The Nomad, developed by Nomadic Power of Stuttgart, is a compact trailer with a rechargeable battery on board. Part funded by a €2m (£1.54m) European Commission grant, the company is targeting series-readiness by the end of the year.

Production models will capacities of between 40kWh (25% bigger than the latest Nissan LEAF) and 85kWh (the same as a Tesla Model S), the idea is that electric vehicle owners simply hitch the Nomad to their car for longer journeys, adding up to 270 miles of range when needed.

Nomadic Power is looking to offer them to buy or to rent, the latter enabling drivers to pick up a fully charged Nomad at the start of their journey and drop it off when they’re close to their destination. Rental stations would be established along major routes, hitching takes around two minutes, and it’s claimed that this would remove the need to install rapid chargers along major routes.

For owners, having a Nomad at home or their place of business would mean renewable energy could be stored ready for use later, and depleted units could be left at rental stations to be recharged while they complete their journey.