17 ms·
Want to live in a van down by the river? Ford has a new vehicle for that
- 6stringmerc 4y agoLove the title and the tiny home on wheels trend. So much creativity and craftsmanship to learn from. It’s a wonderful video wormhole imho. Would do it in a heartbeat if just graduating uni. Not sure how many under 35 will get the joke…like the fascination with the CD-Rom in the Jurassic Park Ford Explorer.
- danuker 4y agoI'm 30, from Romania, and I didn't get the joke. Care to explain?
- maxfurman 4y agoThere's an old Saturday Night Live bit[0] about a motivational speaker who eventually admits that his life sucks and he lives in a van down by the river. Pretty funny, although I suppose I've spoiled it for you. [0] https://youtu.be/Xv2VIEY9-A8 https://youtu.be/Xv2VIEY9-A8
- bigtex 4y agoJim Farley is also head of Ford and a close family member
- 6stringmerc 4y agoGives me whole new perspective on Tommy Boy now…going to have to re watch!
- hoosieree 4y agoAlso the comedian in that sketch (Chris Farley) was the cousin of the current Ford CEO.
- mindslight 4y agoI'd love to see a follow up to that sketch playing on the subsequent three decades of financial destruction. The motivational speaker is doing the same bit, trying to scare kids with the prospect of having to "live in a van, down by the river". The kids seem excited at the prospect. They ask the speaker if he really thinks they could ever afford such a thing, if he knows of anybody selling an affordable van, or if he knows anywhere they could even visit the river that hasn't been filled up with industrial trash. The motivational speaker grows increasingly frustrated with the kids, seemingly unable to get across to them why living in a van down by the river is a bad thing. The kids just don't seem to understand. The motivational speaker gets so frustrated that he has a heart attack and dies on the spot. Cut to the settling of the motivational speaker's estate. It turns out he owned an entire camp ground and trailer park, making a top-tier income off of the rent from many people living in various vehicles down by the river. The kids sign a 50 year mortgage to buy the speaker's rusty old van from the speaker's kids, getting implanted with subcutaneous microchips to help secure the loan. They smile as the sun sets on their new waterfront view, beyond the line of new/expensive vans closer to the water. They live happily ever after.
- bitxbitxbitcoin 4y agoGreat imagery, I am imagining houseboats on this mystical Unpolluted River, too.
- public_defender 4y agoI was scrolling as fast as I could through all this talk about vans--which is really just byplay--looking for a reference to Matt Foley motivational speaker, and holy chipped collateral did this make my day.
- 6stringmerc 4y agoThis is a work of pure genius and the most natural and hilarious modernisation of the concept. Bravo, take a bow.
- ksherlock 4y agoYou'll have plenty of time to get the joke when you're living in a van down by the river.
- 6stringmerc 4y agoThe tautology of this joke explanation within a joke about the joke is some kind of trick, and it can be used to explain anything now. “Why?” You’ll have plenty of time to figure it out…
- astrange 4y agoMaybe this is the spiritual successor to the Honda S-MX, a micro-minivan designed for having sex in the back. https://jalopnik.com/honda-once-made-a-car-specifically-for-people-to-bone-i-1740050375 https://jalopnik.com/honda-once-made-a-car-specifically-for-...
- nkozyra 4y agoI know it's the Gawker-level quality but all of those ads and not one picture of the car? Yeesh.
- speps 4y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_S-MX https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_S-MX
- neogodless 4y agoClick-through to this https://middle-edge.jp/articles/I0000827 https://middle-edge.jp/articles/I0000827 if you want to see photos including the fold flat seating.
- hourago 4y agoI can see that living in a van is for the poorest and for the high-earners. Ones get it out of necessity, the others as a luxury. It cannot be a mainstream solution, thou. Even if it just about sewage this type of lifestyle does not scale to large crowds of people. Burning Man attendees are probably the target audience for this kind of vehicle.
- danuker 4y agoBurning Man attendees are large crowds of people. Sewage will be a problem.
- hourago 4y agoMoney talks. The average Burning Man attendee: "Burning Man census reveals the average burner has a household income of up to $100,000 is 35, male, white and will spend nearly $2,500." Burning Man requires a lot of work in advance, it is not people going down to live by a river. https://burningman.org/event/preparation/playa-living/human-waste-disposal/ https://burningman.org/event/preparation/playa-living/human-...
