to get out in the "wild".
Also, camping is a tad less expensive than a hotel, so they can take more mini vacations, etc. MHO

[tony.latham]

I think it was in October that I checked my book sales and discovered that someone in Japan had bought 68.

Go figure. I've heard several companies are shipping new teardrops there.

This Turkish manufacturer is showing his off in Japan:



キャラバン = Caravan

Tony

[Modstock]

Wait, you can camp in Japan?
I thought that place was too small and overcrowded.
Hell they can't even bury bodies for funerals anymore, they have to be cremated cause lack of land.

Sent from my SM-A115AP using Tapatalk

[TimC]

I wonder what's going to happen to the small trailer industry when auto mfrs go predominantly electric. I don't know much about e vehicles, but, it seems to me the trend to smaller rvs will explode. RV parks might become more like fixed RV parks with rental units fully equipped for "campers". Not my thing but that would fill the void for people that don't really like to camp (like most folks at the RV parks I've driven by.)

We're a few years out from that challenge. However, if I was a young man with crafty skills I'd be jumping in the small, light trailer market.

Tim

[Tom&Shelly]

I wonder what's going to happen to the small trailer industry when auto mfrs go predominantly electric. I don't know much about e vehicles, but, it seems to me the trend to smaller rvs will explode. RV parks might become more like fixed RV parks with rental units fully equipped for "campers". Not my thing but that would fill the void for people that don't really like to camp (like most folks at the RV parks I've driven by.)

We're a few years out from that challenge. However, if I was a young man with crafty skills I'd be jumping in the market.

Tim

Sort of wondered about this myself. A few months ago I read an article by a British "automotive expert" exclaiming how electric cars will take over the market. On the (current) limited range, he said something like "sure, you can't drive from London to Edinburgh, or from New York to Los Angeles without recharging, but how many do that?" So he's equating a 400 mile drive with a 2800 mile drive. In fact, I know lots of folks who drive from Albuquerque NM to Denver CO (450 miles) many times a year.

This guy was extolling some electric car he claimed was about like a VW Golf, and saying we no longer needed gasoline powered vehicles. Need I mention, most of us who drive from Albuquerque to Denver need to do so in something like a pickup truck, or larger? Those of us who drive to somewhere near Denver, West of the Front Range, also sometimes need 4 wd.

The poor fellow clearly knows little of automotive requirements in the Western US.

I don't know how much the electric vehicle developers are paying attention to this market. I've often thought, with electric motors' natural high torque capabilities, they would do well in a 4 wd vehicle. Seems like one could design a vehicle with a separate motor for each wheel, even. (As you say, "if I was a young man with crafty skills...")

But the requirements for longer range small trucks here in Western North America (and I'd imagine in most of Australia, and many other parts of the world) and volume of that type of traffic, for business and for recreation, will have to be satisfied before we go to an all-electric vehicle economy.

Tom

[tony.latham]

I see below zero winter temps and lots of dead batterys?

I used to wonder about that too... mainly about charging them below 32º but EV batteries have the juice (and brains) needed to keep them at operating temperature. They just heat themselves.

Teslas, use 240 volts to charge at home. Dunno about the "filling" stations.

If Toyota made a 4WD Tacoma that performed the same as mine–-and there was an infrastructure to support it––I'd buy one in a heartbeat. No more water pump, alternator, fuel pump, injectors, rings, pistons, crankshaft, oil pump, transmission, and a hundred other moving parts that do and will fail.

I never thought I would own an electric bike, but it's dope.

Now... back to teardrop surge chatter.

Tony

[rjgimp]

I never thought I would own an electric bike, but it's dope.

Now... back to teardrop surge chatter.

Tony

Brilliant repurposing of a nearly defunct term from your youth...

[GPW]

Electric is the Future !!! Might as well get some use out of that Giant flaming ball of Hydrogen we’ve bee circling so long …

Had it been Electric cars that caught on long ago , everybody would be whining about converting to gas …

[bobhenry]

G.M announced they will be all electric by 2028 ??? ( If memory serves me correct on the year.) That just isn't that far off !

[aggie79]

I wonder what's going to happen to the small trailer industry when auto mfrs go predominantly electric. I don't know much about e vehicles, but, it seems to me the trend to smaller rvs will explode. RV parks might become more like fixed RV parks with rental units fully equipped for "campers". Not my thing but that would fill the void for people that don't really like to camp (like most folks at the RV parks I've driven by.)

We're a few years out from that challenge. However, if I was a young man with crafty skills I'd be jumping in the small, light trailer market.

Tim

Maybe you can incorporate a propane or gas generator/charger into your teardrop so you can charge the EV while driving/towing the TD.

[Tom&Shelly]

I wonder what's going to happen to the small trailer industry when auto mfrs go predominantly electric. I don't know much about e vehicles, but, it seems to me the trend to smaller rvs will explode. RV parks might become more like fixed RV parks with rental units fully equipped for "campers". Not my thing but that would fill the void for people that don't really like to camp (like most folks at the RV parks I've driven by.)

We're a few years out from that challenge. However, if I was a young man with crafty skills I'd be jumping in the small, light trailer market.

Tim

Maybe you can incorporate a propane or gas generator/charger into your teardrop so you can charge the EV while driving/towing the TD.

Right! And then there's this thing to charge the e-bikes!



Tom

[TimC]

Does anyone know what the industry growth numbers are over the last ten years for commercially built teardrop-like trailers?

I would guess it is an upward curve. I'm too old to be interested in another career, but, investing in the industry might be something I'd be interested in. Not sure that that is a thing though. I'm thinking a large portion of the manufacturers are family endeavours and not something that is easily cracked into.

Tim