Complete climate control with minimal climate impact: the L1's innovative HVAC system

At Lightship, we are on a mission to build incredible travel experiences, starting with reimagining the RVing experience. The Lightship L1’s climate control system (heating, ventilation, and cooling/AC, also known as HVAC) is built to bring you ultimate comfort, smart home control, filtration, and dehumidification in an efficient manner. Additionally, it enables an incredible driving experience by controlling the temperature of the Lightship’s EV-sized batteries and power electronics, which provide both range-assist propulsion and an order of magnitude more battery capacity and off-grid capabilities than any other commercially available RV.

Here are some of the ways the L1’s climate control system contributes to an incredible camping and travel experience:

1. No limitations when heating or cooling off-grid

The L1’s efficient HVAC system combined with massive EV batteries and rooftop solar, allows you to enjoy air conditioning and heating off-grid, without hook-ups or a generator. Just how big is our battery system? As much as 80 kilowatt-hours (kWh) - over 50 times more than a standard RV and more battery capacity than you’ll find on any other “all-electric” on the market or currently in development. 

But how is that different from what’s currently available in the mass-produced RV market?

Most RVs do not have the onboard battery capacity to support running air conditioning and heating off-grid. Instead, they rely on shore power hookups like those found at campgrounds, or generators that run off of propane, gasoline, or diesel power (heavy, smelly, noisy, and requiring regular maintenance). But the Lightship L1’s 40 or 80 kWh onboard battery storage combined with an efficient HVAC system powered by a heat pump, allows you to run your heating and cooling untethered, off-grid, for weeks at a time.

In addition, our onboard solar system provides 2-3 kilowatts (kW) or 2,000 watts of incredibly efficient, shade-resistant solar power - to help keep your onboard batteries charged while you heat or cool the inside of your L1.

Further, the L1’s heating and cooling system runs directly off high-voltage DC unlike conventional systems, which either run on low-voltage DC (12V, 24V or similarly low voltage), or must convert DC power to AC to run air conditioning. Higher voltage systems, like the one in the L1, are more efficient at power transmission because less current is required to deliver the same amount of power to the various trailer appliances. This allows us to avoid resistive current loss as well as current lost through conversion.

2. All-in-one HVAC and power system temperature management

The L1 uses a reversible heat pump both to heat and cool the cabin and to keep the high-voltage batteries and power electronics within proper temperature ranges. While similar systems are commonly used in electric vehicle applications, this is entirely novel for the RV space. Whereas most RVs have multiple onboard fans, air conditioning units, and heating systems, the single, integrated and efficient heat pump unit on the L1 works to keep your cabin at comfortable temperatures whether you’re camping in a desert on a cool, crisp late fall day, or in the hot, humid southeast in the summertime. A single unit means fewer parts to manage and replace should something fail.

We also use the same heat pump system to heat or cool your L1’s high-voltage batteries, motors, and power electronics, ensuring they stay at the proper temperatures for prime efficiency, safety, and longevity.

3. Superior temperature control throughout the living space

The Lightship L1’s climate control system uses innovative, custom-designed ducting, which allows for better, more consistent temperatures throughout the cabin. Given that hot air rises, and cool air sinks, where your ducting or air comes from can have a big effect on how evenly heated or cooled the inside of your RV is.

With conventional roof-mounted AC and heating systems found in almost every RV on the market, the cold air that is blown into the cabin sinks to the floor, and hot air rises - meaning you may not feel this air in the middle of your cabin. But in the L1, we run our ducting along the back of our seating and sleeping areas, towards the middle of the cabin (height-wise). This results in much quicker and more even heating or cooling of your space. Additionally, the L1 has return ducts positioned on the opposite end of the cabin from the supply ducts, which provides excellent air mixing to give you consistent temperatures throughout the cabin.

4. Cleaner, safer, and better for the environment

No need for generators that run off non-renewable fuel sources like propane, gasoline, or diesel, and no flames, combustion, or fumes generated - the L1’s thermal control system runs entirely off a single, clean fuel source: batteries and solar.