- ChuckNorris89 4y ago> Burning Man census reveals the average burner has a household income of up to $100,000 and will spend nearly $2,500. So more like "Earning Man"?
- euroderf 4y ago"Ooh... burn!"
- emiliobumachar 4y agoYoung middle class people without kids could, in principle, adopt the poor people solution and pocket the savings. But that's not how people work. Only the rich can differentiate themselves enough to escape the stigma.
- 4y ago
- carabiner 4y agoChris Farley is Ford CEO Jim Farley's cousin? Whaaat?
- eatonphil 4y agoTIL. They look identical too.
- jesuscript 4y agoI always imagined that in a world of self driving fuel efficient cars, you could just tell your car to make rounds around highways, effectively living in a pod for days at a time. Like those long train rides.
- rl3 4y agoI think that’ll be the future soon enough, only caveat being the thing may broadside semis or run off cliffs from time to time because the manufacturer cheaped out on sensors and rigorous engineering. But hey, that’s why we need an intermodal private pod transport system. Purchase and decorate your pod to taste, then live and work in it as poorly-paid drivers ferry you and several other pods (each lacking line of sight on the other) around the world. I look forward to blog posts filled with live, detailed accounts of startups losing pods (with their indignant customers inside them) at various rail and shipping depots.
- jesuscript 4y agoIt’s not too far fetched. With remote work and effectively virtual avatars of your fake self via social media, we are all in a stationary pod now days, your little box somewhere that doesn’t move. In our own little spaceships. Whether the box moves around is kind of a logistical thing (is it cheaper and more sustainable than say, the absurd real estate/rent bonanza? Might be). It sounds depressing, but, I don’t know. In a far enough future, I wouldn’t mind a flying spaceship to work from. Might land it from time to time at a beach. It’s a little bit of a redefinition of property. Han Solos property wasn’t actual land. It was the Millennium Falcon and unobstructed Space. Luckily for Americans, we have a shit ton of highways. So we have the space part, just not the spaceships (those little pods that move around with auto pilot).
- ip26 4y agoImagine the traffic when every person in the country has the same brilliant idea.
- jesuscript 4y ago
- kotaKat 4y agoSo, wait. This is just a nearly $70,000+ base (and significantly higher optioned) Transit... that you still have to build all of the actual camper systems into? Seems like a significant price for an empty van. I can only imagine the upfit costs post-van would run you up into the "why didn't I buy a class B from the start" territory.
- ChuckNorris89 4y ago>Seems like a significant price for an empty van. Not if your target audience is hippie remote workers that make good money and want to travel around the country.
- kotaKat 4y agoYeah, but for $115k you can get an entry model Winnebago Class B[1] and not have to sink the time and labor into something that will still have resale value once you get bored of it. I would never, ever want to buy someone else's "project" RV when they decide to get rid of it. You don't know what corners were cut there. (I know I'm hypocritical here, I know RVs aren't always the best built think in Elkheart (or Forest City), but at least an RV has an expected standard of things you get.) [1] https://cpq.winnebago.com/solis-pocket/36A/exterior https://cpq.winnebago.com/solis-pocket/36A/exterior
- SoftTalker 4y agoRV interiors are not built for full-time living and will quickly fall apart if you use them that way. They are built for being used a few times a year.
- somehnacct3757 4y agoThe secret behind the van life influencers is that a nice loadout is easily six figures and they are rich people 'slumming it' for fun. While the price point on this trim is high compared to base, they are just capturing some of the value previously going to aftermarket body shops.
- defrost 4y agoIf you're not prepared to go full 6x6 G-Class, Unimog, Pinzgauer, or Hagglund mod you can always settle for an Oka [1] or even an Isuzu [2]. Camping by rivers (and crossing them) is serious mum. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fchq6F-gKkQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fchq6F-gKkQ [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhrJCpc9lxM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhrJCpc9lxM
- grecy 4y agoeh, I turned my Jeep into a house on wheels on the cheap (DIY), then drove it all the way around Africa over three years, living in it full time. 54,000 miles through 35 countries. [1] The cost of the vehicle AND the entire trip (ALL expenses) was only a touch more than the barebones van in the article. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sLy5NEr-Hg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sLy5NEr-Hg
- defrost 4y agoI'm in Australia, a great many people retire to a few years in some kind of camping rig - single body or vehicle plus trailer or ... (bus plus trailer with boat plus small car and motor bikes, all ingeneouly towed | stacked). Outside of the main cities many rural people work across a big area, I grew up in the Kimberley and spent a decade or so in global geophysical exploration across all the continents and many countries - I can get by with a swag but I do like a good minimal fit out :-) Your jeep looks pretty tidy - clearly did the job!. and then there's always the bike option (a fellow W.Australian): [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dHUosjKQQ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dHUosjKQQ0
- bertil 4y agoI’m disappointed they didn’t leverage the expectations to have that van electric. There are now several prototypes that prove that vans have enough surface to charge with solar panels (and some extensions) and be fully off-grid.
