It’s small enough to fit in your garage but big enough to sleep four and keep everyone comfortable wherever you park it for the night. Honda says its new Base Station Prototype is flexible, affordable and could “revolutionize” the towable RV market.
Base Station’s pop-up top provides 7 feet of headroom.
As many as 80 million Americans regularly go camping, a number that grew sharply during the pandemic when folks wanted to break out of pandemic lockdowns. And, while many prefer to hike to their destinations, there’s a growing demand for small, towable trailers that let you get back to nature without giving up all the comforts of home.
With demand for trailers like the Scamp Lite and Airstream Basecamp continuing to grow, especially among young families, Honda is looking for a way to get into the market, the automaker’s U.S. R&D unit today revealing the Base Station Prototype. It’s a lightweight, modular trailer small enough to park in the typical American garage yet large and flexible enough to provide sleeping space for four, along with a shower, kitchenette and other welcome features.
“Base Station is a perfect example of what can happen when you let a team of researchers, designers and engineers pursue bold new ideas to create new value for our customers,” Jane Nakagawa, vice president of the American Honda R&D Business Unit, said during a preview GearJunkie recently attended at the automaker’s U.S. headquarters in Torrance, California.
“Democratizing camping”
The Base Station prototype weighs less than 1,500 pounds and could be parked in a typical American garage.
Honda’s prototype shows big things really can come in small packages. Weighing in at less than 1,500 pounds, Base Station can be readily towed by even some of today’s smallest vehicles, like the automaker’s H-RV crossover. It can be parked in your garage, or fit in the typical urban parking spt. Yet the RV features a fold-down, queen-size futon and family buyers would be able to add a bunk bed for two. The top pops up to a roomy seven feet.
“The goal is to democratize camping with a light, towable camper you can tow with a compact crossover or EV,” project lead Dillon Kane explained during a sneak peek event at the Honda R&D center in Torrance, California where primary development on Base Station has been handled.
The concept shows a lot of creative thinking, starting with the LED ring light surrounding its big side window. But the most significant feature is Base Station’s modularity. Think of it as a mix-and-match RV where you can plug in a variety of different options, such as a fold-out kitchenette and shower. Significantly, the modules can be added or removed without the need for power tools, said Kane.
Go anywhere convenience
The Honda RV concept features a queen-size, fold-out futon and a bunk bed can add room for two children.
Despite its small footprint, the Base Station prototype offers functionality typically found only in larger and much more expensive RVs. That includes an onboard climate control system, as well as the shower and kitchenette.
At an RV park an owner would simply plug into available utilities. Back off the grid, the Honda RV concept features a large solar array on its roof – and, were an owner to need even more power, Base Station could be fitted with a lithium-ion power pack providing enough juice “to get you through a long weekend,” said Kane.
In all, the prototype can fit in five of those interchangeable modules, depending upon the owner’s needs and desires.
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Where can I buy one?
Up to five modules can be plugged into base station, including this foldaway kitchenette, as well as a shower.
Unfortunately, for now, the Honda Base Station is just a rolling concept. But early feedback has been extremely positive, several company insiders told Headlight.News and Honda’s U.S. sales chief Lance Woelfer said this week that “We will share more information in the coming months, ncluding our future (production) intentions”
In the meantime, Kane and his team are continuing to refine the prototype, looking for ways to make it even more flexible, more affordable and more appealing.
As for pricing, that’s something Woelfer said the automaker isn’t ready to talk about but one can consider what the competition has to offer. At the low end, there’s the stripped-down-to-basics, $17,000 Scamp Lite 13’ and the much more well-equipped Airstream Basecamp 16X that can run to $54,000 or more. For his part, Woelfer hints a production version of Base Station “would be priced competitively in the towable RV market.”
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