As a serious book collector and owner of two large dogs, I’m not a “van life” candidate. But this is a seriously cool and well-thought out conversion of a Dodge RAM ProMaster 3500 extended cab cargo van into a mobile full-time living space.
It’s pretty amazing that all that took only 4 months and $6,000.
A few things I would change:
If I were going to use it in Texas, I would need some sort of AC, even though I know those can be energy hogs, but there appear to be some options out there.
The propane set up for two stove burners and water heater for showers is cool, but I might want to opt for a microwave, tankless water heater and hot plate (though I know the first two of those can be energy hungry) just to simplify my energy logistics chain for true off-grid living.
I would need dedicated, concealed storage space built in for a few guns.
I’d need at least one bookcase (with retraining straps to keep the books from flying off in turns, naturally), because Me.
Possibly uses:
For real SHTF scenario, this sort of setup provides a pretty strong basis for a bug-out van that will let you live off the grid for quite a while. Drawbacks: It’s not a hybrid, so you can’t move the van off solar power once the gas runs out. You would probably want to add a switchable extra tank at a bare minimum for that use case, if not going with some sort of hybrid or solar conversion case. And it’s not armored against small arms fire, so some work in hardening parts of the van for that situation might be in order. Lots of weight/energy/cost tradeoffs to consider.
If you have a job where you have to be physically present at a high-cost location to work (like Silicon Valley), this looks like a really solid alternative to paying $3,000 a month in rent. And if you were an oilfield worker, this would let you really save money. (Again, you’d really need that AC if you were living in Odessa.)
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You can’t realistically charge an electric vehicle with portable solar panels. Even with a large trailer-mounted array you’d need a week or more, depending on time of year, location, and cloud cover. And towing the trailer would dramatically limit the range.
Photovoltaic panels are not efficient. People have been working on this problem for decades without much improvement, so there’s no guarantee that they’ll ever get much better.
[…] Pope Francis Lamely Calls For “Dialogue” & “Peace” In Cuba BattleSwarm: Amazing Living Van Conversion, also, Talcum X’ed Behind The Black: Today’s Blacklisted American, also, Red China […]
“it’s not armored against small arms fire”
if you’re taking small arms fire then the van isn’t an issue.
You can’t realistically charge an electric vehicle with portable solar panels. Even with a large trailer-mounted array you’d need a week or more, depending on time of year, location, and cloud cover. And towing the trailer would dramatically limit the range.
Photovoltaic panels are not efficient. People have been working on this problem for decades without much improvement, so there’s no guarantee that they’ll ever get much better.
Not for every-day commuting, no.
But having the ability to provide some mobility in a SHTF situation where no gas or diesel can be found at all is a big plus.
[…] Pope Francis Lamely Calls For “Dialogue” & “Peace” In Cuba BattleSwarm: Amazing Living Van Conversion, also, Talcum X’ed Behind The Black: Today’s Blacklisted American, also, Red China […]
an electric bike or scooter would be a more realistic option for grid-down solar-charged transportation.