Anker-backed hybrid startup Evotrex is coming out of stealth

A large number of new companies have emerged in recent years offering new recreational vehicle offerings, e.g Floating lighthouse, pebbleand Grounded. Now another startup has been called Evotrex It emerges from obscurity with its own twist: a hybrid RV travel trailer with integrated gas engine.

The new RV will have an on-board battery pack that will power the living quarters and on-board electronics, but the gas engine will recharge the battery pack and extend its range for much longer than a full charge – which could make an Evotrex trailer attractive for long camping trips.

The Evotrex RV will debut at the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show, but the company detailed some of its plans ahead of that reveal in an exclusive interview with TechCrunch.

Using a gas engine to get the most out of a large battery pack has become a trendy idea in the automotive world, as automakers and customers hesitate to switch to fully electric vehicles. In fact, the CEO of automaker startup Scout Motors recently revealed that 80% of customers who pre-ordered its upcoming vehicles chose the model “Extended Range” hybrid powertrain option. On fully electric ones.

Alex Xiao, co-founder of Evotrex and former product manager for consumer electronics company Anker, believes the idea will appeal to RV customers and dealers alike.

Xiao told TechCrunch that he and co-founder Stella Qin (another Anker alumnus) spent seven months researching the RV market before starting to build anything. What they found was a customer base that was becoming much younger and had a desire to take these types of vehicles further out in the world, away from traditional campsites and RV parks.

These customers “want to bring their tools and other equipment for skiing, hunting, fishing and other activities, and staying in the wilderness for four or five days, which is different,” Xiao said. “They’re off the grid – off-grid living has never been supported before in RV living.”

To do all that, you need power.

RV owners are no strangers to gas generators, but Xiao and Qin believe the way they integrated their engine into an Evotrex trailer provides a number of benefits. They claim it’s quieter and more efficient, and say they use excess heat to help keep the cabin warm.

Evotrex plans to ship its first RV trailers by the end of 2026, Xiao said, and has raised $16 million in seed funding so far from former employer Anker, as well as early-stage Chinese venture firms Unity Ventures, Kylinhall Partners and Vision Plus Capital.

Evotrex has about 40 employees so far, some in China and some in the United States, Xiao said. Evotrex’s CTO previously led automotive R&D at Chinese automaker Geely Group, and the startup’s COO (and third co-founder) has also held supply chain leadership positions at IBM, Lenovo, and Anker.

The plan is to do most of the production in China and final assembly in California, Xiao said. In addition to the fact that much of the RV supply chain remains in China, he said he realizes there will be challenges due to the Trump administration’s trade policies.

Xiao said that solving these problems will not be easy. He added that a successful RV company cannot be created from scratch.

“The purpose of this company is to bring these types of new experiences to customers,” Xiao said.