Fold down the rear seats, lay out a mattress, and turn on a screen to play a movie — in under ten minutes, an ordinary family car can transform into a mobile bedroom. With the National Day holiday just behind us, social media users have been sharing their car-camping travel budgets: one family of three spent only a little over 1,600 yuan over six days, while another traveler spent just 500 yuan on accommodation across a six-night trip. From Sichuan to Fujian, from Gannan to the Qinghai-Gansu loop, more and more tourists have opted to sleep in their vehicles over the past two years, saving thousands of yuan in hotel costs. Many automakers have seized the trend, marketing features like one-touch bed conversion and camping mode as core selling points, further fueling the car-camping boom.
Screenshots of car-camping travel budgets shared online. However, behind the cost savings and convenience lie safety risks from lying down while driving, the strain on public resources, and even the legal consequences of illegal vehicle modifications. Is car-camping travel a smart new way to explore on a budget, or a risky practice of freeloading off public resources? On October 8, reporters from Cover News interviewed travelers and experts.
A family of three spent only a little over 1,600 yuan over six days. Some automakers have rolled out one-touch bed conversion modes. Right after the National Day holiday, social media users flooded platforms with their car-camping expense reports, sparking widespread discussion. Many users said that with hotels fully booked during the holiday rush, they simply folded down the rear seats and laid out a mattress to sleep overnight, avoiding booking anxiety while saving thousands of yuan on accommodation.
Ms. Zhou from Mianyang, Sichuan, drove with her family to the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture during the National Day holiday, using car-camping mode the entire trip — driving by day and sleeping at service areas by night. She said the trip alone saved her at least 3,000 yuan in accommodation costs. Ms. Zhou lying in her car-camping setup. Ms. Zhou told Cover News reporters that before departing, she checked hotels at the destination and found that quality ones were not only expensive but often fully booked, while budget options were uncomfortable. So she chose to bring an air mattress and sleeping bag to sleep in the car. In the evening, she would find a well-equipped service area or a licensed camping site, paying around 20 yuan for an overnight stay. She noted that these sites offered access to restrooms and water, and some camping grounds even had shower facilities, making them safer than wild camping spots.
Different from Ms. Zhou, Mr. Jiang from Chengdu, Sichuan, said that since buying an electric vehicle, he has leaned more toward car-camping when traveling. However, he noted that they do not car-camp the entire trip — they stay in hotels when passing through less crowded areas to shower and rest. Mr. Jiang's car-camping setup. He mentioned that while car-camping saves money and is convenient, it also comes with issues such as cramped and sealed spaces, noisy service areas at night, and inconvenient showering. It works for a few days, but a hotel break is necessary along the way.
Many social media users have also shared their experiences. Ms. Zhao from Chengdu, who requested anonymity, took her family of three on a road trip from Chengdu to Xichang during the National Day holiday, combining car-camping with tent camping. The total cost came to 1,689 yuan. Although they drove a gasoline car, the savings were still significant even with fuel costs included. Car-camping is truly amazing, said Ms. Zhu from Fujian, who also requested anonymity. During the National Day holiday, she drove across Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, benefiting from toll-free highways, and spent only 500 yuan on accommodation over six nights — two nights in hotels and four nights sleeping in the car. Charging costs totaled just 200 yuan for the entire trip, tickets for two adults and one child came to 1,500 yuan, and food and supplies along the way cost another 1,500 yuan. The trip covered nearly 2,000 kilometers — if it had been a gasoline car, fuel alone would have cost over 1,200 yuan. She added that the biggest advantage of an electric vehicle is the ability to safely park and sleep with the air circulation system running. Gasoline cars simply cannot be used for overnight stays — opening windows lets mosquitoes in, and closing them risks oxygen deprivation. Electric vehicles solve this problem perfectly.
Automaker marketing has added fuel to this trend. In recent years, several car manufacturers have promoted one-touch bed conversion and camping mode as core selling points. Some models claim to fold the rear seats flat in just a few dozen seconds, creating a nearly 2-meter-long and 1.4-meter-wide double bed, while still retaining some trunk space. Other models combine roof tents and tailgate expansion platforms with in-car bedding, promoting an integrated solution of outdoor camping and in-car overnight stays. New energy vehicles feature flatter undercarriages, batteries that support extended parking with air conditioning, and external discharge functions for cooking and boiling water, transforming sleeping in a car from a makeshift necessity into a deliberate choice for some consumers.
