Practical Motorhome June 2020

Talk at Practical Motorhome HQ has beenfirmly on electricity over the past few weeks�not of the onsite hook-up variety, but on the future of electric motorhomes. It�s a fascinating topic and one that will become ever more relevant over the next few years, as base vehicle manufacturers look more closely at their options. But there�s no denying it will present the industry with a challenge or two � don�t miss our special investigative feature on p60 of this issue. In other industry news: as I type this, the Government had just revealed the scrapping of the rise in Vehicle Excise Duty on new motorhomes in its latest Budget. This is fantastic news for anyone planning to buy a new motorhome this year; you can find out more about the latest events…

letter of the month We went to the recent NEC motorhome show on the Thursday, and visited the VW stand, where they had a VR system that customers could try. You put on the headset and they selected the model, colours and so on using an iPad. You could walk around, open doors and look inside - very clever. They mentioned this system might soon be in showrooms. Thought you might find it interesting, how dealers’ showrooms might start to change in the future! Here is a photo of our son, Ben, with the VR headset on (1), looking at a California Ocean T6.1 in two-tone colour. The writer of our Letter of the Month wins a pair of Milenco Quattro Levelling Ramps worth £40. They’re twice as high as many plastic levels, with a…

1 We’ve been lucky enough to borrow the in-laws’ motorhome and went to Wales, the Lakes and Scarborough with our three-year-old daughter, Sienna. She absolutely loves touring in Betty Camperban, as she calls it. Here’s a picture of it set up for the night on our trip to Scarborough. Garth Woods 2 North Devon in February has all the beauty of empty beaches and peaceful parks, like Hidden Valley. Great time of year to get away and enjoy your surroundings! G White 3 We spotted this colourful chap on a trip to Berlin. It was our first tour to the city and we loved it! Julie Bingham Email your pictures and their stories (40 words, plus name, address and contacts) to hotshots@practicalmotorhome.com. The best photo will win these guides: All the Aires Belgium, Luxembourg and the…

Our expert panel Q CAN WE SOURCE NEW FIXING FOR A HEADLIGHT BRACKET? We have a Rapido A-class in which we need to replace the headlight (Hella 90mm), which is held in a square-shaped bracket bolted to the front bumper. These bolts go into four threaded inserts, held in the bumper, roughly positioned in a cross formation. Three of the bolts came out with no problem, but unfortunately, the last one, holding the headlight unit to the bumper, snapped when we tried to extract it, as a result of corrosion. On inspection, we found that the bumper fastenings into which each bolt threads are what I can only describe as an M4 threaded, size 10mm hex brass insert, positioned in a black plastic housing. This item is glued to the bumper at the factory - and…

Eco-friendly storage Keep left-overs fresh with these smart, reusable, upcycled fabric wraps, hoods and sandwich bags from Ever&Again. Price €6-€32 Web www.everandagain.com Greener cleaning Everything in Kampa’s product range, from the chemical formula to the refillable packaging, aims to be eco-friendly. Price £9.99-£25 Web www.kampa.co.uk Natural shampoo bar Lather your hair with this no-waste shampoo bar from Atlas & Ortus, made of coconut, milk and shea butter, with plastic-free wrapping. Price £6 Web www.wearthlondon.com Biodegradable lunchbox Keep packed lunches fresh in a zero-waste biodegradable lunchbox, which includes a spork, box strap and removable divider. Price £16.99 Web www.wearthlondon.com Buckets and spades Upgrade your beach kit with this bioplastic bucket and spade set from Dantoy, made of sugarcane and 100% recyclable. Price £19 Web www.amazon.co.uk Cycling navigation Exploring by bike is easy with Blubel, a clever bell for your handlebars that uses community updates to let you…

The Nightstop Scheme is run by us in conjunction with the Motor Caravanners’ Club (MCC), and the sites are certificated locations (CLs); you don’t have to join any club to use them. You’ll need to ring the relevant site to confirm whether there’s space for you before you visit: you’ll find information at www.practicalmotorhome.com/nightstops. For further information about the MCC, visit www.themotorcaravannersclub.co.uk. 1 Airman Hotel SG17 5JF 2 The Black Horse Pub HP16 9AX 3 The Seven Wives PE27 5RF 4 The Penrhiwgaled Arms SA44 6LN 5 Railway Hotel SA32 7LQ 6 Belmont Hall CW9 6JA 7 Mousehole Camping TR19 6XB 8 Blenkinsopp Castle Inn CA8 7JS 9 The Thelbridge Cross Inn EX17 4SQ 10 The Ship Inn YO15 1EW 11 The Crown Inn GL7 5QH 12 Elton Farm GL14 1JU 13 The Gloucester Old Spot GL51 9SY 14 Riverside Guest House LL36 9YR 15 The…