By Cat DiStasio From engadget

Living off the grid was once a lifestyle reserved for rustic folks who prefer roughing it over city life. These days, though, the face of unplugged living can look downright space-age. We’ve rounded up some of our favorite self-sufficient portable homes, including a trailer that triples in size, a beautiful bohemian bunker and a wood-wrapped RV with a green roof. With cool features like solar power, rainwater recycling, smart storage and space efficiency, these campers offer a new way to unplug from the grid, allowing intrepid wanderers to pursue happiness wherever they may roam.

The self-sustaining Ecocapsule
This round little mobile home looks like something out of a Pixar film, but it isn’t the cousin of a vegetation-seeking robot. The Ecocapsule is the first dwelling of its kind — a completely off-grid, self-sustaining portable home. The futuristic trailer gets all the power it needs from a roof covered in solar panels and its very own wind turbine. The interior of the capsule is chic, sleek and designed with the utmost function in mind, including amenities like a double bed, kitchenette and storage space. That’s pretty incredible for a tiny camper with just 86 square feet of living space. Talk about cozy and cute!

A solar-powered cutie of a camper
Tiny trailers are all about multipurpose spaces, and no camper multitasks better than this one. The Happier Camper HC1 echoes the style of older campers, but with some cool modern twists. It has a modular, customizable interior system called Adaptiv that allows users to snap features in and out like Lego blocks. The system makes it possible to transform the camper from a five-person bedroom to a functional kitchen in just a few minutes. On top of that, this ultralight trailer’s rounded rooftop is covered with solar panels that power a heated shower, a Bose sound system, built-in USB, multiple AC power outlets and a tablet docking station. Pretty hip for retro chic!

The eco-friendly Wohnwagon
Ditching the grid doesn’t have to mean compromising on style. That’s crystal clear with the Wohnwagon, a stunning mobile camper that hails from Austria. This tiny trailer is wrapped in wood and laden with energy-efficient features like solar panels, a green roof, wastewater recycling and solar water heating. The camper is built from locally sourced, natural and recycled materials with a neutral interior full of cozy spaces and smart storage, making it a towable eco-retreat anyone would be lucky to call home.

A bohemian retreat on wheels
“Charming” is not a strong enough word to adequately describe this timber-clad trailer. Named after the whaling ship in the 1851 novel Moby-Dick, the Pequod is an innovative little caravan that can house a family of four — and it’s chock-full of personality inside and out. Although many tiny homes are built on a tight budget, the family who commissioned this one from Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses spared no expense. The result is what the company calls its “most elegant and complex build to date.” The Pequod is on the larger side for a tiny home, and it feels even bigger than it is thanks to custom-built multifunctional and transforming furniture. The trailer features a welded steel catwalk with Plexiglas flooring that connects the loft spaces and it has tons of integrated storage in the stairs, loft plenums and every which way you turn.

Portable living in an egg-shaped trailer
The campers we’ve featured so far have mostly been recognizable as towable, portable homes. This one is the exception. The Blob vb3 is an egg-like dwelling on wheels that opens up to reveal a cozy living space unlike any we’ve seen before. Since the Blob lacks windows, it’s nearly impossible to tell what it is until the hatch-like side door opens and you can catch a peek inside. Originally designed as a portable office, this white orb-like trailer can be used for a variety of purposes. Indeed, it’s ready for almost anything, since it features a bathroom, a kitchen, a guest room, a sleeping area and plenty of storage space via interior walls lined with shelving.

A telescoping trailer that triples in size
This smart little camper was designed to grow. Instead of expanding with slide-out modules on the sides like many modern trailers do, the Beauer camper telescopes lengthwise to triple its size. When in its compact form, the trailer resembles tin cans nested inside one another. Once parked, the whole transformation takes as little as 20 seconds, freeing up ample time for relaxation. Aside from its telescoping quality, which makes it easier to tow and stow, the trailer has all the amenities travelers need: sleeping space for four adults, a compact bathroom, a two-burner stove and even the option for an oven.

The space-age NASA Camper
The Cricket is an instantly recognizable trailer designed by a NASA architect who worked on the space station’s “habitation module” where astronauts eat and sleep. The ultra-lightweight camper is made mostly from aluminum, wood and steel, which makes it easy to tow with any vehicle. The interior is outfitted like a sailboat to prioritize space efficiency. And since the Cricket features a pop-up roof inspired by the classic VW Westfalia camper van, that space can be expanded for a little extra headroom when in use. The trailer is powered by two propane cylinders and a deep-cycle battery, which runs the built-in fridge and on-demand hot water heater, so you can stay as comfy as astronauts in outer space.

For more on this story go to: http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/10/7-tiny-mobile-homes/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi