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The diesel dominance in the caravanning industry will not change sooner or later. Nonetheless, the topic also takes place here Electromobility slowly drive up, like two camper vans on the Caravan salon to prove.
The near-series study of a semi-integrated e-camper, which Knaus-Tabbert unveiled at the beginning of the Düsseldorf Caravan Salon, received a lot of media attention. Even if for many in the diesel-dominated caravanning industry, the topic of electromobility still seems infinitely far away.
New Products
Two more e-campers are competing in Düsseldorf: Renault is already announcing the electric version of its Trafic transporter with the “glamping study” Hippie Caviar Hotel, which will be launched next year. And at the camping bus and accessories specialist Reimo, there is a completely removed Mercedes e-Vito with a pop-up roof that you can even buy.
Hippie and caviar - how do they go together? With its two-tone study, Renault is trying to initiate the topic of luxury camping, known as “glamping”. The rather compact camper doesn't look like luxury at all. For the expansion, only natural materials such as leather, wood, linen and wool were used and processed in the most elegant form and with a modern design, but the furnishings are kept rather minimalist.
Pure romance
A 1,95 x 1,45 meter bed, which in the daytime configuration transforms the front living area into a lounge-style seating group, practically fills the rear area. The sleeping area can be opened in the cabin or partially moved outwards when the tailgate is open, which, in conjunction with the non-opaque curtain, creates a little tent atmosphere. The certainly more beautiful place for a limitless view of the starry sky is on the roof terrace, which is accessible via a fold-out outer ladder and is equipped with a low lounge table and two foldable armchairs.
Shower? Sink? Toilet? Kitchen? And the caviar sandwiches? None of it. Nevertheless, the Hippie Caviar Hotel offers the full luxury program. A 5-star premium package includes a mobility service in which a delivery drone brings a logistics module with wet room, sanitary facilities and even a charging station to the desired parking space. And the concierge service has the three-course menu ordered online fly in straight to the roof terrace.
Will the Elektro-Trafic really come next year?
This aerial camping service certainly looks far into the future. Very far. In any case, much further than the start of series production of the Elektro-Trafic, which Renault has announced for 2022 but has not yet disclosed any data on the electric drive and range. And even then, a "normal" camper expansion, for example at the Speyer manufacturer Ahorn, which relies on Renault base vehicles for its entire portfolio, is more likely than the glamping variant.
Practical?
In contrast to Renault, the caravaning specialist Reimo is presenting its converted city van on a Mercedes e-Vito, somewhat hidden in the tourism hall 3, which is mainly dedicated to the topic of "Travel & Nature". After all, it's not a premiere vehicle, and the base, which has been available for two years, only has a range of 150 kilometers, which has been reduced to less than 100 kilometers with the camper extension and the pop-up roof.
That doesn't sound really practical yet. But die-hard electro fans could order the city van, which is equipped with a swiveling kitchen, for just over 70.000 euros. But maybe Reimo will soon come up with a comparable expansion based on the Mercedes EQV. The electric V-Class has a range of 90 kilometers with a 358 kWh battery and would certainly be the better alternative as a camper.