Romotow T8, the Most Awesome Caravan in the World, Is TIME's Top Invention of 2023

It comes via the inclusion on TIME Magazine's list of the 200 top inventions that have shaped and changed the world in 2023. We know, it's only the end of October, so we still have two full months to go until the end of the year, but now's the season to be jolly to get ready for retrospectives. And TIME editors are saying the Romotow is worthy of all the hype it's been getting this year.

The trailer of the future

Every year, as we wind down to the festive season, which officially kicks off with Thanksgiving, we also take breathers for retrospectives, be they the best cars of the year, the best tech, most impressive launches, best-sold products, most popular Google searches, most influential people, you name it. Humans love ranking and charts, and a list of this kind is the perfect way to summarize an entire year.

Not that we needed a list to know this, but 2023 was a solid year for the RV industry, with manufacturers continuing to post solid numbers for both production and sales. Figures are smaller than in the previous year, as the post-2020 bubble is slowly bursting, but people are still buying RVs and traveling more than they did before the international health crisis.

In a way, the same health crisis that almost put an end to the development of the "trailer of the future" proved instrumental in keeping it afloat. The Romotow trailer, officially called the Romotow T8 now, is in production – and is getting worldwide recognition through the inclusion on TIME's list of top innovations of the year.

The trailer features an original design that allows for it to double its living footprint at camp and, consequently, its functionality. In travel mode, the Romotow looks like a standard, though very futuristic, travel trailer, but at camp, one section swings out to form an L-shaped habitat with an integrated patio slash outdoor kitchen and dining area.

No wonder, then, that TIME included it in the design category, naming it a top invention of 2023. "Combine the luxury of a yacht with the technology of The Jetsons with the functionality of an RV, and you’ve got the Romotow T8+, the mobile camper that looks like it came from an Apple Store," TIME writes.

The magazine also praises the sleek, modern styling, enhanced functionality, and premium, made-to-last build. "This is the sort of thing you pass down, and it's going to live 50-plus years," Romotow Holdings co-founder Matt Wilkie.

Not to make light of this assertion or anything, but seeing how the T8+, which is the higher-specced version of the T8, comes with a $270,000+ price tag, it'd better last at least 50 years.

Not a 2023 invention at all

Though the Romotow trailer is now officially one of the top inventions of the year 2023, it's actually been around for more than a decade. The concept for this rotating trailer was introduced in 2012 by New Zealand-based design firm W2, and production plans came shortly afterward.

For years, Romotow was stuck in what felt like production limbo, with W2 struggling to turn the idea into a physical, potentially market-disruptive product. The first breakthrough came in 2019, when the company announced that production was well underway, so many years after the official debut of the concept.

Then, 2020 happened. With businesses from all over the world shuttering as a result of the international health crisis, this was clearly not the time to be launching a new one, let alone one on a market that required you to be able to get out of the house. So, W2 put a pin on the Romotow and picked development up again in 2022.

Since then, we've witnessed the evolution of the original idea into what could now be described as two different models. There's the C8, which is the trailer without the swing-out section and a much smaller footprint (starting with total length, which is 8.3 meters/27.2 feet), and the T8, which is the original concept brought to complete maturation stage: 9 meters/29.5 feet in length and a total of 29 square meters (312 square feet) of living space when opened up.

Then, each model is offered in three different trims, according to budget and future use. The most basic C8 is NZ$195,000 (approximately US$114,000 at the current exchange rate), which gets you the empty shell without the rotating section. It's still a Romotow, but without the one thing that turned it into such a long-lasting dream RV.

The higher-specced model, the Romotow T8+ that earned a spot on the much-coveted TIME list, is NZ$475,000, so more than US$276,000 today. But for this kind of money, you get a ready-to-go RV with all the bells and whistles, from extended autonomy through solar to a customized layout and interior finishes, and all the upgrades to turn the swing-out patio into a second room for your super-fancy, super-dreamy mobile home.

As long as you're willing to spend this kind of money and wait a bit more for deliveries to start, it sure looks like nothing stands in the way between you and your dream mobile home.