The 2023 EarthRoamer SX Is a Luxurious Beast that Thrives in the Harshest Environments

The time for seeing is now. The 2023 EarthRoamer SX made its debut at the 2022 SEMA Show in Las Vegas last November and then, in March this year, was lent out for a proper test drive to "civilians."

Vanlife content creators Kara and Nate got to take it out for a couple of days of fun and some technical driving out in the Moab desert in Utah, including on the Gemini Bridges trail. Their outing marks the first time EarthRoamer lets anyone outside of their team drive the rig in a real-life scenario, and to us, that counts as the "seeing” part in "seeing is believing."

The SX is the bigger, higher-specced, and far more luxurious younger brother of the EarthRoamer LTi, which tagged along briefly for the desert experience. It's a mobile home on wheels that can sleep as many as six people in the correct layout, with everything needed onboard to go off-grid for as much as three weeks if you're mindful about consumption and one full week if you don't care about water-saving.

More than the basics in terms of creature comforts, the SX delivers luxurious features worthy of a landyacht but wrapped in a much tougher and more resilient package. It's still an overlander in every sense of the word, but it's of the fancy kind – which goes a long way to explain the $995,000 starting price.

This particular unit shown in the video below is the only one built so far and is fully-specced, so it comes with a price tag of $1.1 million. That's a lot of money to pay for an adventure vehicle, but it's also money well spent if you consider all the features packed onboard – and especially if you can afford it.

Based on the chassis of a Chevrolet 6500 4WD truck, the SX gets the stock 6.6-liter Duramax V8 that delivers 350 hp and 700 lb-ft (949 Nm) of torque and heaps of upgrades inside and outside of the cab. The box is made of rough, X-Guard painted, vacuum-infused carbon fiber. The SX rides on 43-inch military-grade Goodyear tires, has air ride suspension and heavy-duty anti-sway bars, and an onboard air compressor that comes in handy on terrains like the Moab trails. If there's a luxury RV made to thrive in harsh environments, the SX is the one, without a doubt.

As advertised ahead of the SEMA appearance and detailed in a separate story, the interior is surprisingly elegant and predictably fancy, given the price tag. But it's still nice to see it in action, as used by regular people, and not just in promotional photos. The hardwood floors and granite countertops, or all the tech onboard, would mean nothing if they didn't work well together. They do just that on the SX, providing a space that's cozy and very inviting while also self-sufficient and with an extra touch of elegance.

The dinette at the rear can seat all six people onboard at dinnertime and doubles as entertainment lounge thanks to a large, pull-down TV screen. It converts into a two-person bed at night, making the SX the perfect family RV (*for the rich). The kitchen is compact but spacious, with everything from a wine fridge to a standard fridge-and-freezer combo, a washer and drier hidden in one of the cabinets, a four-burner induction cooktop, a large farm sink with dual faucets, incredible amounts of storage, and even a coffee station for those for whom no day begins without a steaming cup of Joe.

Opposite the kitchen block is the wardrobe, which, again, features ample storage options, from a hanging closet to various cupboards, including one for the custom EarthRoamer vacuum. The bathroom next to the wardrobe is also an upgrade over the one in the LTi, featuring a shower cabin and a dry part with a toilet and the teeniest-tiniest sink.

The main bedroom is over the cab and features a California king-size bed surrounded by windows on all sides, including a large skylight. All windows have standard netting and black-out curtains and open to get proper cross-ventilation. The skylight leads up to the roof, where you have 1,600 W of solar panels rigged to an 18,000 Wh battery bank that runs all appliances onboard.

Extra features include a pass-through garage, a complete outdoor kitchen with BBQ grill and table setup, an outdoor shower, powerful winches front and rear, and even an outdoor cassette toilet. A full surveillance system with cameras throughout offers peace of mind at camp and excellent visibility in all traffic conditions or when tackling difficult terrain where the size of the rig might work against it.

The EarthRoamer SX is a beast as regards both size and abilities, but it's a very elegant and quite fancy kind of beast. The kind no one would mind getting lost with, if only for a couple of days.