
Tesla “Camper Mode” (2016) - kimsk112
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-tesla-camper-mode/
======
andrewtbham
The latest Tesla update makes "camper mode" much easier.

[https://electrek.co/2017/10/12/tesla-new-software-update-
con...](https://electrek.co/2017/10/12/tesla-new-software-update-convenience-
features/)

~~~
selectout
I'm still awaiting for the update myself or to hear from others on what kind
of battery drain to expect from 12 hours of use. Super excited for this
feature though.

------
maxxxxx
A while ago we rented a car for a trip to Vancouver island. We had a tent with
us and wanted to use that but the rental company upgraded us to a huge SUV and
we quickly realized that there was no point setting up the tent since we could
comfortably sleep in the back. So we ended up using the tent only once.

~~~
kazinator
Once, not far from Squamish, my wife and I slept quite nicely in a 6th gen
Honda Civic DX hatchback.

No SUV required.

~~~
c22
I used to sleep in my 1995 Honda Del Sol by pulling the passenger seat all the
way forward and fully reclined then resting with my head on the dashboard and
my feet going out the back window! Only worked on clear nights, though...

~~~
maxxxxx
This sounds pretty painful :-)

------
SwellJoe
I've slept in vans and cars and tents and a big class A motorhome with a slide
out living room and now sleep in a travel trailer towed by a big diesel
pickup. But, this is bonkers.

While I'd love to improve my fuel efficiency, this takes it a little too far
in the direction from "most of the comforts of home" to "no comforts of home".
There has been a real move toward fuel efficiency in some categories of
motorhome in recent years. Several really nice models are available that are
built on the Sprinter chassis, which gets 14-22 MPG if you're not in a hurry.
There's class B (van-like), class C (cutaway van chassis with a boxy house and
cabover), and even a few class A (has a bus-like body that covers the whole
chassis and usually provides the most living space) models. And, I've started
looking at replacing my big diesel V8 F250 with a newish Ford EcoBoost 3.5
liter V6 F150; similar towing capacity, much better fuel efficiency (though
towing a whole house will drop the efficiency by a lot).

What I'm trying to say is, while I love Tesla cars and a mobile lifestyle,
this is goofy. A tent on the ground would be more comfortable, assuming you're
camping in decent weather. A hybrid minivan or pickup with a topper would be
smarter if you wanted to do minor conversions on a fuel-efficient vehicle to
make it camp-friendly. I mean, I guess if you already have the Tesla and want
to sleep in it every now and then, that's not so crazy (though I couldn't, as
I'm 6' and can't sleep comfortably on my side).

~~~
illumin8
Did you read the article? You can lay the seats flat and sleep two 6'\+
individuals side by side. You also get a panoramic view of the night sky, and
a climate-controlled, HEPA filtration system.

This seems like an incredible way to go camping to me. I've gone camping for
years, and this would be great to be able to experience the star-filled night
sky, in a comfortable climate controlled environment, without having to pitch
a tent.

~~~
SwellJoe
"You can lay the seats flat and sleep two 6'\+ individuals side by side."

I did read the article. It said this: "However, the flat bed on the compact
Model 3 is long enough to accommodate only someone who is about 5 1/2 feet
long, stretched out."

~~~
illumin8
This article was written in 2016. Other articles have said that the Model 3
design team made modifications to ensure it was compatible with "Camper Mode."

~~~
illumin8
Replying to myself:
[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-31/driving-t...](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-31/driving-
tesla-s-model-3-changes-everything)

Ready for Camper Mode

Last year I wrote about a subculture of Tesla drivers who go camping in the
back of their cars. It sounds crazy at first, but the car’s massive battery
can maintain perfectly controlled climate all night while only losing about 7
percent of the car’s range. With the glass canopy overhead and the view of the
stars, it’s a great way to enjoy national parks without the bother of a
campsite. I tried it myself and loved it.

With the new Model 3, there’s great news for those Tesla campers and others
who like to haul long cargo. The seats of the Model 3 fold completely flat,
and with the front seats in their most forward position, the back bed measures
an impressive 6 feet 9 inches long (206 cm). This is a car that’s dying to be
slept in.

------
timthelion
It's a real pity that sleeping in your car is illegal in most cities.
Otherwise, with free parking and high rent, I suppose that cars would become
the pods everyone has been dreaming of.

~~~
IgorPartola
I don’t think I’ve ever dreamt of living in 60 cubic feet of space. Maybe
instead we should, I don’t know, create more places where people want to be,
rather than trying to cram everyone in the world into NYC and the Bay Area.

One of the biggest resources in the US is cheap abundant land. Why the hell
are we concentrating all the talent in a few square miles of it?

