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Volkswagen's New Camper Has a Loft Where You Can Stargaze
- robotbikes 9y agoThis seems pretty cool then I realize that it would probably cost 100,000$ or so and I realize looking at the stars from a blanket is free.
- mikestew 9y agoGiven the price of comparable Sprinter-based campers, you might even be a little under. But it’s all moot. It’s a concept vehicle, and even if VW builds it, it won’t be coming to the U. S. The pop-top California never did, and the last time VW sold campers in the U. S. was fourteen years ago.
- evervevdww221 9y agoThis is disappointing. If this RV can relieve the need for house purchasing in Bay Area, 100k price tag doesn't seem to be a problem. It's a shame that this vehicle is named California and we can't buy it in California. America is such a great place for RV camping (vast area, low population density, plenty parking spaces and so many beautiful places to go), and VW somehow decided not to sell any of these for 14 years! I mean, just checking the craigslist prices for those second hand vw campers from the 60s, their marketing people should be able to tell there is a strong demand for this in the US.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- newman8r 9y agoThe issue is where to park them. In southern california, there's some amazing rv parks in the desert that you can stay in for under $500 month, you get electricity and plumbing. Are there many places like that in the bay area?
- sulam 9y agoDepends on what you’re willing to call the Bay Area. Head east and you get to spots like that within thirty minutes, as long as it’s not commute time. If you decided to BART from Pittsburgh/Bay Point or Dublin/Pleasanton you could probably have a twenty minute commute from a cheap RV community and then take the train into the city easily enough. It’s much harder if you want to work on the peninsula, although maybe there are easy public transit options from down near Gilroy that I’m unaware of. Honestly better would be to get a boat. Cheap slips exist all over the place.
- newman8r 9y agoI've considered live aboard boating, definitely would like to try it at some point
- maxerickson 9y agoPresumably the US RV market mostly wants more space. Sort of the same thing with housing. I guess that permitting would get in the way of building really tiny efficiency apartments, but if people really wanted to live in ~10 square meters at a vaguely inconvenient location, housing would already be less of an issue.
- sandworm101 9y agoRVs are not houses. Look at the target market, look at who actually drives these things. They are mobile bathrooms. "See the stars while never being more than ten feet from your own private bathroom."
- maxerickson 9y agoThe current "California" tops out at ~$60,000. Just looking at a picture of that little space gives me a tight feeling in my chest.
- avenoir 9y agoEven older VW campers cost an arm and a leg. [1] [1] http://www.ebay.com/bhp/vw-camper http://www.ebay.com/bhp/vw-camper
- SN76477 9y agowow those things look incredibly unsafe
- s0rce 9y agoSleeping in the bed of a pickup also affords a great view of the stars and is also fairly inexpensive (compared to a dedicated camper, and especially if you have other uses for a truck). In the western US weather is often good during the summer and you don't really need much over your head.
- sliverstorm 9y agoExcept pickup beds are now 5'6" instead of 8', which makes this less comfortable
- 5_minutes 9y agoThe reason they’re called California is merely because of the romantic image the name has in Europe though. The concept car looks nice but the iconic design is completely lost here.
- deelowe 9y agoNot real. It's a "concept." I agree with the top comment. This is a VW puff piece. Ya know, the same company that just got into a metric shit ton of trouble for being environmentally irresponsible. Their motivations in publishing this are pretty paper thin when you think about it.
- tdburn 9y agoThat thing is an awesome little big package!!
- newman8r 9y agoAs someone who's lived in a 'hacker trailer' for an extended period of time and kinda-failed, next time I'm gonna use an LMTV. Uncle Sam paid ~$100k+ for each one of them. Sometimes you can find one with living quarters/plumbing. http://www.govplanet.com/Light+Medium+Tactical+Vehicle+%28LMTV%29?kwtag=navbar http://www.govplanet.com/Light+Medium+Tactical+Vehicle+%28LM...
- djaychela 9y agoLooks similar idea to a Unimog[1], which I've seen a few camping out in Europe when I've been on holiday; saw a couple when I drove through Western Sahara (cheap banger rally stuff), and they can get just about anywhere. Some of them are kitted out to a seriously high standard, and you could go just about anywhere and be comfortable in them. I think the fuel consumption might be somewhat heavy though... [1] http://www.expedition-trucks.com/brokers/unimog-4x4-expedition-camper-conversion http://www.expedition-trucks.com/brokers/unimog-4x4-expediti...
