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Recreational Vehicle
Created Thursday 10 June 2021
See also: Autos, Transportation
Articles
An Inflatable Office Pops Out of This Compact RV's Roof
Don't expect to get away from it all when you're trying to get away from it all.
Andrew Liszewski - 10 June 2021 9:42AM
With pandemic restrictions lifting in several parts of the world, many are excited to get as far away from home as possible, leading to a renewed interest in recreation vehicles. As a result, the RV industry is starting to deliver some truly luxurious homes on wheels, with amenities making them seem more like pricy hotel rooms than just an alternative to tents.
Back in February, we stared in awe as a Chinese company revealed an RV with an entire second floor that automatically raised from the roof, accessible by a tiny elevator (that wasn’t really that accessible) but only to those willing to cough up over $400,000. But with much of the world having adapted to working from home over the past year, we’re starting to see another trend in RVs and camping trailers: the addition of office space. A few months ago Airstream debuted a new floor plan option for its Flying Cloud 30FB trailer that included a tiny office in a back corner, allowing vacationers to stay on top of work, or take their work from home experience to a more exotic locale, like the shores of an idyllic lake.
https://gizmodo.com/an-inflatable-office-pops-out-of-this-compact-rvs-roof-1847070725
Dreaming of renting an RV for your next great road trip? Here’s exactly how to do it right
From where to go, to how to rent a recreational vehicle, trailer or camper van, RV pros share their best travel advice.
June 11, 2021 at 6:22 a.m. ET / Updated: June 11, 2021 at 12:35 p.m. ET - Brienne Walsh
RVing was hot in 2020 — popular RV rental company Outdoorsy saw a 4,500% increase in bookings in 2020, for example. And in 2021, it may just be again: A recent survey by the RV Industry Association found that about three in 10 Americans hope to take an RV trip this year — 10% of whom have never done it before.
The appeal of RVing is obvious. You get the creature comforts of home, including a comfy bed and mini-kitchen, while out in nature. And there are plenty of RV rental options, including Outdoorsy and RVShare. Here’s what to know before you go.
Vanlifers Are Parting Ways With Their Vans As The World Reopens
Van life took off during the pandemic, but some have found out that it's not what they expected.
Mercedes Streeter - 18 July 2021 12:00PM
The pandemic changed how many people work and live. For some, remote work offered the perfect opportunity to buy a van and live on the road. But as the country edges back to something resembling normalcy, some are retiring their vans and going back to the office.
As the Colorado Sun reports, the transition to working from home has allowed many to live out their dreams of living on the road. No longer shackled to a daily office commute, some decided to buy or build out vans, ambulances and buses to travel the country.
Living in a van used to be an alternative for people facing high costs of living or for people who wished to live a life on the road. In recent years, social media influencers have put a glitzy, if often unrealistic sheen on #vanlife. In 2020, the pandemic gave life on the road additional appeal. If you’re working remotely, why be stuck in one boring place when you can wake up to a new vista every day?
https://jalopnik.com/vanlifers-are-parting-ways-with-their-vans-as-the-world-1847308157
This teardrop trailer could be perfect for electric vehicle camping
It has a low-drag shape and a 75 kWh battery, plus DC fast charging.
Jonathan M. Gitlin - 8/12/2021, 12:20 PM
I'm a big believer in taking electric vehicles camping. But charging infrastructure in the US is still patchy enough that a week in the wilderness might induce too much range anxiety to be practical. That's particularly true if your idea of camping involves a trailer rather than a tent; nothing saps an EV's range quite like towing.
A new camper from Colorado Teardrops might solve this issue. The camper is called the Boulder, after the company's home base, where it has been building teardrop trailers since 2014. But this one is a bit different from the company's more conventional teardrop campers.
Usually, towing has a double-whammy effect on EV range, massively increasing drag while adding a lot of extra mass; this combination is often enough to halve an EV's range on a full charge. The Boulder's shape has been subjected to computational fluid dynamics simulations to combat the deleterious effects of added wind resistance and ensure that the camper is as low-drag as possible. The company also applied lightweighting to the trailer to get the overall weight down to 1,950 lbs (885 kg).
