When LG introduced the unique "Dukebox" ahead of CES 2024, it seemed a bit on the esoteric side but still within the brand's usual consumer electronics sphere. But a teardrop trailer designed to serve as a personal space beyond the four walls of home? That's just out there for the Korean tech giant. That hasn't stopped it from showing just such a trailer at CES this year, though, and the towable is actually a shrunken and refined version of a larger predecessor it calls the "Bon Voyage."
We expected all kinds of TV, mobile and home tech at LG's CES exhibit this year, and the company has not disappointed there. But it's also showing some new alternative product designs from the experimental LG Labs division, which was also behind this year's Dukebox and previous debuts like coffee landers and roller shoes.
Last year, LG Labs debuted a large, dual-axle duplex tiny home-style towable it called the Bon Voyage. It vowed to further research housing trends and discuss the idea of a portable personalized space with the public. The feedback it received inspired it to shrink and simplify the original Bon Voyage to small camping trailer size.
The newly evolved 2024 Bon Voyage arrives as a more transportable space, utilizing a teardrop-size 3.8 x 2 x 2.2-m (12.3 x 6.6 x 7.3 feet, L x W x H) body that appears ready to tow by both small and large vehicles. While it's sized like a teardrop, it has a flatter roofline and full side door more similar to a small, boxy trailer like the new SylvanSport Vast or the Hobby Beachy.
Like those other two examples, the Bon Voyage has a tailgate entryway. Instead of a single door or lift-gate, LG adapts the popular teardrop-style rear tailgate concept into a full-height pass-through opening with both lift-gate and drop-down tailgate. It stores various kitchen and food prep equipment in the cubbies below the mattress inside, relying on the tailgate as a worktop. As on the original Bon Voyage, large glass windows, particularly the one on the lift-gate, guarantee wide-open views of the vehicle's surroundings.
LG's rendering also teases a pretty serious sound system, showing one three-driver speaker that's likely part of a dual-speaker indoor/outdoor stereo system. LG says that the interior space is designed to be equipped with additional camper-style equipment, including a refrigerator, electric stove and water purifier. It stresses the multi-use urban-meets-wilderness slant of the design by adding that it can also accommodate the company's clothes-steaming Styler and shoe care products. The mention of the tall, cabinet-style Styler and the inclusion of the side door suggests there's a standing room in front of the bed.
LG makes no mention of a toilet, but the trailer certainly looks large enough for at least a compact portable. And maybe if you leave the Styler option box white and empty, they could even squeeze in an entire full- or part-time wet bath for you.
All of the amenities LG mentions specifically could be powered by electricity, so the entire Bon Voyage trailer could easily run off-grid via an LG Energy automotive-grade battery pack (or even just a good, old AGM battery). The trailer could also plug directly into an EV with power outlet, working in symbiosis with its tow vehicle, out on the road or even as a separate private room in a home's garage or driveway.
LG describes LG Labs as more of a marketing division, so we don't expect a production Bon Voyage to follow anytime this year or next. But the company is interested in expanding its footprint from home appliances and electronics to comprehensive intelligent experiences and spaces it calls "life solutions," so we won't rule it out completely. The Duobo space-age coffeemaker did have success moving from off-the-wall project to successful Kickstarter campaign, so why not?
Source: LG Electronics