- AckSyn 9y agoThis is interesting to me. Can you share your experiences? What you did, what went wrong, and if you would do it again how would it be done differently?
- GoToRO 9y agoI find it... ugly?
- sizzzzlerz 9y agoWell, it is a Volkswagon after all.
- DeepYogurt 9y agoThat looks fantastic. I look forward to buying the low end model on craigslist in a few years :p
- sizzzzlerz 9y agoI like it although it might get pretty cramped if you plan on spending weeks on the road. Having to make up the bed every night could also prove to be an annoyance. One thing is for sure, however, based on that video. It seems to make you smile all the time.
- bmj 9y agoI've traveled and camped across the U.S. in a EuroVan Weekender, and I can confirm it can get cramped, and that it can be a massive inconvenience to break down the sleeping quarters every morning if you need to drive the vehicle. Our last trip in the vehicle had us climbing in West Texas in the winter (meaning warm days but cold nights). The sun set around 6pm each evening, which means we were crammed into the van for over 12 hours (temps would rapidly drop toward freezing, and we couldn't have a campfire due to state park rules). We were ready to be home after two weeks, that's for sure.
- mikestew 9y agoWhat I tell people about our Vanagon Westfalia (which has even less space), if you're spending a lot of time in the van you're doing it wrong. If you want to live in it, get a Class C (built on a box truck chassis) or better. If you just want a windproof, waterproof container to sleep in that has the conveniences of running water, stove and a fridge, a camper van might be for you. We also have two 60-80 lb. dogs. Space considerations mean the dogs get the downstairs bed, we take the upper bunk. Winter camping (in Seattle == 40F and drizzling rain) gets a little claustrophobic between weather and very early sunset, so we usually spend but a night or two. Making the bed is no more an annoyance than it is tent camping. Still, it takes me all of five minutes either way: open the valve on the mattress pad, unroll the sleeping bag. If you have a young back, you don't even need the sleeping pad, as it's got a (pretty poor) mattress already. As for making us smile, yes, it does. My parents offered to chip in for us to buy a larger Class C (enough for us to buy a low-end new one with no money out of our pocket). We turned them down. We wouldn't have room to keep the Westy, and we realized we loved the Westy too much to get rid of him.
- gjem97 9y agoThis is my new least favorite sport: speaking about concept vehicles in the present tense. "has sophisticated features ... has space for a sink ... includes an LCD projector" Oh wait. "The California XXL is still in the concept stage." Now there's correct usage of the present tense. Concept cars come to market approximately 0% of the time. In the rare cases that they do actually make it to market (many many years later), they undergo significant changes through the product development pipeline. Is this the effect of PR people setting the tone for these stories, or is it the authors/editors of the piece that want to trick people into believing it exists? The point about the "concept stage" was buried in the middle of the article.
- spaceflunky 9y agoThere’s a crazy amount of subliminal PR in this vaporware puff piece. VW PR are trying to get you to think of VW as a nature loving, fun outdoorsy company that’s connected to the environment. Instead of that company who cared so little about pollution in the environment that they literally programmed their cars to lie about how much pollution they were spewing. The car doesn’t need to ever exist, what exists is the manufactured image in your mind of VW and a “harmonious” place in nature.
- ckanter 9y agoYep, much the same as today's doodle spam "Equinox, brought to you by the Goolag". Except in Google's case they incorporate the letters in the picture to achieve better brainwashing.
- dre85 9y agoI think this hits the nail right on the head. Agreed 100%.
- lafar6502 9y agoElectro vehicles hysteria is much worse for the environment than some diesels spewing a bit more Nox than expected. Vw made a huge mistake because their engines are among the most fuel efficient on the market and now they got all the blame and punishment. Most cars have much worse emissions than the cheating Vw models
- peterwwillis 9y agoIt looks kind of... huge. And cramped at the same time. I'd rather either have a small van and deal with less convenience, or tow a mini-house-on-trailer. That way I have a transportation vehicle that isn't also as big and unwieldy as a boat.
- t3h2mas 9y agoI'm a big fan of 'panoramic sunroofs' and look forward to seeing them included vehicles that don't have every other bell and whistle.