How to Turn Your Car Into a Tiny Camper
Whether you plan to hit the road for weeks at a time or just take the kids on a road trip, you need some gear for your car.
Brent Rose - 7/05/21 8:30AM
I lived in a van for five years, which is quite a long time. In fact, I lived in that thing for longer than I’ve lived in any other place since leaving my childhood home. Strangely, I found moving out of a van to be more stressful than moving into one. I was afraid I was going to miss the freedom that comes with having everything travel-ready in my own little turtle shell. The moment I got a normal-person car, I got to work figuring out how to be able to use it as a mini camper-van.
Now, we’re not talking about doing a full, permanent conversion here. I was moving to LA, and my car’s primary duty would be getting me around the city. But I wanted to develop a system that would make it killer for road trips and backcountry camping—a vehicle that, like my van, I could just park, pull up my shades, and go to sleep. In fact, I was hoping that it would be able to take me places my van couldn’t get to. It turns out there are many products out there for that exact purpose. There’s a ton to choose from, so I went deep down the research rabbit hole and have been testing gear.
https://gizmodo.com/how-to-turn-your-car-into-a-tiny-camper-1847112179
This Obscene Motorhome Includes a Slide Out Garage for a $3 Million Bugatti Chiron
In a time when countless automakers are going electric, Volkner releases a luxurious yacht for the road.
Andrew Liszewski - 7 September 2021 10:10AM
In an extreme example of a company failing to ‘read the room,’ Volkner, an RV builder based in Germany, has revealed its most obnoxious creation to date: a $7.7 million gas-guzzling luxury motorhome with a built-in garage that can hold a $3 million Bugatti Chiron that boasts three times the horsepower of the RV that hauls it around.
Like the monstrously expensive behemoth TVs revealed at CES every year whose sole purpose is to drum up extra publicity for companies like Samsung and Sony, Volkner (and other luxury RV makers) take advantage of a trade show called the Düsseldorf Caravan Salon to reveal incredibly luxurious homes on wheels that prioritize price tags over practicality. At this year’s show, Volkner debuted its Performance S motorhome and while it isn’t the largest RV ever created, it’s without a doubt the most over-the-top way to spend a holiday glamping in style.
https://gizmodo.com/this-obscene-motorhome-includes-a-slide-out-garage-for-1847628101
Self-sustaining solar house on wheels wants to soak up the Sun
Students from the Netherlands will take their new solar ride 3,000 km to Spain.
Doug Johnson - 9/16/2021, 9:35 AM
The creators of a new “self-sustaining house on wheels” are hoping their strange-looking project will help spark interest in solar vehicles. The vehicle, called the Stella Vita, was made by Eindhoven University of Technology students.
Solar Team Eindhoven's 22 members previously created a smaller solar-powered family car called the Stella Lux. According to Tijn Ter Horst, a member of the team and a mechanical engineering student at the university, the Stella Lux was energy-positive. “She could power other electric vehicles because she had so much energy left,” Ter Horst told Ars.
After producing the Stella Lux, the team began brainstorming future projects and came up with the idea of a home-like vehicle powered entirely by the Sun. In March, the students started constructing a tear-shaped solar mobile home, and they recently completed the project.
Students’ solar-powered camper van turns heads on 1,800-mile road trip
Dutch team designed and built two-person van with kitchen, bed, shower, loo and range of up to 450 miles a day
Weronika Strzyżyńska - Fri 15 Oct 2021 06.28 EDT
A team of students from the Netherlands are due to complete an 1,800-mile (3,000km) road trip across western Europe in a solar-powered camper van that they designed and built themselves.
The Stella Vita is designed for two passengers and has a kitchen, sitting area, bed, shower and toilet. Using solar energy alone, the vehicle can cover up to 450 miles on a sunny day, reaching a top speed of 75mph, as well as powering all the inside amenities, a TV and a laptop.