The L1’s innovative HVAC system is also better for the environment because it uses a very low Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerant. To give you some context, GWP is a measure of which greenhouse gases are most harmful to the environment based on the amount of heat they trap in the atmosphere when released. Therefore, High GWP refrigerants contribute more to climate change. The refrigerants found in conventional RV HVAC systems often exceed 2,000 GWP, meaning 2,000 times worse for global warming compared to carbon dioxide. The L1 uses an ultra-low-GWP refrigerant under 10. Lower GWP refrigerants, like the ones used in the L1’s climate control system, help minimize the environmental impacts of your heating and cooling system by indirect refrigerant emissions.

5. Whisper-quiet operation

Air conditioning and electric heating units in RVs are loud and disruptive due to excessive vibrating and shaking caused by fans and compressors that sit right above your head or near sleeping areas. These units are often mounted directly to wide, flat body panels and radiate structure-borne noise throughout the cabin. 

But we designed the L1 differently, with a custom HVAC system that moves the compressor and condenser fans outside of your sleeping and living spaces, mounted using isolators to decouple the vibration from the vehicle body, so all you hear are the sounds of your happy family. We also allow you to control the fan speed from our infotainment system through our tablet and mobile app. Lower fan speeds mean even quieter climate control. This means you’ll hear less noise whether you’re playing with the kids, entertaining friends during a post-hike happy hour, or resting up after a day spent adventuring outside.

6. Filter and dehumidify air

The L1’s efficient heat pump system also allows you to draw in fresh air, dehumidify, and even filter cabin air. Filtration and dehumidification takes place quickly and provides you with an even better living and camping experience when you are inside your L1.

Air filtration is measured by a MERV (minimum efficiency reporting value) rating, which measures an air filter’s effectiveness. The L1 includes a MERV 7 filter that can capture tiny particles that contaminate the air like pollen and dust mites. Filters in this rating range are ideal for living spaces like commercial buildings and homes. The benefits of being able to filter your L1’s interior are far-reaching. Turn on the climate control system through the app or infotainment system and our filters will refresh the air - flushing out built-up carbon dioxide, dust, pollen, mold, and more.

Because the L1 can draw in fresh air, it allows us to dehumidify the space as well. This means increased comfort for you in a wide variety of environments - like the humid southeastern US in the summertime. 

7. Remotely access your L1 to pre-heat or pre-cool

The L1 combines the best elements of EV, and smart, connected home technology. With our connected infotainment system that you can access through your tablet or on your phone, you can set a preferred range of temperatures for your L1, as well as pre-heat or pre-cool your living space.

This is a fundamentally new experience for RVing. Imagine you’re driving back from a fishing or hiking adventure, and it’s currently 100 degrees outside. You check your L1 through your mobile app and see that it’s currently 90 degrees inside the cabin. Instead of having to arrive and turn on your air conditioner and wait for the space to cool down to a manageable temperature, you’ll be able to remotely pre-cool your L1 - just like you’re used to doing at home or with your app-connected EV.

8. Maintain the Lightship L1’s extreme aerodynamic form

The Lightship L1’s innovative climate control improves your experience in camp by providing ultimate comfort in your living space, while also contributing to our aerodynamics-first approach to design. The result is a trailer with unparalleled drag efficiency, optimizing for a very low coefficient of drag and ultimately providing the best towing experience you’ve ever had.

We achieved this incredible outcome by relocating the HVAC system to the aerodynamic tongue box on the L1 instead of using a roof-mounted AC unit like you find in many standard RVs. This allowed us to maintain the superior aerodynamic profile, and avoid unnecessary drag, and consequently, range loss.

The L1’s innovative, custom-designed thermal management system allows for an incredible experience for you when you’re in Camp Mode, while also maintaining our aeroform while towing.

Reserve your L1 today and experience the future of road trips.