Living Vehicle—a Santa Barbara, California-based company founded in 2017 by LEED-accredited professionals and architects specializing in sustainable design and luxury residential construction—introduces its line of luxury travel trailers for 2024. Yes, they technically have wheels and are technically trailers, but both in design and price, Living Vehicle products look more like five-star hotels and full-time luxury mini-homes, looking fit for permanent living, not just vacationing.
The 2024 Living Vehicle range consists of two different aluminum chassis trailer models (Heavy Duty and Luxury Touring) which are available in three versions (Core, Max and Pro). The Heavy Duty, called the HD, is a 30-foot, three-axle iteration that weighs 14,000-16,000 pounds and has a GVWR of 18,000-20,000 pounds. The Luxury Touring, abbreviated to LT (and coming soon), is a smaller 24-foot, two-axle travel trailer with a base weight of 11,000-13,000 pounds and a GVWR of 14,000-16,000 pounds.
The LT-Core starts at $359,995, making the base Living Vehicle travel trailer more expensive than Bowlus’ flagship Volterra at $310,000. Take a deep breath; larger HD trailers are still more expensive, with the flagship HD-Pro version starting at $639,995. We had fun with Living Vehicle’s HD configurator and built ourselves a $900,000 travel trailer. If you want a million dollar travel trailer , Living Vehicle can probably do it.
Yes, that’s crazy travel trailer talk, but it’s actually not completely unheard of in the RV industry as a whole. For example, a 2023 Newmar King Aire motorcycle starts at $1.6 million, and the company’s Supreme Aire Super C starts at $720,000. As for a towable trailer? Let us know if you find more expensive than Living Vehicle. (Pro tip: If you’re trying to convince your significant other to get an expensive travel trailer, introduce a live vehicle first and then suggest the other expensive one you want.)
Living Vehicle admits that there is currently no EV truck or SUV that can safely tow its trailers. If you need a tow vehicle and want it to match your trailer, Living Vehicle has some recommendations after working with preferred suppliers to build exemplary custom Ram HD and Ford Super Duty tow trucks. The icing on the cake for the Living Vehicle Truck (LT-LVt and HD-LVt) is the LV emblem on the custom front grille.
At the heart of the Living Vehicle HD-Pro (we’ll stick with the flagship) is the LVenergy system and its lithium-ion batteries. The system offers 72kWh of battery storage and 18kW of power. Thanks to passenger- and driver-side sunshades that deploy to offer shade and reveal the solar-powered roof (see its photo – it has forty-four lightweight 100W thin-film monocrystalline solar panels), the HD-Pro has 4.4kW of solar power when the awnings are extended. Four optional 400W deployable solar panels add another 1.6kW of solar power for a total of 6kW. It also has Level 2 EV charging.
State-of-the-art energy-efficient appliances complement the huge capacities. The Living Vehicle boasts its standard 24K BTU mini-split dual-zone European-style heating and air conditioning system that draws a fraction of the power of traditional rooftop units. All Living Vehicle trailers are four-season vehicles, with the HD-Pro rated for minus 4 degrees to 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
Water from nowhere? Here’s a cool optional feature that the company is proud of. Living Vehicle offers a Watergen water generation system that extracts up to five gallons of water from the air in a 24-hour period. Purified water is delivered to a 100 gallon fresh water storage tank.
An optional Electrified Chef’s Kitchen package adds full electric appliances (induction cooktop, combination oven/convection/microwave), hot water filtration system, and freezer ice maker. It also includes a stainless propane barbecue and an aluminum folding table, both of which can be taken out onto the patio. The kitchen island you see in the photos – it can be removed and can be carried to the patio.
An optional Luxury Home Package adds a washer/dryer combo, dishwasher, and central vacuum system. Frankly, we were disappointed that she didn’t come with a hired housekeeper to use these appliances. An optional Air and Water Quality Package adds an app-based WIFI air purifier, an air quality monitoring system, a three-box filtration system, and UV water treatment. An optional bathroom spa package elevates the bathroom: 12V vitreous porcelain macerating toilet, outdoor extendable shower, folding teak and stainless steel shower seat and illuminated mirror with anti-sweat technology. What?!
When it comes to automation, the Living Vehicle HD-Pro “goes there”. A standard Bluetooth wireless hydraulic one-touch leveling system automatically deploys stabilizing legs to do the leveling for you. The legs can lift the entire trailer to change a tire. An optional hose and cable automation package includes a motorized power cable and a city water hose reel. An optional interior automation package allows electric control of blinds and shades and adds an actuator to the base of the table.
There are options when it comes to HD-Pro’s Queen Master Suite up front: Queen bunk beds, King bed and twin beds, for example. You can even choose beds with adjustable head and foot heights. The mobile office floor plan includes a sleek desk-to-bed system, and the LV Creative Studio includes a stack of computer equipment. An optional home theater package turns the bedroom into a private theater room with a 70-inch drop-down screen, overhead projector and surround sound. The HD-Pro can sleep up to 8 people.
Says Matthew Hoffman, CEO and Architect of Living Vehicle: “Living Vehicle is all-electric by design; however, it would be foolish to venture into the wild without a backup system when things don’t always go according to plan.” An optional integrated 98-pound propane tank can power the optional 6.5kW Onan (Cummins) commercial propane generator or backup power with heat.
There is too much to discuss when it comes to the Living Vehicle HD-Pro. Here’s the bottom line: If you see a travel trailer with a unique 8-foot patio slider leading to the fold-down patio deck, make friends with the owners.