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Hybrid RV Trailer: Evotrex Raises $30M for PG5

Hybrid RV Trailer: Evotrex Raises $30M for PG5

Woodenscale AI
Woodenscale AI
5 min read

Evotrex builds a hybrid RV trailer designed to make extended off-grid camping feel less like compromise and more like actual comfort. The Los Angeles-based startup has now closed a $30 million Series A to push that vision closer to production. The bet is simple: a lot of RV buyers want longer stays away from hookups, but they also don’t want the range anxiety of an all-electric trailer or the clunky tradeoffs of traditional gas-powered systems. Founded in 2024 by Alex Xiao and a team with roots in Anker and the auto industry, Evotrex is trying to turn that gap into a real business.

And it’s moving fast.

The company is only 2 years old, yet it’s already talking about selling its first units in 2027 and eventually building around 1,000 trailers a year. That’s ambitious — maybe uncomfortably ambitious for a hardware startup in RVs, where durability problems can wreck a brand before it really starts. Evotrex is aware of that risk. That’s part of what makes this round worth watching.

What is the Evotrex hybrid RV trailer and how does it work?

The Evotrex PG5 is a power-generating travel trailer that runs primarily on electricity but carries its own backup generation system. Its setup combines a 43 kWh LFP battery pack and 1.5 kW of solar. It also uses regenerative braking and a 75 kW onboard gas generator that automatically recharges the pack when needed. Evotrex is pitching that as a way to keep HVAC, appliances, and onboard systems running much longer off-grid without depending on campground hookups or public charging.

That power story is only half the product. The PG5 also includes what Evotrex calls Active Power Assist, which is meant to reduce towing strain for both EVs and traditional trucks. The trailer supports remote-control parking with a bird’s-eye view. It uses air suspension and has one-touch auto-leveling instead of the usual manual routine that eats up time at the campsite.

Inside, the company is going for a tech-heavy, residential feel rather than classic RV minimalism. There’s a tablet-based control system for climate and lighting. Power management is built in. It also has bedroom smart dials, a roofed patio section, a dry bath with instant hot water, 2 queen-size beds, a full-size fridge, and 83.5 cubic feet of storage. Water capacity lands at 60 gallons fresh and 30 gallons each for gray and black tanks. That matters a lot more than splashy CES demos if people actually want to stay out for days.

The buying flow is already live in pre-production form. Evotrex is taking fully refundable $100 preorders, with initial availability aimed at the U.S., Canada, and Australia, and U.S. deliveries prioritized first. The base PG5 starts at $119,990. The Premium version tops out at $159,990.

Who founded Evotrex and why build a hybrid RV trailer?

Founding story

Evotrex didn’t come out of a conventional RV background. Alex Xiao said the idea started in 2021 while he was spending long stretches traveling in RVs through Tibet and other parts of China, and later doing hands-on RV market research across the U.S. That matters, because Evotrex’s pitch isn’t really “here’s a cooler camper.” It’s “here’s a trailer built around the power problem that keeps off-grid travel annoying.”

The founding team is broader than the source article suggests. Xiao is founder and CEO. Bruce Yang is co-founder and CTO. Jack Zhan is co-founder and COO. Stella Qin is co-founder and head of North America. That mix — product, automotive engineering, operations, and go-to-market — looks intentional for a company trying to ship a complicated hardware product instead of just showing one off.

Founder market fit

Xiao’s background is a big part of the story. He was Anker’s first product manager in 2011, spent more than a decade helping build the mobile charging giant, and played a major role in early portable power efforts there. Los Angeles Business Journal also reported that he started Anker Solix and managed a business worth about $600 million before leaving to build Evotrex.

The rest of the team isn’t filler. Bruce Yang came from Geely Group’s automotive R&D world, with experience tied to EV technology across a corporate family that includes Volvo, Polestar, and Lotus. Jack Zhan brings more than 20 years in manufacturing and procurement. He also worked on quality systems, with prior leadership roles at Anker, Lenovo, and IBM. Stella Qin previously led global brand teams at Anker, eufy, and Anker Solix.

That’s probably why Xiao sounds pretty calm about the crowd forming around electric and electrified RVs. “We are not afraid of competition, competition is a good thing. We educate the market together, we grow the market together,” he told TechCrunch. It’s a fair line. But it’s only convincing if the company can execute on product quality, service, and supply chain all at once.

Traction, fundraising, and competition

So far, Evotrex has validated a functional version of the PG5, but wants another 10 to 12 months for durability testing before full commercialization. The startup emerged from stealth in November 2025 and showed the PG5 at CES 2026. One early signal stands out: Xiao said the company hired its first service employee about 6 months ago, while its first sales employee joined only recently. That’s not glamorous. It’s also probably the sane move in RVs.

