A Chinese EV is coming to the US and its a super cool RV

A China-produced EV will be on sale in the U.S. by 2027, but it won’t be a passenger vehicle, it will be a recreational vehicle, or RV. A few months ago, I made the trek out to the City of Industry in the suburbs east of Los Angeles to visit Evotrex. I was captivated by its super-sophisticated take on outdoor recreation.

Evotrex doesn’t consider itself an RV maker, chief marketing officer Ivan Wang told me in a small room next to the cavernous warehouse where an Evotrex PG5 rested. It considers itself a power company. While people with RVs and campers may have different preferences, “one thing they can’t say no to is sufficient power,” Wang said.

Why am I writing about an RV maker based in SoCal on my ChinaEV blog? When I received an email from its PR person and looked at the website, all the management of Evotrex was Chinese. Sure, they could all be American Chinese or Taiwanese. But there was surely a Mainland China connection there, I figured.

I was not wrong. Evotrex considers itself a global company, (natch) but its founder is from China, its research and engineering is concentrated in Shanghai, and its manufacturing is in Shenzhen. Indeed, the RV arrives in the U.S. as basically a CKD (complete knock-down) and is assembled in SoCal.

It makes sense, however. China is the best place to source components for the RV, including its battery and engine. Yes, it has an engine, because the Evotrex RV is a REEV, or range-extended electric vehicle. I’m not going to go into all the technical details as I might mess them up. But here are the basics. The Evotrex PG5, its launch product, has a 43 kWh LFP battery, an onboard generator and 1.5kW of solar power. It is capable of vehicle to vehicle charging, vehicle to load charging and vehicle to home DC charging.

The engine recharges the battery while driving. And there is a NACS port in the front to recharge your EV. The RV also has a feature called TowSync,  “a high-precision hitch sensor and electric motor to provide torque support while towing.” If you’re driving an EV, it means less drain on your battery; if an ICE, better gas mileage.

Since Evotrex is targeting off-the-grid camping (though it may turn out that, like most owners of giant pickups or SUVs capable of off-roading, the Evotrex will spend most of its time in only mildly remote locations), it has an off-grid calculator to plan trips.

It also has the Evotrex app, natch, to monitor diagnostics, manage power distribution, control lighting and climate, view exterior cameras, and remotely maneuver the trailer. It can park itself! The app is also accessible through the integrated tablet inside the RV, which would be a lot easier than trying to use it on a mobile phone, at least for people of a certain age who need reading glasses.

As we’re discussing the interior, it’s time to talk about what really captivated me about the Evotrex – the interior. It’s like a luxury hotel room! I’ve included a few photos, but you can find more on the website. They’ve pretty much thought of everything in the interior. There’s also a super cool patio that unfolds from the back of the RV. I’ve included one photo, but it doesn’t really do it justice. Check out the video on the website.

Why PG5, I asked Wang? The nomenclature is taken from the way BMW names it models, he said. The 5 is kind of in the middle – Evotrex can come out with more stripped down or much fancier models and use a lower or higher number for the name. The PG5 base model is $120,000; fully loaded it costs $160,000. Since it is imported, won’t the tariffs be a big burden, I asked? “We pay close attention to tariffs” and have factored that into the final price, Wang said.  

So, who is the target customer? Evotrex recently did a customer survey, Wang said, and found that the consumer base was mature, seasoned outdoor enthusiasts who have disposable income. Tech-forward people are also possible buyers as they interested in the EV experience. But, “the EV towing experience is broken,” Wang said. If you tow a trailer with your Rivian, it runs the battery down very fast. Hence Evotrex’s Tow Sync” feature. “We also attract a lot of newbies who have never RV’ed,” he said. They have more than 1,000 pre-orders, with deliveries expected to start in Summer of 2027. Production starts in Q4 of this year.

The Evotrex will only be sold in the U.S. and Canada and possibly Australia for starters. “Our focus is North American,” Wang said. It can’t be sold in China in its current form – its not street legal. “We might have a B2B solution for China,” he said.

I can’t afford an Evotrex, but it is super cool. I admit to having a bit of a fantasy of sitting on the fold out porch and having a nice cold beer after a big hike, or a glass of wine with a nice dinner. I’ll be interested in seeing how they do here. I can’t think of anything that will run afoul of the U.S. government’s stringent Chinese vehicle laws since the Evotrex will presumably just be connected to whatever internet account the owner uses. I mean, it arrives from China in a box.

I can see myself on this fold-out patio, but with a beer and with mountains as the backdrop.