Stretch as you will the limits of the definition of the phrase "modern nomadic life," but you'll still have some trouble fitting living out of your car in it. People have lived out of cars for decades, for sure, but it was never a glamorous, potentially monetizable thing to aspire to.
The "Tesla life" is changing that perspective.
Whereas rags-to-riches stories out of Hollywood make living out of a car the poorest and saddest kind of errant lifestyle, with the current boom of mobile houses, the stigma is almost gone. Wider adoption of EVs, which offer more storage space and more cabin space, is also recommending daily drivers as suitable alternatives for tiny mobile homes.
As of this writing, Tesla is leading the pack in terms of conversions of this kind, but they, too, remain limited in number. If living the nomadic life in a tiny house, a travel trailer, a van or bus conversion entails serious compromises and even more serious determination to make it work, living out of a car is even more challenging.
Photo: Snuuzu
It's not an impossible task, as we've seen already, but it's definitely a task of the "not for everybody" kind. Besides the constricting space, considerations of comfort can be a deal-breaker.
This is where something like the Snuuzu could help. Snuuzu is a Dutch startup founded by a trio of Tesla owners and travel enthusiasts; they say they were among the first wave of Tesla owners in The Netherlands and want to help other Tesla owners make the most of their EVs when out exploring nature.
As the story goes, the idea for the Snuuzu, which is described as a "hotel bed" tailor-made for Tesla Model Y and 3, was born in 2016, but the product itself is just now trying to make its way to the international market. It's doing so via crowdfunding, with deliveries estimated to kick off at the end of 2024. Snuuzu has backing from the Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley group but no official backing from Tesla, which probably doesn't come as a surprise.
Photo: Snuuzu
The idea is that, with certain adventures, you can make do with less, but that the "less" part shouldn't compromise on comfort. The Snuuzu is an inflatable mattress with a patent-pending design that should deliver on that: less but with more comfort. It's designed to fit perfectly in the back of a Model Y or 3 but can also be used with the X.
As co-founder Omar Tegel explains in the video at the bottom of the page, setting up this hotel-like bed in the back of your Tesla is a matter of two minutes, tops, and that includes folding flat the rear seats. The mattress inflates automatically, so you'll need to make sure the battery for the internal pump is always charged. A full charge is achieved in four hours. In case of an emergency, a 30-minute charge will guarantee you a single inflation of the mattress.
Aside from the buttons to inflate and deflate the bed, you get another option that allows you adjust the firmness of the mattress, which is definitely not a standard feature with inflatables.
Photo: Snuuzu
There are three layers to the Snuuzu, but only the bottom one is pending a patent. It's also the one that makes the difference between this product and others, as it's pressurized and able to adjust to the contours of the surfaces it sits on (like the folded seats), creating the impression that you're lying on a flat surface. So, even if you're sleeping in the back of your car, you won't feel it in every muscle of your body in the morning.
The upper layer is organic lyocell, removable for washing after each outing. It can double as a bedsheet because of that, saving you even more space and adding extra convenience. Snuuzu has worked with established mattress makers in the design of the Snuuzu, and it's perhaps most obvious in the upper layer.
The 204-cm-long (80.3-inch) mattress comes in a zippered duffel bag that easily stores in the sub-trunk, leaving space inside the actual trunk for other stuff. Deflating and packing it up again is also easy: you simply deflate the mattress and secure the straps all along its length. You then roll it and it rolls with the carrier bag, so that you can be sure it won't come undone once you take your hands off it.
Photo: Snuuzu
The makers promise that, unlike most camping gear, there will be no issues with getting Snuuzu back in the bag it came from – time and time again.
The Snuuzu comes with an MRSP of €899(approximately $977 at the current exchange) but can be had for half that amount if you're feeling like taking a leap of faith by backing the campaign. Deliveries kick off in December and will include a courtesy two-pillow set as a thank-you. Just make sure you take into account shipping costs, which aren't included, before you commit to anything.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News