DIY Electric Bike Trailer Is a Family-Perfect RV, Proving You Can Have More for Less

With all our differences, we can all agree that, sometimes, less truly is more: you can have the best of times when not spending so much cash and hauling all that extra stuff you don't really need on vacation.

Today's trailer is a good example in this sense, while also an inspiring instance of a DIY project whose main goal was downsizing and spending more quality time with the family while working. It's an RV but not for towing with the daily driver. It's a bike trailer pulled by a recumbent electric bicycle, and it was designed specifically for the benefit of the builder's two children. It can sleep two adults just as comfortably, though.

The recent boom on the e-bike market has brought along an upgrade to bikepacking, adding comfort to the experience. The ability to ride farther and with less effort opened up a new niche on the market: bike trailers, which allow for a few more creature comforts at camp and extra protection from the elements. When you're not a fan of sleeping on the ground, even the teeniest tiniest teardrop trailer will do, and that seems to be the reasoning behind the increasing popularity of bike trailers.

That said, bike trailers remain prohibitively priced, which is to be expected. Whenever you’re tapping into a new trend, you should expect to pay more for a product. Pricing is a non-issue if you have the skills or the connections to build one yourself.

Fadi Hage is a landscape photographer from Montreal, Canada, on a self-stated mission of photographing all of the country's national parks. Because of his job, Hage is on the road a lot, mostly in his 2017 Jeep Wrangler rig, which grants him autonomy and the ability to go wherever he feels his next subject might be.

As of last year, Hage has another, smaller rig that he uses, though only when he brings his two children along for the ride: an electric bike trailer. He's already shown it off twice in videos for his camping-focused YouTube channel, in which he documents what goes down when you're out in the great outdoors to shoot photos, from the drive itself to mundane tasks like preparing meals and heading out to the spot that he will photograph.

This is perhaps the most functional and well-built bike camper we've seen in recent months, and that includes whatever mass-produced bike trailer we've covered. It's a single-axle teardrop trailer with a welded aluminum body and wood laminate interior, fit with everything you need for a few days on the road. It even has a small galley in the tailgate with a sink with running water, a single-burner cooktop, and plenty of storage space.

Hage pulls it with an electric recumbent bike – a trike, for more accuracy. He says the trailer is lightweight, so towing it is not a strain, but he adds that the rig has three hub motors in total, one on the trike and two on the trailer. The rig is also stable enough to go on gravel and dirt roads and to carry the two kids inside when it does that, as the video below shows. You wouldn't be able to do that with most of the bike trailers available on the market right now.

The RV features a solar panel with a 12kWh lithium battery bank and a 3kW inverter, so it packs quite a surprising amount of gear: the cooktop, a coffee maker, a blender, a water heater, a small electric fridge, temperature-controlled heater, and fan, lights for the kitchen, the sleeping area, and the exterior, Bluetooth speakers, and the motors. Range is about 300 km (186 miles) per charge, so not shabby at all.

For maximum comfort, Hage included a 30-liter (8-gallon) water tank and an outdoor shower. Meanwhile, the interior is laid out like a seating area with two benches facing each other during the day. The entire space becomes a cozy bed that could comfortably sleep two adults at night. Windows with insect nets create a good cross breeze.

At the rear, Hage included a makeshift bike rack to which he attaches his kids' non-electric bikes. That means he has to travel slowly because their rear wheels will be on the ground at all times, but the upside is that the kids get to experience trail biking themselves.

Not everyone's idea of a nice vacation includes sleeping in such a cramped space, but for those for whom it does, this home-built trailer is close to perfect. It's small and lightweight yet perfectly sufficient for the most basic needs, and it costs close to nothing to take out. Granted, you won't be going as far as you would with a proper, full-size towable, but every outing will undoubtedly be memorable.