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Saturday, April 20, 2024

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Saturday, April 20, 2024
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Nissan launches an all-electric camper van

Source: Nissan
Bridie Schmidt
27
Nissan e-NV200
Source: Nissan

The Japanese car-maker behind the world’s biggest selling electric passenger vehicle, Nissan, has quietly launched an all-electric camper van in Spain.

Unveiled at the Madrid Motor Show last month, the e-NW200 was one of three new camper vans rolled out by Nissan, including ICE counterparts the NV300, the NV200.

The retro-style vans are reminiscent of the tone trend immortalised in Volkswagen’s Kombi Camper, and are kitted out with a kitchenette, in-built heating, bike racks, roll-out shades and a popup roof.

Source: Nissan
Source: Nissan

Both vans have room for up to 4 people both in the interior lounge area, and in the NV300 the popup roof allows space for a second bed at night time.

“The new Nissan Camper range will allow the most adventurous to have a balcony with views of the most incredible places in the world, and enjoy the essence of traveling with family or friends,” said Francesc Corberó, Communications Director of Nissan Iberia .

Available for the moment in Spain, only, customers are able to order either van online with a range of customised options. Those considering the electric version will be able to zip around Europe covering up to 200km per charge, powered by the e-NV200’s 40kWh battery.

Unfortunately, driving an all-electric camper around Australia is currently out of reach – unless you’re a dab hand at electric conversions.

With no plans as yet to bring the e-NV200 anytime soon to Australia, nor the all-electric Winnebago which was released a few months ago, it may just be that the only option is to follow the lead of the fortunate few who own a Tesla Model S, and convert your electric car into a 5-star tent.

Bridie Schmidt

Bridie Schmidt is lead reporter for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She specialises in writing about new technology, and has a keen interest in the role that zero emissions transport has to play in sustainability.

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Comments

27 responses to “Nissan launches an all-electric camper van”

  1. Joe Avatar
    Joe

    Couldn’t they incorporate a solar panel on the roof to charge the battery whilst the campers are camping.

    1. Ian Avatar
      Ian

      Agreed, doing so would give virtually unlimited range in any sunny place….given plenty of time.

      1. Gyrogordini Avatar
        Gyrogordini

        “Plenty of time”. YEP!

    2. Gyrogordini Avatar
      Gyrogordini

      Because of the limited real estate on the roof, and current panel efficiency, It would only keep the 12v system topped up. It wouldn’t make a dent in the traction battery. Many of we campers/vanners already do that to keep the fridge, tv and aircon (?) going while not on mains power.

      1. MacNordic Avatar
        MacNordic

        I do not think the limited real estate in a camper van should pose a problem….
        These guys here plopped 330 PV cells onto a compact car and managed 1.2kW peak, translating into 30km additional range in summer – calculated for Munich, Germany @1050kW/m²/a – less than half of what most of Australia gets…
        Would guess the camper could easily accommodate (;-) double or triple the number of cells…. https://sonomotors.com/

      2. Steve Avatar
        Steve

        Let’s do some rough calcs and see what it would take.

        If we assume you could fit 1kW of panels on the roof. That could easily run the fridge, lights, and charge devices. With a decent secondary battery it could also run a 2000w induction stove or slow cooker. This would allow multiple day autonomy away from caravan parks and chargers. You could easily add another 500w of fold out panels to boost production or allow you to park in the shade.

        At an avg of 4kwh/kw the 1kW of panels would get you 4kwh a day. Assuming the van gets the avg EV efficiency of 19kWh/100km, your roof would add ~20km/day extra range if not using it to run equipment (let’s assume the fold out panels cover that load). Stay for a week and you would leave with 140km of additional range. Not inconsequential by any means. That would be like your ICE somehow producing 10-15L of fuel just sitting there on the beach. Pretty amazing actually.

        It’s actually quite surprising they don’t include rooftop panels tbh.

    3. mick Avatar
      mick

      maybe flexible panels lot less weight

    4. Craig Allen Avatar
      Craig Allen

      Flixible solar panels on a pull-out awning perhaps?

      1. Miles Harding Avatar
        Miles Harding

        I’ve long thought this would be a worthwhile idea for a solar charger.

        A roof plus 2-stage pull out awning could net about 20 square metres, or about 4kW of panels. This could make it possible to drive the van nearly 200km a day in the summer.

        Rain aside, it wouldn’t be possible to run out of fuel 🙂

  2. Ken Dyer Avatar
    Ken Dyer

    My next car will be an electric vehicle. I will keep my old car and will not buy a new ICE vehicle ever again.

    This message needs to be relayed to all those car dealers out there. The only way EV’s will take off in Australia is for consumers to vote with their dollars, that is, boycott new ICE vehicles, and hang onto their old ones like grim death.
    As all cars are imported now, why encourage the car dealers – insist on EV’s.

    1. Gyrogordini Avatar
      Gyrogordini

      Actually most of the dealers sell what they are given. With Oz becoming a vehicle manufacturing backwater, and no government interest in tightening emissions, decarbonising or nearly anything else progressive, the overseas manufacturers can afford to ignore our tiny market. Throw in LCT, the ridiculous ADRs (of course Australian bodies are different from the other 7.6 bn humans), industry apathy, and it’s no wonder.
      Our parts/accessories industries, exporting $300m of components each year, similarly make what they can sell. Nissan casts Leaf drivetrain casings in Oz, which is good. Otherwise, apart from SEA and a couple of other small time players, we are at the mercy of the rest of the world for EVs, including buses, trucks, commercials and machinery.
      Either buy a new or used EV now, convert your own, or wait for the crumbs from the global table.
      I bought a 3 year old i3, which apart from its pathetic range, is brilliant.

