Togo RV, a multifaceted app and savings program that bills itself as “the ultimate RV companion,” has partnered with Jayco to announce the launch of the Togo RV First Year Free program. The arrangement provides purchasers of new Jayco RVs — including those from subsidiaries Entegra Coach, Highland Ridge RV and Starcraft RV — with a complementary one-year membership to Togo’s Togo RV Plus catalog of benefits.

The extensive Togo RV Plus program provides members with the list of features available at no cost to anyone using its Togo Free program as well as a host of valuable additions. The upscale program, available for $39.99 annually, includes GPS navigation customized for your RV; a 25% lifetime discount on Harvest Hosts’ popular annual membership; premium trip planning with Roadtrippers Plus; unlimited access to boondocking locations using OvernightRVParking.com; major savings on favorite RV brands, tires and more. It also offers gold-status membership to RVillage, one of the RV industry’s top social networks.

In addition, Jayco will make the program available to existing owners of Jayco’s family of products at a 25% discount for their first year of membership. The manufacturer plans to send emails to Jayco owners during the coming month with instructions for redeeming the offer.

Meanwhile, Togo RV Free should be a part of every RVer’s must-haves. The time-saving app provides for vehicle registration notification, offers travel destination recommendations, can help locating service centers and mobile RV repair firms, has reminders for maintenance tracking and offers RV videos and how-to guides. Both programs can be accessed by visiting togorv.com.

One of the most unusual — and, perhaps, even polarizing — truck designs to come down the pike in many years is the new Tesla Cybertruck. Featuring an angular exoskeleton shell made of cold-rolled stainless steel and armor glass, the Cybertruck seats six, has 100 feet of lockable exterior storage, adaptive air suspension, has up to 3,500 pounds of payload capacity and offers a towing capability of more than 14,000 pounds (tri-motor AWD version). Depending upon the configuration (single-motor RWD, dual-motor AWD or tri-motor AWD) the all-electric pickup can go from 0-60mph in as little as 2.9 seconds and has an estimated range of 250 to 500 miles. The Cybertruck is scheduled to go into production later this year — and Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk has said the company already has in excess of 500,000 preorders.

And now, it has a camper of sorts.

As reported in BusinessInsider, the CyberLandr designed by Stream It is as high-tech as the truck it’s built for. The pop-up camper includes radiant heated porcelain tile floor in the bath, tri-level sink, abbreviated porcelain countertop, induction cooktop, 34-inch 4K smart TV/monitor and sleeping accommodations. CyberLandr also features a water-filtration system, shower with four-stage filter to help stave off running out of water, voice automation and StarLink dish for Internet access. Of course, all this comes with a cost: Stream It started out by offering the 1,200-pound (dry weight) camper at a 20% discount — for $39,995 — but that discount sold out (as did lesser discounts of 18%, 16% and 14%). A 12% discount ($43,995) was still available at press time.

REV Recreation Group has introduced the new Frontier diesel-pusher Class A within the company’s Fleetwood RV lineup. The 2022 model debuted in May with a pair of triple-slide models — the 34GT and 36SSW — with two additional floorplans on the drawing boards.

The luxury motorcoach (MSRPs start at $300,000) includes a host of high-end amenities RVers have come to expect from a Fleetwood diesel — including electric fireplace, hand-laid solid vinyl Tarkett flooring, Whirlpool residential stainless-steel refrigerator, induction cooktop, convection microwave, solid-surface countertops and exterior entertainment center with an LED TV and oversized patio awning — along with new design twists. The Frontier features a full flat floor — no stepping over the engine compartment — along with an Aqua-Hot 250D tankless water heater, oversize basement storage and added room in the master suite (as well as a dedicated console for CPAP storage).

Both models are powered by a Cummins 340hp 6.7-liter diesel and Allison 2500-series 6-speed automatic transmission. For more information, visit fleetwoodrv.com/models/frontier. In addition to Fleetwood RV, REV Recreation Group also manufactures Holiday Rambler, Monaco, American Coach, Renegade RV, Midwest Automotive Designs and Lance Camper.

Mike Sokol is a frequent contributor to RV Enthusiast magazine, where he writes about perhaps the most perplexing aspect of RV ownership — an RV’s electrical components and wiring — in a manner that virtually every reader can understand. For those wanting more, Sokol has written a book, RV Electrical Safety, that should be in every RVer’s toolbox.

The 150-page book, with a forward written by the late Gary “The RV Doctor” Bunzer, covers the basics of voltage, amperage, wattage and grounding, with additional chapters on RV hot-skin testing, GFCI operation, portable generator hookups and troubleshooting RV electrical systems. The book is available through Amazon in both paperback and Kindle options and can be ordered here: https://amzn.to/2StK2TP.

