Lightship RV, an All-Electric Motorhome and Tow Trailer Startup Has Leased a 32,000 Square-Foot Production Facility in Broomfield, but their Product’s Organic Popularity is Murky at Best
Most new companies don’t turn a profit in their first few years. It’s normal for any big venture, such as an electric vehicle startup, to run a large debt ratio early on. As such, it will take on investors. Investors in these companies will spare some early profits if the venture looks good in the long run.
Based on recent EV woes and other data, the money for this new electric RV push in Broomfield doesn’t appear to match consumer interest. Can an expensive startup for an expensive product benefit the investors and the community where it’s made? Will it?
This being a company that sells RVs, most Americans’ common sense cultural reckoning is another factor. Does the image of the gregarious Midwestern retired couple with a full-sized RV or a tow-camper appear to be the demographic for “making an impact,” shopping at Whole Foods and being concerned about pollination patterns outdoors? Do the RV and EV overlap that extensively?
Is a Zero Emission RV Necessary or Do Activists Want it to Be?
It’s assumed, asserted, and pre-supposed by many in leadership in the EV sector that the earth will either end or suffer apocalyptic damage if fossil fuel consumption is not squelched within the next few years. Lightship CEO and co-founder Benjamin Parker said, “There’s a shot clock . . . on climate right now,” in a Forbes Magazine feature video. This presumed urgency shows the pre-supposition of the EV sector: that everybody just knows the earth is hurtling towards a climate cataclysm. As such, alternatives to fossil fuels, gas, and oil aren’t just preferred or suitable; they’re required. If any citizen wants an RV, it will be an electric RV. Why would there be any discussion?
“There’s a shot clock . . . on climate right now.” – Ben Parker, CEO and co-founder of Lightship RV in Forbes
Despite smarmy “I did my own research” memes, there is a long, established, well-documented legacy of almost a century of failed climate disaster prophecy. (Linking to such articles here can result in penalties from web crawlers and related algorithms. But this information is readily available with a simple internet search.) For this reason, the general populace isn’t clamoring for EVs or E RVs due to a necessity or a perceived necessity.
Isn’t the market growing? Maybe. There’s certainly a lot of hype. And when government agencies, state or nationwide, purchase fleets of EVs, this can easily suggest there is a big consumer market for them and hence the popular appeal.
Additionally, while there are various rebates and lifetime cost calculations, EVs are much more expensive up front, and this shows up in the bottom line of auto manufacturers. Finally, many financial news items on electric vehicles will cite the “EV market” as a booming sector. What might not be said is this “market” could easily include scooters, bikes, and maybe even hoverboards. Most people will spend a few hundred on a battery-powered hobby or a secondary form of transportation. And that can inflate the numbers for the “EV market.” Those purchases can then be lumped in with expensive cars.
Even EV Supporters Are Covering the Sector’s Woes – Electric RVs Might Face Obstacles:
- EV sales slowing in 2023. Why are more Americans unlikely to buy one? (usatoday.com) (USA Today is a pro-EV source.)
- The US Refuses to Fall in Love With Electric Cars | WIRED (WIRED Magazine is Silicon Valley’s go-to establishment publication and this article’s thrust is that this refusal is a serious problem. WIRED is a fearsomely aggressive pro-EV source.)
- Lithium Crisis Threatens Electric Car Boom After 500% Surge – Bloomberg (Bloomberg Media; an aggressively pro-EV news service.)
- Factbox: World faces a shortage of lithium for electric vehicle batteries | Reuters (Reuters – pro-EV source)
- Regarding certain ocean freighter companies banning EVs from their ships, the Washington Examiner reported: Electric vehicles don’t pass shipping line safety assessment: ‘We will never compromise’ | Washington Examiner (Washington Examiner – EV skeptical source)
Sam D. Smith, the former head of BBC Top Gear Sri Lanka and runner-up for the Guild of Motoring Writer’s Sir William Lyons Trophy, says it plainly, “US electric car startups are burning through cash in the face of waning demand.”