      1. Angus Houston Avatar
        Angus Houston

        Very Good points, however RHD is a largely misleading reason. The UK has the majority of EVs and the RHD market as a whole is significant. Aside from some American vehicles that are only really suitable for a small portion if their market we don’t loose out for thia reason.

        1. Gyrogordini Avatar
          Gyrogordini

          I disagree. The UK has the greatest population of RHD EVs, but not all EVs, and virtually no EV manufacture (iPace excepted). (Some kiwis have imported Zoe’s and i3s from the UK.). The EU, US and China EV fleets vastly outnumber the pommies. The only other source of RHD vehicles is Japan (coincidentally which is the source of second hand i3 vehicles into NZ).

      2. Nick Kemp Avatar
        Nick Kemp

        “Actually most of the dealers sell what they are given”

        Only if we are stupid enough to buy them. If demand dries up they will start screaming for some BEV models for the showroom. I too will never buy an ICE again. My next car may be in 5 years or 10 years but it will be a BEV

      3. MaxG Avatar
        MaxG

        Good points, which demonstrate the complexities of moving towards an ICE-free world.

    2. mark tiller Avatar
      mark tiller

      I’m holding on to my petrol car and not buying new, until some affordable EV’s become available

      1. UTM Avatar
        UTM

        I am of the same mind. I have put aside money to replace my old petrol car and will use it carefully and keep it going until the electric car I am looking for comes up for sale. I have surplus solar which means I should be able to run my house, electric scooter and modest electric car from the panels.

        1. Ross Avatar
          Ross

          Hi there UTM. I have a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. It has a modest 12kWh battery. My house has 5 kW of solar PV and a 10kWh Li⁺ ion battery. I use a little bit of simple demand management to charge the PHEV during peak sun times during the day, along with the household battery, so the vehicle (and the house) literally runs on sunshine. I have forgotten the last time I bought petrol for the little on-board ICE.

          1. Ross Avatar
            Ross

            BTW, I had a hard time finding a dealer who would sell me one. The local Mitsubishi dealer would not sell me an Outlander PHEV. I had to go to an out of town dealer. The local guy told me they had to have special “high voltage training” to be able to service the vehicle and this was expensive and they didn’t expect to sell more than one or two of these cars per year. So it was stiff cheddar, mate. The out of town dealer had exactly what I wanted, a demonstrator. So I had to do a little looking, but am absolutely happy with the outcome.

          2. UTM Avatar
            UTM

            Hi Ross. I think the Outlander PHEVs are great cars. Thanks for letting me know about the way you get your electricity. I actually put the panels up as an offset for air conditioning, but it turned out that the production far exceeded overall consumption. How good does it make you feel to power your home and move your car with sunlight!

  3. Ian Avatar
    Ian

    Campervans make a nice niche market for an Australian Company or companies to occupy. The number of campervans is 60 000 and caravans 550 000. How many in the caravan segment would prefer a motorhome or campervan if the prices were not so different? Potentially you could have a market to cover 600 000 vehicles. The SUV market could easily morph into the campervan segmant too, given that EV can easily provide 4WD functionality and can free up loads of cabin space as demonstrated in the Nissan camper portrayed in this article.

    How many families would love a combi type camper which could double as a mom’s taxi, or toy-mover. A place for the babies to sleep whilst older brother or sister plays soccer or netball, or somewhere to relax with other parents whilst waiting for the school pickup. A place to have a snooze or to change after the early morning surf. Stuff the daily commute when you can camp at or near the job site for a day or two. Or perhaps a substitute for the backpackers lodge when following the fruit picking trail.

    Nissan and VW may be onto something if they can create a very versatile camper/combi BEV

  4. Chris Fraser Avatar
    Chris Fraser

    We need to be thinking about detachable caravans, with a hard roof covered in perovskite cells and which matches the roofpaint. Go off grid for longer.

    1. Ian Avatar
      Ian

      Many people caravanning stop over in camp sites or caravan parks. These could provide shading and solar panels for their BEV caravan/campervan clients

  5. Chris Griffiths Avatar
    Chris Griffiths

    Well done Nissan, please bring these to Australia.
    Puts a Whole new meaning to a Round Australia Trip, again Well done Nissan.

  6. Rusdy Simano Avatar
    Rusdy Simano

    That’s cruel. I’m about to order one until I finished reading that it’s not available in oz.

    1. Calamity_Jean Avatar
      Calamity_Jean

      Print out this article, take it to your local Nissan dealer, and say, “I want one. When are these coming to Australia?”

      Print out another copy and send it to the HQ of Nissan Australia with a letter saying the same thing.

  7. Barry Alternative Fact Covfefe Avatar
    Barry Alternative Fact Covfefe

    Idea is top notch, implementation needs some work.
    The battery needs to be 100 kWh minimum, with options for 150 kWh or 200 kWh.
    Needs solar integrated into roof and ability to attach remote solar on poles (with sotwaway built in).

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