The Tesla Cybertruck has been a thing of wonder since it was unveiled just over three years ago. It’s an out-of-this-world pickup with stainless steel construction, sharp edges, a controversial style, and sometimes baffling proposed features. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has pitched it as having bullet-resistant materials, amphibious capabilities, and most recently, the Tesla Semi‘s architecture. And along the way, the design has evolved from the initial concept.
It’s still unclear what the Cybertruck will be like when it enters production–which is now slated for the end of 2023–but that hasn’t stopped startup companies from brewing up camper concepts for this truck and taking reservations for them. Yesterday, Space Campers unveiled a features list for its entry into the Cybertruck camper space. The Space Camper first made its appearance on June 2, but Space Campers, LLC hadn’t explained its actual features. Now, we have the details of this camping unit, and since the company is taking reservations ranging from $100 to $10,000, we should talk about what a prospective customer would get. However, before I continue, I should note that while Space Campers, LLC has patents pending for its design, this doesn’t appear to exist outside of renderings yet. By my count, there are now at least four unique Tesla Cybertruck camper concepts, with projected prices getting as high as $135,000. The Space Camper has the lowest projected price thus far at $24,000, but it has the same problem that all of the others do, and it’s that the Cybertruck itself isn’t in production. We’ll start with the design of the Space Camper. Each Cybertruck camper design is wildly different from the others. The Cyberlandr is a box that expands out of the bed into a living space cube. The Loki Basecamp (above) resembles a typical truck bed camper. And the Form Camper (below) is like a base camp that the Cybertruck connects to. The Space Camper takes a different approach. It resembles a truck cap, but it has a roof that pops open with the use of air struts. This turns it into a tent-style camper and the entire living unit fits within the bed of the Cybertruck. We can’t help but look at the closed Space Camper and think that it makes the Tesla Cybertruck look like a Brubaker Box. I love it! Pop the hatch of the Space Camper and you gain access to the camping unit. Space Campers says that for the price of $24,000, you get a basic camping setup. A base Space Camper has the tent, the air struts to open it, a Murphy-style bed that transforms into a table, electrical outlets, bed steps, storage areas, and a couple of furniture pieces to make a chair and desk. Other standard features include a backrest, roof runners for a roof rack, and a vent. If you want a camper with more utility, Space Campers has an expansive options list. That list includes a camp kitchen that includes a sink, induction cooktop, cooler, water tanks, and a water filtration system. If you want to take a shower, you can get a portable bathroom as an option, which includes a water tank, portable toilet, and a portable shower. You can also get a roof rack with up to 1200W of solar power, a back rack, and an insulation package. That insulation package adds insulation to the tent, padded thermal flooring, an electric blanket, a movie projector, and custom sheets. Pricing for these options has not been revealed, but there is one final option and its price is known. The Space Camper is built out of black composite materials. But for an additional $8,000, you can get it outfitted in stainless steel, which the company says helps with insulation and durability. But there’s something weird about this whole thing. Take a look at Space Campers’ renders for its camper. See anything out of place? Look at that floor and those walls! The base camper gives you nothing to cover the Cybertruck’s bed or walls. On a sizzling day, you’re just asking to get cooked like some bacon on hot stainless steel. As I mentioned before, the insulation package apparently adds a padded floor. At least to me, it seems like some sort of padded floor should come standard. And sure, you could add your own rug or something, but it seems like an oversight. There’s another problem that all of us in the Autopian office have, and it seems like $24,000 is quite steep for what you get. Remember that this is basically a truck cap with a pop-up roof. Truck caps by themselves are a few grand if you want a fancy one, then you can outfit them any way you like. When I wrote about the Space Trailer (a different company), I figured out that you can get a mostly full-featured camper for a few Benjamins over $10,000. And our Jason Torchinsky brought up another point, and it’s that you can get a lightly used truck bed camper for peanuts. His example was a Lance 650 for $15,995 from Cruise America. This Lance is a complete camper featuring every amenity that you’d expect in an RV. It has a furnace, a flushing toilet, tanks for fresh water, grey water, and sewage, an air-conditioner, and much more. And if used isn’t your jam, you could get new truck campers for about the same price as a Space Camper, maybe even less. Of course, established truck camper brands don’t have concepts specifically for the unique shape of the Cybertruck. The same goes for pickup bed cap manufacturers. So perhaps we aren’t being fair. But our point is that it might be worth waiting for the Cybertruck to come out first, then seeing what the camper market looks like then. We’re going to monitor developments in this space, and bring you noteworthy news when it comes. And for the Space Camper, I’ll monitor it, too. The company says that the camper isn’t final just yet, so maybe there will be some more features on the way. If you’re interested in the Space Camper, you can reserve one for as low as $100, but the company says that those reservations are sold out through 2024. There are reservation tiers going all of the way up to $10,000 and the more you pay, the closer to the front of the line you’ll be. The company expects the first units to be ready when the Cybertruck is, and customers should expect to receive their Space Camper two months after getting their Cybertruck.
Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member. • I Saw The Prototype Tesla Cybertruck Up-Close. Here’s What I Thought • This Company Wants To Sell You A Cheap Trailer That Can Be Your Cargo Hauler, Camper, And More • A Snowboard Company Wants To Sell You A Camper That Looks Like A Mid-Century Modern Home So the idea that they can provide pricing and timelines of when you can get one after you get your truck is absurd. These people are all charlatans who shouldn’t be trusted with your money or attention. I’ll announce that I’m making accessories for your vehicle, including a bed-camper, a trailer in the same style, lift kits, custom tracks, lightbars, etc. All are available for pre-order, with tiered levels between $50 and $50,000. The higher the amount, the faster they get their stuff. Then, we split the pre-order cash, announce that the vehicle won’t go into production because the same team that suppressed the 100 mpg carburetor keeps deleting our files and destroying our prototypes, then move to Bolivia with the cash. Has nobody asked them how they know the dimensions they’re building to? Will their products even fit in the bed of this supposed truck? Where are the attachment points, and are they rated to handle the load? Until Tesla releases the equivalent of a body builder’s book, they’re guessing at best. All you would need to do is produce a dimensional drawing to share between each other and you would have a more believable scam than “Space Campers.” Who are undoubtedly complete frauds. We should have seen the whole Twitter debacle coming with this cyber truck BS. I just don’t even know where to begin on how insanely stupid the ENTIRE thing is. Just the wind noise problems alone are unsolvable. The roar all those sharp edges will make at even 20 MPH… Man child. Someone help me with the math here: what is never plus two? I know of Klaatu, but I’d never recognize a lyric. Even buying the stuff for the tent would be under 24k. Granted way to small for me, still good for the camp site with drive up availability. “The Tesla Cybertruck has been a thing of wonder since it was unveiled just over three years ago. ” Yes, yes it has. As in: – I wonder why anyone would want to buy this thing? – I wonder why anyone believes anything Elon says about vehicle availability? – I wonder if this “truck” is just a big practical joke by Elon-420-69-S3XY?