A Vehicle for Other Messages: Media Hype
The news media love EVs and all-electric everything. Most 20th-century news mediums or forums are aggressively environmentalist. Any brands in the EV, sustainable business, or green sector are favorites of such media. Good news or good hype about EVs is always covered, and any bad news about them is suppressed or ignored. This will likely be the case with local or regional Colorado media when the Lightship warehouse opens.
Again, the organic reality on the ground, such as perhaps in Broomfield, might be different than the old media want it to be. There’s also a sizable risk involved when the product is not a small consumer item like cosmetics or ethically sourced foods but is a $125,000 tow trailer that’s 27 feet long.
Blue City Powered Green: San Francisco and the Northeast Fund the Upfront Cost
Perhaps the investors in Lightship know the RV industry well. Perhaps they also have serious financial interests and not just ideological commitments to mobility and environmentalism. But maybe it’s more one than the other.
In early fundraising, Lightship had secured $23 million.
As a climate investor looking to tackle the complex and stubborn portion of greenhouse emissions coming from personal vehicle tailpipes, we’re looking for opportunities to accelerate EV adoption. – Victoria Beasley, Environmentalist Investor and RV Lightship Board Member talking about the company
Existing and New Investors to Lightship as of June 2022:
- My Climate Journey in Boston, MA – an “early-stage climate tech fund,” according to financial news agency crunchbase.com
- Obvious Ventures in San Fransisco – “Venture capital for startups reimagining trillion-dollar industries through a world positive lens.”
- Congruent Ventures in San Fransisco – a climate tech investing firm
- HyperGuap in Seattle – on the company profiling website Pitchbook, Hyperguap is billed as a “firm [that] seeks to invest in innovative and impactful startups.”
- Alumni Ventures in Manchester, New Hampshire – their culture statement is “To grow, engage and learn with an inclusive community of stakeholders to create difference-making ventures.”
As for consumer monies, according to a 2017 CarMax survey cited by the center-right Manhattan Institute, 73% of EV sales are from people who make more than $100,000 per year.
The wealthiest 18% of the US comprise almost three-fourths of the EV market overall.
The flagship product for Lightship is a $125,000 self-propelled tow camper with its own electric powertrain. The company’s founders are in the middle of a nationwide showcase tour hitting all the startup fairs and technology gatherings this summer and fall. The answer regarding genuine consumer interest is unclear.
The Hype Looks to be in the Stock and the Cause vs. the Product
An easy way to see how organically interested the public is in something is to type it into the world’s largest search engine and see the results. It’s not foolproof, but it’s a no-barrier way to get the contour of how popular something is. The list below reflects a simple search on June 30.
Search Results for the Lightship E RV:
- “lightship rv” – 186,000 hits
- “lightship rv stock” – 385,000 hits
These results suggest more people are searching for a company to invest in than appear to be interested in the product. How many Americans are looking to invest in a startup that is not yet publicly traded and has not sold one completed product?
When queried about the annual number of units to be produced, the CEO did not have a firm answer. Investor, RV, and EV enthusiast Dave Lee did a full-hour interview with CEO Ben Parker at a recent SXSW (South by Southwest) tech fair. Among the probing questions, Lee asked about some hard numbers on volume. “I want to tell you a lot more about it, but I can’t share it right now,” Parker said. Many of his answers were along these lines.
Will it be Popular?
The company plans mass production to begin in late 2024 from its new Broomfield, Colorado, plant. Some numbers from various media suggest the company will produce “thousands” of items and hire “dozens” of workers.
Green money from blue cities funding a self-described former “pet project” in the very glittery EV market dominated by wealthy urban citizens is a tenuous proposal, based on the whole context.
Can a hilly state with wildly diverse climates get on board with the climate revolution when it comes to RVs?