~~~
leggomylibro
Because all the talent likes being able to walk places in a few minutes.

I propose jetpacks, to vastly extend peoples' comfortable walking radii.

~~~
IgorPartola
Is that really the number one priority for talented people? Walking?

Besides, we have a dozen modes of transportation already available: cars,
buses, motorcycles, segways, bicycles, subways, trams, taxis, powered
walkways, rollerblades, skateboards, hover boards, ATVs, skis, sleds, horses,
etc. How exactly is walking the panacea of transportation? So much so that
people would be willing to live in cars?

~~~
santaclaus
> Is that really the number one priority for talented people? Walking?

Just walking? Maybe not. But fast commutes to work, easy access to
restaurants, easy access to culture, lots of things to do nearby, large dating
pools? Most certainly.

> cars, buses, motorcycles, segways, bicycles, subways, trams, taxis, powered
> walkways, rollerblades, skateboards, hover boards, ATVs, skis, sleds, horses

All of which take lots of time! People pay lots of money to live in certain
neighborhoods (think Williamsburg and the like) for a reason.

~~~
newlyretired
I'm reading Haidt's "Happiness Hypothesis" right now, and in one section he
identifies life circumstances which people never adjust to (i.e. excluded from
the Hedonistic treadmill effect).

A long commute is something he identifies as always a negative. Humans don't
seem to adjust to a long commute -- it will always negatively impact the
typical person's outlook/affect/happiness.

------
ProfessorLayton
This is actually pretty neat, since sleeping on the floor even with padding is
pretty awful for me.

I _really_ hope an electric car as practical as the now discontinued Honda
Element makes a comeback [1]. From what I read, you could even wash that thing
down with a hose if you wanted to! I would buy something like that in a
heartbeat.

[1]
[https://i.pinimg.com/736x/8c/60/8f/8c608f586b1e0d1b1367ec1b7...](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/8c/60/8f/8c608f586b1e0d1b1367ec1b7b5d8775
--honda-element-camping-dream-cars.jpg)

~~~
finnh
There's also a pop-top conversion[0] available for the Element, which takes
advantage of its very large rear sunroof (which cannot be opened while moving,
btw).

I own an Element and I've been flirting with this for years. I've slept in the
Element a few times with my wife, but I'm 6'3" and everything gets a bit
tight.

[0] [http://www.ursaminorvehicles.com/campers/element-
camper.html](http://www.ursaminorvehicles.com/campers/element-camper.html)

~~~
rconti
This has to be one of the worst websites I've seen in the past decade. I've
seen these vehicles on the road but never "gotten" the pop up part. I tried to
view a photo gallery (it doesn't work) and the only photos they have on the
main page don't show _what it looks like inside with the tent up_. Amazing.
I'm curious how usable the space is, and they don't help me figure it out.

~~~
mikestew
There’s a gallery you have to go hunt for in the menus called “Interior”.
Select the vehicle, select “interior” and...you’ll be met with a page that has
no photos.

Extrapolating from our Westfalia, the pop top will give you about two feet
where you stand straight up. I assume sleeping space up there, too. But who
would buy from a company that relies on strangers to _guess_ what it might be
like inside, and then tell you?

------
ChuckMcM
Perhaps we need a Model W the Westfalia edition :-).

Car camping has a long and rich history, the '71 Chevy Impala was used by
travelling salesmen because the bench seat in the back would fold flat into a
decent bed.

It is interesting that with a small number of 'tweaks' to where things were
laid out you could really improve the experience in the Model S.

~~~
got2surf
The rise in popularity (and price) of Westafalias recently has been
interesting to watch! Huge demand (even on $100k pre-upgraded versions), which
seems to be driven by younger folks.

