Designing a new kind of motorhome (1 Viewer)

[News]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/columnists/mike-rutherford/7772602/Mr-Money-designing-a-new-kind-of-motorhome.html

Mr Money: designing a new kind of motorhome

High running costs of traditional motorhomes and lack of practical alternatives have forced our money-saving expert to come up with his own truly multi-purpose vehicle.

As I intimate elsewhere this week (see Reading Festival motorhome feature) I love the thought of owning a modern motorhome, but I seriously worry about the damage such a vehicle might do to my budget.

The truth is that a traditional motorhome is a frighteningly expensive luxury. It cannot realistically be used as an alternative to the everyday, medium-priced car which, give or take, costs about £5,000 per annum in buying, running and depreciation costs. So it follows that the 'home has to be regarded very much as a second vehicle - costing nearer £10,000 annually to keep.

How do I arrive at that eye watering figure? Simple. Even a mid-sized, bread-and-butter motorhome powered by a modest, mass-produced diesel lump can cost about £50,000 new, and even if there's an optimistic assumption that it will only depreciate by around 10 per cent annually, that's five grand down the drain for starters.

Thanks to their bulk, weight and far from optimum aerodynamics, these converted vans are notoriously thirsty. So think almost half as many miles per gallon as a state-of-the-art family hatchback.

Then there's insurance (admittedly, not as expensive as one might think), road tax (now free on many small- to medium-sized cars), interest charges or loss of interest on capital, Calor gas bottles, campsite charges, and - unless you've got a huge drive or garage - off-road parking/storage fees for the vast majority of days when the vehicle is not in use.

So if a 50k motorhome can easily cost about £10,000 - and possibly a great deal more - per annum to own, run and park, that sum would pay for an awful lot of hotel or B&B rooms, flights, self-drive car journeys and taxi and train rides. Even in the unlikely event that the motorhome owner spent almost a third of a year - say 100 days - living in his vehicle, he'd still be paying an average of about £100 a night for the privilege.

Another way of looking at it is that a motorhome bill of approximately £10,000 pa might cover the entire cost (including mortgage payments) of buying and owning a modest holiday cottage or apartment which would, over the decades, almost certainly appreciate rather than depreciate in value.

With the above numbers in mind, it's my contention that these lavishly kitted-out palaces on wheels costing scores of thousands of pounds are beyond the reach of too many of us. Mr and Mrs Average need - and want - a more versatile, £10,000-£20,000 motorhome cum working van/day-to-day car/occasional bus/mobile office.

The trouble is, nobody makes or sells such a flexible vehicle. And that's why I intend to design and build one myself.

The working title I've got for it is the Carorvan and I'm determined to ensure that it's genuinely multi-purpose, capable of accommodating up to eight people, with two rows of seats facing each other (as in the VW Caravelle and now defunct Citroën Synergie).

I'm imagining a secure, vertical load-carrying department to the rear that would be ideal for hanging clothes one day and stacking everything from guitar cases to collapsible seats and folding furniture and awnings the next.

The Carorvan needs a clever and imaginative interior design, to include reclining/rotating front seats plus temporary, easy-to-store hammocks, Japanese/Korean-style futons, collapsible occasional tables/chairs/desks, small portable and stackable gas rings, solar-powered fridge, shower and other electrical appliances, plus the all-important portable (for emergencies only!) toilet. Wall-mounted fold-out desks and tables could work, too. As might a canvas (or similar material) pop-up roof for additional headroom.

Invertors, on-board DVD players, alternative power systems with three-pin sockets and silent generators (all available from the likes of Halfords and Maplins) are essential.

A microwave oven, roof-mounted solar panels, plus 12v and gas kettles, might come in handy too. A tiny wood-burning stove is also possible, apparently.

I'm not sure how costly it would be, but a highly aerodynamic optional pod for sleeping and/or storage could be based on a simple trailer and be towed behind. Alternatively, a very small and light city car could be easily hauled, via a simple A-frame arrangement, and would provide further valuable carrying space when in transit.

At this early stage I reckon a standard diesel-powered Volkswagen Transporter van would be the ideal donor vehicle on the grounds that it's the most car-like commercial vehicle on the market, a joy to drive and capable of 30-plus mpg.

Or maybe I should just cut the wheels off a two-berth caravan and weld the damn thing on to the back of a pick-up truck or flat-bedded 4x4.

I'm open to persuasion and suggestions. Over to you.

Link to Original Article on the Daily Telegraph Website

 

[vwalan]

and as been happening for years.
forget your high priced m,home look for a good low milage truck .get a nice box on the back and thats the base . every thing they write about is possible . its happening big in germany and is slowlybeing done here. get value for money. cheers alan,

 

[scotjimland]

and as been happening for years.


cheers alan,

took the words out of my mouth Alan.. nothing new here and the guy obviously has never used a camper van, has no idea about power ...

A microwave oven, roof-mounted solar panels, plus 12v and gas kettles, might come in handy too. A tiny wood-burning stove is also possible, apparently.

or the costs of a new base vehicle and conversion

£10,000-£20,000 motorhome cum working van/day-to-day car/occasional bus/mobile office.

If only it were possible.. he's thinking Tardis , not camper van, someone should point him to the SBMHC

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[vwalan]

hi jim .remember he probably is a journalist.if he isnt wtiting for newspapers he becomes unemployable.
lives on another world to us gets far too much money and tell us there is a credit crunch because he cant borrow any more of our money.
well not mine .i prefer a little chinese man as they earn lots and the return is great. must go and carry on with the tardis cheers alan.

 

[Terry]

Don't forget that he can also remove the deprecation from the equation :thumb: (provided he is handy ) If a self build is done to a high standard then it is easy to run a van for a few of years then sell and make a profit :thumb:
terry

 

[Kon tiki]

While reading the article it seems he hasn't a clue about motorhomes, if his costs of £10k annually were correct then we'd all be millionaires (or have to be to own a motorhome) There can be a high depreciation in the first couple of years but unlike a car this slows down over the years.

Trying to make a multi use vehicle means compromise, unless you have a Tardis you can't make a small van into a large motorhome. Even the idea of having things like slideouts etc. have a massive weight penalty. Thee was a post of a Japenese small van that converted to a two storey motorhome, looked good but not sure it worked too well. Having a reasonably sized coachbuilt motorhome isn't really ideal to use for a day to day runabout, car park height barriers are just one of the problems. His idea of a wood burning stove (although I did see one van using one) where is he going to get the wood from? or his he just taking an axe to chop down the nearest tree.

Whilst he might think he has some ideas anybody who has built or owned their own motorhome soon realizes that its not that simple.

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[Happy Hippy]

The bloke obviously doesn't have a clue. You can put a good live-in vehicle together for well under 10K, or buy a ready kitted out one. Most of the other travellers I've met use a woodburner, with a chimney through the roof, and these can burn coal if you can't get wood, although in woodland areas there is usually plenty of dead wood lying around that can be collected, but it's a lot of work compared to a gas heater. And campsite fees, not necessary if a vehicle is properly equipped for autonomy (which many of the 50 grand ones are not!!) with due regard for charging batteries without having to run the engine.

 

[AdgeRas]

From reading the article I got the impression that someone needs to tell him that the van conversion has been invented

He does not seem to know about the market for used motorhomes either or have a clue about the different lengths that motorhomes comes in, our Compass Avantgarde 200 is currently parked on our drive with about a metre on either side to the house and the footpath.

Rasmus