Over the past fifteen years, the sharing economy has become a major topic in economics, sociology and transport research. Most of that attention has gone to housing and cars. Much less has been written about a category of asset that fits the model almost perfectly: the privately owned motorhome.
This article looks at how existing research on idle assets, trust and sustainability applies to motorhomes, and where the gaps in our understanding remain.
The utilization problem
One of the most frequently cited observations in transport research comes from urban planner Donald Shoup, who noted that private cars spend roughly 95% of their time parked. That simple figure has shaped a whole generation of thinking about car-sharing, parking policy and urban space.
Motorhomes take this problem to an extreme. A car is at least used for daily commuting. A motorhome is often used for a summer holiday and a handful of weekends, and spends the rest of the year in a driveway or a storage facility. At the same time, it is a high-value asset that keeps generating costs, including insurance, maintenance, storage and depreciation, whether it moves or not.
From an economic perspective, this is a textbook case of underutilized capacity. It is exactly the kind of asset that sharing economy models were designed to mobilize.
From ownership to access
The idea of collaborative consumption, popularized by Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers in their 2010 book What's Mine Is Yours, describes a shift from owning things to accessing them when needed. For motorhomes, this shift is visible on both sides of the market.
On the demand side, many travelers no longer want to buy a vehicle they will use for two weeks a year. Renting gives them access to the experience without the long-term commitment. On the supply side, owners increasingly look for ways to rent out a privately owned motorhome during the months it would otherwise sit unused, turning a pure cost into a partial source of income.
In Spain, for example, this model has grown alongside strong winter demand from northern European travelers, who fly to Mediterranean airports and rent vehicles locally rather than driving thousands of kilometres.
Trust: the central problem
Research on peer-to-peer platforms consistently identifies trust as the key barrier. Renting out a motorhome means handing a valuable and complex vehicle to a stranger. Renting one means trusting that the vehicle is safe, clean and as described.
The mechanisms that make this possible are well documented in sharing economy studies: reputation systems and reviews, security deposits, specific rental insurance, standardized contracts and documented check-in and check-out procedures.
Motorhomes add a layer of complexity that most shared assets don't have. Renters need to understand water systems, electrical setups, gas appliances and vehicle dimensions. In practice, this means the handover itself becomes part of the trust infrastructure. Intermediaries who manage the handover often play a bigger role here than in housing or car-sharing, where the asset is easier to use without instruction.
The sustainability question
Sharing economy research has produced mixed results on environmental impact. On one hand, sharing existing assets can reduce the need for new production. If one motorhome serves several households a year, fewer vehicles may need to be manufactured. On the other hand, easier access can increase overall travel, a rebound effect well known in transport economics.
For motorhomes, both effects are plausible, and there is very little empirical data to show which one dominates. It is one of the clearest open questions in this area.
Regulation and legal grey zones
As with short-term housing rentals, peer-to-peer vehicle rental raises regulatory questions: insurance coverage, taxation of rental income, and the distinction between private use and commercial activity. These rules vary considerably across European countries, and in many cases they were written before peer-to-peer models existed.
This creates uncertainty for owners and a fragmented landscape that makes cross-country comparison difficult for researchers.
Open research questions
Despite the growth of the market, several questions remain largely unexplored:
How does peer-to-peer rental affect the depreciation and lifespan of motorhomes?
Does access through rental reduce or increase motorhome ownership over time?
What is the net environmental effect of shared motorhome use compared to private ownership?
How do trust mechanisms differ between fully peer-to-peer platforms and models where an intermediary manages handovers?
How does seasonality shape the economics in northern versus southern European markets?
Conclusion
The motorhome is a small but revealing case for sharing economy research. It combines high asset value, very low utilization, complex use and strong seasonal demand, all factors that existing studies identify as important but rarely see together. As peer-to-peer rental of motorhomes continues to grow, it offers researchers a useful and still largely untapped field for studying how ownership, access and trust evolve in practice.