~~~
netsharc
I feel like the van-life idea is growing, there are many videos of "here's me
converting a moving van to a house on wheels!". I guess the lack of
traditional show-up-at-the-office-everyday jobs (if a college grad can still
even get one of those these days) and easier access to high-speed internet
mean people are willing to try the nomad lifestyle. Of course all the
youtubers say "follow me on Instagram" so they can tell companies that they're
"influencers", would they like a mention for some money?, which to me feels
like an unsustainable line of work...

~~~
ChuckMcM
One of the things I've noticed about the high cost of housing in this round of
expansion of the Bay Area has been more campers on the curb acting as houses.
I now see a number of places where people are clearly living out of an RV in
lieu of permanent housing.

I attribute some of that to the cost of housing and some to the relative ease
of connectivity with a cell phone. There isn't any hard and fast _not_ to live
in such a space if you don't mind it and have a PO box and a cell phone.

------
csours
I slept in the trunk of my Chevy Impala a few times, once on a car trip from
Texas to Florida while someone else was driving.

The rear seats fold down, so there's actually plenty of room. I'm 6 foot 1
inch tall and was about 270 pounds at the time, and I would not have been able
to sleep comfortably in the seat due to slouching over.

Probably only appropriate for favorable weather.

Edit: Incidentally, cars automatically turning off is a HUGE problem for K9
police units.

~~~
sushisource
On your edit: Is that really a problem? All police cars are heavily modified
anyway.

~~~
csours
On further search, I can't cite any specific instances that call out vehicle
shutoff specifically, but from what I've heard, it is a big problem.

Overheating in cars is the leading cause of traumatic death for K9 units.

Police cars are heavily modified, but they are still based on consumer vehicle
architecture, much like a shared code base.

~~~
serf
>Overheating in cars is the leading cause of traumatic death for K9 units.

Sounds like handler misconduct to me, but hey -- it's easier to blame the
vehicle!

Too bad civillians don't have the same luxury of blaming the
equipment.[0][1][2]

It's ridiculous -- and eye-opening -- that k9 units get that kind of
treatment. I was always under the misconception (which is probably purposely
portrayed in the media) that the dogs were treated as partners -- not tools. I
guess that was too hopeful on my part.

[0]: [https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2017/10/16/owners-
cha...](https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2017/10/16/owners-charged-
after-french-bulldog-dies-inside-locked-car)

[1]: [http://morgancountycitizen.com/2017/10/03/dog-left-in-car-
di...](http://morgancountycitizen.com/2017/10/03/dog-left-in-car-dies/)

[2]: [http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-woman-
arrested-d...](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-woman-arrested-dog-
dies-hot-car-20170711-story.html)

~~~
kodis
I wonder what would happen if some good Samaritan busted out the window of a
cop car to save the life of the K9 dog inside. I suspect that this would be
treated as less than the heroic gesture that it is when saving a civilian dog.

------
jonaswi
Kind of off topic: I went on a long trip with my tesla last week. While
researching for a matrices that fits in the back of my Model S I found
dreamcase [0]. This + camping mode made the nights in my car pretty comfy.
Will definitely plan a longer holiday trip now.

[0] [https://dreamcase.eu/](https://dreamcase.eu/)

------
_ph_
It might be a small thing, but it shows that electrical cars are different and
offer many advantages. Here it is operating the cars air conditioning over
night while parking.

------
tmh79
I drive a volvo XC70 (the outdorsy station wagon) and its incredible for
sleeping in. I've probably logged 8ish days in the past year or so. The best
benefit is that most campgrounds in places like Yosemite are limited in
capacity and you can't really plop a tent down anywhere, but the parks service
and land management folks have not seemed to be bothered by my parking
wherever I want and sleeping for the night. I highly recommend it to avid
campers.

------
tempestn
Man, I'd love to get a Model S. If only they weren't so expensive... Anyone
have opinions on the ideal model year and trim to target for max bang-for-
buck? From a cursory look, I'm thinking something like an 85D (not P85D).
Probably either 2014, for first gen autopilot, or a 2013 without. (I've heard
a lot of stories about quality control issues with early cars, which hopefully
were ironed out somewhat by 2013.)

~~~
rconti
should be no need for a "D"ual motor car, which likely didn't exist in 2013
anyway.

~~~
tempestn
Looks like you're right; first year of the 85D was 2015. And yeah, not
necessary, but nice in northern climates.

~~~
rconti
Ah yeah, sorry, I was thinking about it from a performance standpoint. Which
is odd, since I have an AWD car specifically for snow (and I live in CA!)