After logging a record 515,819 retail registrations for the 2021 calendar year, the surging popularity of RVing shows no signs of leveling off. According to Statistical Surveys Inc. (SSI), the firm that tracks retail and consumer data for the RV industry, the industry has remained hot, recording 29,958 registrations of towable and motorized RVs in the U.S. and Canada in January, 35,032 retail registrations in February and a whopping 45,568 in March. All numbers represent best-ever retail-sales records for their respective months and are at minimum more than 20% higher than the same months of 2021. In fact, the March numbers represent a 52.5% year-over-year increase.

Among other indicators of the RV industry’s strength:

• In late April, Black Book — which analyzes millions of vehicle transactions to create a model that provides a history-adjusted valuation — released a monthly report showing auction prices for towable and motorized RVs hit a record high in March 2021. According to the report, the average selling price for motorized units in March was $62,967, while the average towable brought $21,821. By comparison, one year ago those numbers were $47,454 and $14,834, respectively.
• Go RV Rentals, a leading source for RV rental pricing analytics, released its 2021 RV Rental Price Report in May. According to the report, which represents the average of all vehicles across all sampled metro locations, the average daily price to rent an RV is $178 — up 8% from a year ago. The lowest daily rate cited was $30 for a pop-up camper, while the highest was $730 for a Class A motorhome.
• In late May, the RV Industry Association (RVIA) released its latest wholesale shipments report. The report, covering April 2021, showed 51,813 units shipped — the most for any April on record. Year to date, manufacturers have shipped 200,320 units compared to 107,606 units shipped during the same time period in 2020 — a 53.7% increase.

Interested in a new career as an RV technician, or just want to learn more about the inner workings of your own RV and how to diagnose problems? The National RV Training Academy (NRVTA) recently earned the status of a certified licensed education provider from the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), the state agency charged with overseeing and providing workforce development services to employers and job seekers in Texas.

What does this mean? Certification opens the door for NRVTA to receive state funding to help people prepare for new careers as RV technicians and inspectors.

This is the second certification NRVTA has received in six months; in December, the Texas RV Association formally endorsed training services provided at the academy.

Among recent curriculum changes enacted at NRVTA to meet certification, the academy created the RV Fundamentals Course, an entry-level training class providing insight into systems onboard an RV and how to diagnose problems with a variety of equipment. The course is a prerequisite for all other NRVTA training — and consumers can take that class alongside prospective RV technicians and inspectors. NRVTA opened its doors in 2017 and has grown to 10 instructors and a support staff of 14 people expected to train more than 1,000 students in 2021. For more information, visit nrvta.com.

Looking for more adventure than you can find at an RV campground? “Adventure camping” — so-named for the corps of RVers in search of off-grid experiences — is easily the hottest trend right now in the travel trailer market — but a growing number of motorized manufacturers are demonstrating that the segment isn’t owned by the bumper-pull crowd.

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada-based Pleasure-Way Industries recently released its Recon 4×4, a Class B built on the Mercedes-Benz 2500 Sprinter 4×4 platform that’s built for the road less traveled. Among the Recon’s off-grid equipment, the four-seasons Class B boasts four 100-amp lithium batteries, four 100-watt solar panels, a 40-gallon freshwater tank, two 10-inch touchscreen control panels and multiplex wiring, 124 cubic feet of garage storage and a host of high-end Truma components — an AquaGo Comfort Plus water heater, VarioHeat furnace and C60 cooler fridge/freezer.

All of this does come at a cost — the Recon 4×4 carries a $171,000 MSRP — but it should find favor with the overlanding crowd. According to Pleasure-Way executives, the Recon will go into production this summer. For more information, visit pleasureway.com.

RVezy, a peer-to-peer RV rental marketplace, has revealed findings from a new travel survey, conducted by Abacus Data, that highlights the impact of COVID-19 on American travel plans for 2021. According to RVezy’s survey, RVing and camping ranked as the safest travel options for 2021, with 66% of Americans considering the activities as not risky. Despite the increase in vaccine rollouts, the survey also highlighted that 94% of Americans mentioned “doing something safe” as a top priority for their vacation plans.

The main reasons for the finding, the company said, are:

• Being outdoors with self-contained accommodations.
• The ability to avoid crowds and maintain social distancing.
• No need to quarantine during or after a trip.

The majority of Americans (52%) consider RVing as one of the only safe travel options during COVID, the study said.

For more information on RVezy, visit rvezy.com.