AC Future, a startup based in California, just revealed a wild, new camper designed in collaboration with famous design house Pininfarina. It’s called the eTH, which stands for electric transformer house. Transforming is its party trick, and the video below illustrates that capability in an animation.
The RV is 240 inches in length and 96 inches wide, but put it into full transformer/expansion mode, and it becomes a 400-square-foot living space. One side expands out an additional 96 inches, supported by protruding legs, and making way for a sizable bed and living room space. The other pops out 30 inches, providing additional kitchen and preparation space. Meanwhile, the rear slides out a monstrous 96 inches as well, making way for yet another bed and walkway. It all looks quite luxurious in AC Future’s video, but take this all with a grain of salt considering that we’re likely years away from a production vehicle.
As for the eTH’s powertrain, AC Future is quiet on the details, but suggests there will be an electric and a gasoline-powered version or some mysterious combination thereof. It does claim a gross vehicle weight rating of 19,000 pounds, though we’re not sure of the vehicle’s curb weight. Power for days on end while parked is claimed and partly facilitated through a huge array of solar panels. Instead of just panels on the standard roof, additional solar panels will be attached to the sections of roof that cover the slideouts. AC Future claims that they’ll be capable of capturing at least 25 kilowatt-hours of energy per day in ideal conditions. A water generator mounted to the roof is designed to capture moisture in the air and can produce up to 13 gallons of water per day.
As for the cockpit, the photos provided show a simple dash with everything routed through a central touchscreen that can rotate on the dash. A workspace is available for the passenger, and AC Future suggests a self-driving ability by animating a steering wheel that folds in and out of the dash.
The design by Pininfarina is perhaps the most striking part of this whole project, and the simple presence of the famous design house in this project gives some credibility to AC Future and the possibility of this futuristic vehicle being delivered one day. Nevertheless, the eTH is still very much in the realm of a concept vehicle that we can hope will be translated into production at some point this decade.
