Summer is here, and that means new camper vans. The latest and greatest on the small electric camper front is the lovely Vanderer Urban Camper. This tiny electric camper van is what the RV has been moving toward for the last few years. With COVID opening up the van life to a host of new campers, smaller campers are the new motor home.
What’s new in the electric camper van world?
The Vanderer Urban Camper debuted in 2021. A year and a half later, the Vanderer has only gotten better. The Peugeot e-Rifter and Citroën e-Berlingo act as the fully electric platforms used to create this tiny camper.
The practical and efficient features make this little camper van an attractive choice. The zero-emissions powertrain and the small platform make this thing a killer daily driver, especially as gas prices continue to climb. Not only is it efficient for daily driving, but you can also carry up to seven people inside the tiny RV.
According to New Atlas, Stellantis announced that the Peugeot Rifter, Citroën Berlingo, and Opel/Vauxhall Combo Life were among the vans to make a move from ICE powertrains to electric ones. Many major brands have vowed to quit making ICE vehicles sometime over the next ten years, depending on the company.
Are small electric campers worth it?
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The e-Rifter is 187-in in length and uses a 134-hp (100-kW) electric motor. The camper van gets a total range of 170 miles, which falls somewhere in the middle of the pack. The only real downside of the Vanderer Urban Camper is the tight lease it gives for how far you can go.
The upside of the electric van is getting an 80 percent charge only takes 30 mins on public fast chargers. This is pretty impressive and slightly makes up for the shorter range. However, the typical 11kW wall chargers take a full five hours to charge the battery from flat to full.
New Atlas says that the new e-Vanderer has the same layout and options list as the previous model. Although the Vanderer is a tiny camper, it still has some massively cool features like a huge L-shaped couch in the rear and an indoor/outdoor kitchen.
The kitchen has a single induction cooktop inside the tailgate and a slide-out for outdoor cooking. The extendable half of the kitchen packs a worktop, storage, and a nested backpacking stove that can be easily removed and carried away from the van. Users can cook indoors, outdoors, or both simultaneously should the meal call for some next-level extravagance.
The kitchen also sports a sink and a 12-L clean water tank, and a waste water tank. In order to save room, there is no fridge in the kitchen area. Instead, Vanderer slid a 16-L electric cooler between the front van seats.
There are also multiple fold-out tables for eating and prep. Despite being able to eat inside the van, most campers will likely be more comfortable taking their meals Plein air.
This is the easiest camper around
What makes this camper van so brilliant is that everything that is camper related is modular except for the pop-top roof. Two people can completely remove everything making the space open and more versatile. It is this feature that makes this vehicle so practical.
The Vanderer, like everything else in the world these days, has gone up in price a considerable amount since last year. Last year, the price was $30,550, but now it is $50,050. That price includes the pop-up sleeper roof and lithium-based electrical system but not the $8,419 interior conversion modules or $626 console fridge. The electric version adds a quick $8,430 down on top of that price before considering any EV incentives.
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