This pop-up camper could be a godsend for electric car owners – it even sleeps a family of four
CTP Motion's compact Aero4 camper is designed to sit in your electric car's aerodynamic slipstream
Quick Summary
CTP Motion has unveiled the Aero4, a compact micro-camper designed with electric vehicle owners in mind.
Its low-profile design aims to reduce aerodynamic drag while providing extra space for camping and carrying gear.
One of the biggest drawbacks of towing a caravan with an electric car is the hit to driving range. That's where CTP Motion's Aero4 comes in, with a compact design intended to make camping trips more practical for EV owners without dragging a huge box of a caravan behind them.
The Aero4 is billed as an EV-native family and gear micro-camper, and the key to its appeal is its shape. Rather than standing tall behind your car and catching the wind, it has a low profile designed to sit within the vehicle's aerodynamic slipstream.
CTP Motion says the Aero4 stands just 1.5 metres high and measures 1.75 metres wide. That compact footprint is intended to reduce the aerodynamic penalty of towing, although the actual effect on range will depend on the towing vehicle, speed and driving conditions.
Keeping the camper low and narrow could help reduce the impact on battery life, without giving up the extra storage space that makes a trailer useful in the first place.
The Aero4 is also designed to carry family essentials and outdoor gear, rather than simply acting as a miniature caravan. That makes it an option for anyone who wants to take bikes, camping equipment and other bulky kit on a weekend away without moving up to a much larger towing setup.
There's a growing range of camping trailers aimed at electric car owners, but the challenge remains the same: adding useful space without making every journey a battle against reduced range.
A compact camper with a carefully considered aerodynamic profile is one way to tackle that problem. It won't eliminate the extra energy needed to tow a trailer, but the design philosophy makes sense for drivers who want to take their EV further afield.
This is very much a design phase creation currently. For now, CTP Motion's approach is appealing. If you've invested in an electric car and want to spend more time outdoors, a camper designed around the realities of EV ownership sounds like a great starting point.