------
Zaskoda
There are subtle hints online that Tesla may help Bollinger manufacture their
electric SUV, the B1. It certainly looks like it would make for a better
camper. I would really prefer if Tesla would just buy Bollinger outright and
bring a vehicle like this to a broader audience. Heres their website:
[http://bollingermotors.com/](http://bollingermotors.com/)

~~~
milesokeefe
If Tesla does buy them hopefully that would lead to a turnaround on the B1's
safety aspects - for instance there are no airbags.

------
twblalock
Older Saabs had hatchback profiles similar to that of the model S, and there
was a camper shell called a Toppola sold for them.

------
elif
Can anyone confirm whether that's really as far forward as the front seats
will go?

[https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-tesla-camper-
mode/im...](https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-tesla-camper-
mode/img/triptych01.jpg)

------
whamlastxmas
I've heard o people doing this in their Prius. You can run the AC all night
and the engine supposedly only turns on every half hour for a minute or so.
Not enough fumes to worry about killing yourself in the car and there's
virtually no way you'd run out of gas overnight.

~~~
e2e4
This is one of the reasons I am considering buying prius as my next car. I
imagine prius V would be event better for the camping purposes.

Interesting examples of prius camping:

[http://www.rosipov.com/blog/urban-prius-
living/](http://www.rosipov.com/blog/urban-prius-living/)

[http://www.nagelphotography.com/blog/2014/10/prius-
camping-g...](http://www.nagelphotography.com/blog/2014/10/prius-camping-
generation-iii)

[http://www.dogcampcity.com/blog/prius-camping-tips-
tricks](http://www.dogcampcity.com/blog/prius-camping-tips-tricks)

[https://www.habitents.com/](https://www.habitents.com/)

------
Tomminn
There is no reason only Tesla could do this. Minimalist campers are a huge
growth market.

It has that classic characteristic of a good start up market- people want the
solution so badly, they badly hack their own.

~~~
vanilla_nut
To be fair, if you're trying to camp somewhere that isn't 60-70 degrees at
night, you need to leave most cars on (or wake up and run the AC/heat briefly)
to make a lot of locations comfortable, since cars don't retain heat very
well. This isn't really feasible in a gasoline car (it's loud and wasteful)
and would run the batteries of many electric cars a little too low for
comfort. In my admittedly limited experience, the Tesla has much better idle
efficiency than many competitors.

~~~
dpark
Even 70 would get miserable rapidly with the windows up due to all the humid,
warm air the occupants would be breathing out.

------
microcolonel
Back in my day, they called this sleeping in your car.

~~~
taneq
But if you give it a slick new name then it's a new thing and people will
think it's cool again!

------
newman8r
if this becomes a bigger thing in the future, would be interesting to see a
'climate control out port' that you could use to connect to a
tent/camper/tiny-house via ducting. It could close the car's internal a/c
vents and direct out to the port.

------
antihero
I thought this would be an article about putting the car in some sort of mode
below "standby" so it doesn't use up power doing things whilst you're camping
in your tent.

~~~
r00fus
I left my EV accidentally on all day at my office during the day with AC
running. Lost a like 5% of battery. I hear Teslas are even better.

~~~
antihero
That's pretty amazing

------
zeroping
The Chevrolet Volt handles this much better. It will fit two 5' 8" people
fairly well with a little effort.

------
enduser
The article neglects to mention that with the right adapters the car can
connect to RV electrical hookups and get a full charge overnight.

~~~
taneq
Are these generally individually metered and charged for supply? If not, I
can't see this lasting long once people start pulling 80+ kWh per night out of
them.

~~~
jsjohnst
There’s almost no chance you’ll pull 80+ kWh from a campsite jack in a night.
Typically you’ll be provided 15amp @ 110v at best. That’s only ~2kWh.

Also, most camp sites charge ~$10/day for electricity. Depending on the
electric rates, they likely won’t lose a dime covering your usage at that
price.

------
post_break
Looks like the DRLs stay on. That's a problem.

~~~
Reason077
Tesla fixed that with the "official camper mode" software update, just in the
last few weeks:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crfLwj-
rOG8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crfLwj-rOG8)

------
olivermarks
Tesla's marketing communication is brilliant, great way to keep the engagement
up....

------
jjtheblunt
The Swedish SAAB 900 models were _great_ for this, in my experience.

------
jjtheblunt
How about Tesla "delivery mode"?

------
rnernento
Amazing, maybe someday the Tesla will be as successful as the Pontiac Aztec
(as seen in Breaking Bad).

~~~
aaron-santos
I wonder if we'll see a Tesla tent option just like the Pontiac Aztec. [1]

[1] - [https://youtu.be/33AP0JnXSOA?t=253](https://youtu.be/33AP0JnXSOA?t=253)