Behind the transformation of ordinary cars into mobile bedrooms lies dangers of lying down while driving, freeloading off public resources, and potential legal risks. Car-camping travel continues to gain traction on social media. Unlike RVs, car-camping setups are mostly ordinary SUVs, MPVs, or even vans — fold down the rear seats, lay out an inflatable mattress, connect a portable power source, and a family car becomes a mobile bedroom on the road. The low barrier to entry and minimal cost have made this travel style rapidly popular, but it also carries numerous hidden risks.
Shanxi highway traffic police have explicitly warned that lying down while a vehicle is traveling at high speed poses extreme danger — in sudden braking or a collision, passengers would be thrown directly, making fatalities highly likely. A senior vehicle engineer pointed out in an analysis that all safety protection designs in family cars are intended for only one scenario: passengers sitting upright with seat belts fastened. When seats are reclined, three-point seat belts cannot properly fit against the chest and pelvis. In sudden braking or a collision, the human body becomes like an unprotected heavy object, and airbags deploying in misaligned positions can cause secondary fatal injuries.
More commonplace than driving safety is the strain car-camping places on public resources. Since car-camping setups lack complete water supply, sewage disposal, and electrical systems, washing, cooking, and wastewater disposal all depend on public restrooms and street-level facilities. According to media reports, many car owners chop wood and cook directly on sidewalks, crowd into public restrooms to wash up and do laundry, and dump domestic wastewater and food waste into green belts at will. A Guangming Online commentary pointed out that if a vehicle long-term occupies public parking spaces and shifts all living needs — cooking, washing, and waste disposal — onto surrounding public facilities, it is effectively passing its travel costs onto local residents and the city.
Economic tensions are equally sharp. According to media reports, along the Qinghai-Gansu loop, many car-camping tourists park overnight in front of hotels or in nearby parking areas to access hotel restrooms and water, while hotels can only turn a blind eye. An Anhui Current Affairs Review commentary noted that if freeloading becomes widespread, it will not only increase hotel operating costs but also disrupt normal business order as large numbers of vehicles gather to camp, clearly exceeding reasonable limits. A Beijing News editorial also stated unequivocally: not staying at a hotel does not mean one can freely use a hotel's business resources.
Legal consequences are equally clear. Under the Road Traffic Safety Law, privately removing seats or modifying bedding constitutes illegal modification. Small passenger vehicles face a 500 yuan fine and an order to restore the vehicle to its original state. If an accident is caused by such illegal conditions, insurance companies have the right to refuse compensation in accordance with the law.
Experts say the main reason car-camping has taken off is price, and sustainable development requires solving safety and infrastructure issues. On October 8, Hu Penghui, associate professor and master's supervisor at the School of Sociology at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, said in an interview that car-camping tourism is not a new phenomenon this year, but this National Day holiday it truly reached a tipping point. The most direct reason is the significant increase in new energy vehicle ownership. As of the end of June this year, the national motor vehicle fleet reached 476 million, with new energy vehicles totaling 48.97 million — meaning a large number of ordinary families already own a potential car-camping vehicle.
The real reason car-camping has become popular is mainly price, he noted. During the National Day holiday, hotel prices in popular cities surged severely — chain hotels that normally cost three to four hundred yuan could rise to over a thousand during the holiday, without any corresponding upgrade in service. Young people can afford it but do not think it is worth it, and car-camping happens to offer an alternative.
Regarding the safety hazards and legal risks of turning ordinary cars into mobile bedrooms, Hu Penghui said that in the short term it saves money, but in the long term it is not sustainable. If freeloading becomes a widespread phenomenon, resentment from hotels and communities will grow, potentially forcing stricter restrictive measures. Hu Penghui believes the underlying demand for car-camping tourism is promising, but its current rough-and-ready state is not. Car-camping tourism essentially reflects the desire of self-driving travelers for flexibility and value for money, a demand that is genuine and long-term. But for it to move from a wild mode to a sustainable one, two problems must be solved: first, safety regulations — lying down while driving must be explicitly prohibited, and automakers promoting one-touch bed conversion should simultaneously indicate the appropriate usage scenarios; second, supporting infrastructure — proper campsites, reasonably priced parking and water refill stations, and shower facilities need to keep up. What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments.