What Motorhome February 2023

I was buzzing (sorry!) when the invitation came to drive Volkswagen’s new electric van, the ID Buzz. Surely, this is the most exciting development in light commercial vehicles in decades? Whether you’re in favour of the switch to electric or not, this is not the usual boxy panel van that looks as stylish as the container for your Weetabix. I’m sure that it’ll be the ’van to be seen in, if reactions from other road users are anything to go by. But where is the Tesla of the van or campervan world? Electric vans, up until now, have looked the same as their diesel equivalents, just with batteries adding weight and cost, while reducing payload and range. Fine for city centre parcel deliveries, but not so good for leisure purposes.…

Laika enhances Ecovip for 2023 For the 2023 season, Laika is introducing a number of improvements to its Ecovip low-profile and A-class motorhomes. Outside, the restyled models receive matt black graphics and a Laika logo on the Fiat grille, as well as chrome Ecovip lettering on the cab. Inside, there are new details, such as the rear bedroom walls, which are now upholstered in eco-leather. Above the bed, a new option is a maxi panoramic rooflight (70cm by 50cm) for, Laika says, “a romantic night view and pleasant lighting during the day”. Thermal and acoustic insulation reach even higher levels in the latest Ecovips, with the addition of a padded microfibre lining in the ceiling, with the soft-touch technical material increasing insulation. Turning to the furniture, top cupboard doors are…

IT’S been a long, long wait. VW first teased us with a retro-styled people-carrier with hints of Type 2 back in 2001. The Microbus concept never made production, of course, but the idea of mixing modern technology with classic camper looks didn’t go away and, in 2017, we first saw the ID Buzz as another concept, this time an all-electric one. Now you can finally buy a vehicle that looks tantalisingly close to that five-year-old Detroit Motor Show star – and we’ve driven it, in righthand drive UK spec, on British roads. The first deliveries should also have happened, for those who got their orders in early, before Christmas. There are both panel van (ID Buzz Cargo) and passenger-carrying (ID Buzz) versions of the new model, and each is an…

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IF you can’t wait for an ID Buzz campervan, a small converter in Essex has already come up with a clever, car-sized conversion that, in many ways, shows how an EV can work as a leisure vehicle. It comes from Wheelhome, where the boss, Stephen Wheeler, is already an electric convert. Not only a Tesla owner, he tows a Dashaway caravan (his own design) behind it and now he’s launched the company’s first fully electric campervan – the Vikenze III-e. Based on the Vauxhall Combo-e Life, the camper is an evolution of the previous petrolengined conversion and looks all but identical on the outside. This sister vehicle to the Citroën ë-Berlingo, Peugeot e-Rifter and Toyota Proace City Electric is little bigger than a VW Golf in this standard-wheelbase version and…

SO far, the electric campervan scene has been constrained by the lack of many suitable base vehicles. The Nissan e-NV200 has established a small following but is too petite to compete in larger sales volumes, while both range and cost remain an issue for most electric vans. That is slowly changing with the arrival of vehicles like the ID Buzz but, although most popular panel vans have a fully electric derivative on sale, many are totally unsuitable for a leisure role because you simply wouldn’t be able to stray far from a charging point. The Mercedes-Benz eSprinter, for example, has a quoted WLTP (officially tested) range of just 82 to 95 miles, depending on spec. And that’s for an empty van costing over £50k… Fortunately, there are some more realistic options…