The fundraising picture is starting to match the ambition. This new $30 million Series A brings total funding to $46 million. Much of the round came from Chinese and Hong Kong-based investors including GSR United Capital, Forebright Concerto Capital, TTGG Ventures, and Pegasus Capital. Anker was already involved as a seed investor. Evotrex says the money will help finish testing and prepare production. It will also support a manufacturing plan that still calls for core manufacturing in China with final assembly in California.

The startup also says 90% of its current order book is for the fully loaded Premium trim, priced at around $160,000. That’s a useful signal, though it also tells you exactly who the first customer is: not the average weekend camper, but a buyer willing to pay real money for off-grid tech and convenience.

Competition is real, and it’s getting more serious by the month. Lightship raised a $34 million Series B in January 2024 to bring its all-electric L1 trailer to market, while Pebble showed the production-intent Pebble Flow at CES 2025 and began production in April 2025. Both are pushing fully electric trailers. Legacy players are slower. Thor’s early electric product strategy has leaned toward fleets, and Winnebago’s eRV2 has been in testing since 2023. Evotrex’s angle is different: it’s selling a hybrid answer to a market where pure electric still leaves a lot of buyers wondering how long they can stay out there before the math stops working.

Why are investors backing Evotrex now?

Because this round is less about concept validation and more about crossing the ugly middle stage between prototype buzz and actual deliveries.

RV startups don’t fail because the renderings are bad. They fail because build quality slips and service breaks down. Manufacturing also takes longer than planned. Xiao’s emphasis on durability testing and after-sales support suggests Evotrex understands that. Frankly, investors probably liked hearing that more than another pitch about “redefining adventure.”

There’s also a clear roadmap behind the money. Evotrex needs to finish engineering validation and lock down its China manufacturing and California assembly footprint. Then it has to prepare for first commercial shipments after production begins. If the company can hit those steps, the $30 million round stops looking like hype capital and starts looking like bridge capital.

Then there’s the team. A startup staffed with people from Anker, Geely, Lenovo, IBM, and EV-adjacent consumer tech is easier to underwrite than one built purely around RV enthusiasm. That doesn’t guarantee success. But it helps explain why investors are willing to back a hardware-heavy bet in a category that’s notoriously unforgiving.

How big is the hybrid RV trailer market?

The broad RV market is still large enough to matter. U.S. RV shipments totaled 342,220 units in 2025, according to RV Industry Association data, and travel trailers alone accounted for 237,631 of those shipments. That means Evotrex isn’t trying to create demand from scratch. It’s trying to win a premium slice of an already massive category.

What’s changing is the kind of product buyers will consider. Power has become a bigger part of the value proposition, not just an accessory. People want residential comforts off-grid. EV owners want less towing penalty. Startups like Lightship, Pebble, and Evotrex are all attacking the same friction point from different directions. All-electric efficiency sits on one side. Hybrid endurance sits on the other.

Should buyers watch Evotrex’s next hybrid RV trailer milestone?

Yes — but not because of the fundraising headline.

The real test for this hybrid RV trailer company starts after CES buzz fades and preorder curiosity cools off. Over the next 12 months, the things that matter are durability, service readiness, final assembly execution, and whether Evotrex can turn its power-first idea into a product people trust enough to actually use far from hookups. If it does, the PG5 could end up carving out a very real lane between old-school gas RVs and the first wave of all-electric trailers.

Read how Immuneel Therapeutics raised over ₹100 crore in a Series B round to expand access to CAR-T cancer therapies in India and build a broader cell and gene therapy platform for advanced blood cancer treatment.

FAQ

  • What funding did Evotrex raise?
    Evotrex raised a $30 million Series A in June 2026, bringing total funding to $46 million. The round included firms such as GSR United Capital, Forebright Concerto Capital, TTGG Ventures, and Pegasus Capital, while Anker had already backed the company earlier through its seed financing.
  • How does the Evotrex PG5 hybrid RV trailer work?
    The PG5 is an electrified travel trailer that uses a battery-first setup and then recharges itself with an onboard gas generator when needed. Its system combines a 43 kWh battery and solar input. It also uses regenerative braking and a 75 kW generator so the trailer can keep powering onboard systems during longer off-grid stays.
  • Who founded Evotrex?
    Evotrex was founded in 2024 by Alex Xiao along with Bruce Yang, Jack Zhan, and Stella Qin. Xiao came from Anker, where he was an early product leader, while the rest of the founding group brought experience in automotive R&D, manufacturing, and consumer tech brand building.
  • Is Evotrex part of the electric RV market or the traditional RV market?
    It sits somewhere in between, and that’s the point. Evotrex is selling a hybrid RV trailer — not a conventional gas trailer and not a pure EV trailer — which puts it in the emerging electrified RV category alongside startups like Lightship and Pebble, but with a longer-range off-grid pitch built around onboard generation.
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