- learn_more 4y agoSolar charging can add only approximately 3 miles of range per hour of full sunlight charging. Too slow for the intended purpose.
- conorcleary 4y agoUhh that sounds pretty damn good to someone parked in a Walmart parking lot with no plotted next destination.
- Reubachi 4y agowe come full circle, that's not who's after these vehicles. The person parked in a parking lot in walmart likely would have a RV or regular commuter car, not a fully decked out 150k conversion van. To OP point, rich people pretending to play poor for vlogging and self-idealized virtuosity can't wait 5+ days to get 200m range out of solar panels, videos gotta go out daily!
- conorcleary 4y agoYou and every other anti-EV comedian is only acknowledging the 1 and 0 states of a battery - full and empty. Partially discharged, charging, and 'just need to get a couple of miles' are also very real possibilities fulfilled by having a small array on the roof.
- reddog 4y agoIf only. If you had 3, 100w solar panels on top of your ev van it would take about two months of charging to go 200 miles. That’s assuming clear skies and parking in full sun. This is based on current Teslas reportedly getting 100m of range on 34kWh and your solar setup being 70% efficient.
- amelius 4y ago... for small people.
- nimbius 4y agoI was recently motorcycle camping a few weeks ago and noticed a ton of sprinters and transits that had been tricked out into european style motor homes. Im an american, and a master diesel tech by trade, so i had to ask how much one of these things goes for. I nearly dropped my Folgers when i learned a Winnebago Travato (basically a ford van) will run you more than $150,000 new. most used three-axle full-size rv's start around 80k. these things seem like a grift to screw millennials out of what little cash they had in the first place.
- ianai 4y agoI think a friend of mine just spent 200k on a new mobile home. I’ve heard plenty of examples of similarly expensive mobile homes.
- watwut 4y agoBut mobile home is entirely different use case. They don't move at all or move only rarely.
- ChoGGi 4y ago200k is pretty dang pricey for a mobile.
- Kirby64 4y agoIt is, but when we start talking about 'mobile homes' as some sort of 'luxury small living' thing, then the dollar signs come out. Traditionally mobile homes are on the low end of living, so the features and niceities coincide with that. Honestly, it feels like a bit of a grift most of the time when I see prices like that for tiny houses or what are basically fancy mobile homes.
- learn_more 4y agoTravato is based on a Dodge Promaster. Van based vehicles have some advantages over the traditional RVs: Unibody construction, so better efficiency, drivability, easier to park, less obnoxious looking. I have a Ford Transit with 600 watts of solar and a full sized computer workstation inside. I bought the vehicle used for 23k USD, and put another 10k in the build. If you DIY, it not that expensive.
- cgs 4y agoI wish they would sell the VW California in the US - it’s already kitted out for camping. Anyone know why they don’t?
- b112 4y agoThat's just.. cruel. Name it after a US state, then sell none there. Sort of like Rice-er-oni, I tried to find some when in San Francisco, but all the restaurants had none. ?!?!
- bombcar 4y agoTo be fair California was named after a mythical wonderland popularized in a Spanish novel.
- b112 4y agoSo... Spain has rice-er-oni?
- Dylan16807 4y agoThrowing in the "restaurant" part for a grocery product makes this logic hard to follow. That and the misspelling makes whatever joke you're doing completely incomprehensible to me.
- imnotlost 4y agoVan prices and van build prices are nuts in the US. Meanwhile in Europe you get a pretty nice van for about EUR 65K (including VAT and TUF). https://www.hymer.com/de/en/models/hymer-free https://www.hymer.com/de/en/models/hymer-free
- ChuckNorris89 4y agoYet almost every other consumer good is more expensive in Europe. Especially now with the Euro tanking vs the dollar.
- dougmwne 4y agoNo one ever adds VAT. Consumer goods mostly come from China. You would expect them to be 23% more expensive across the board than the US where sales tax is always lower and added at time of purchase. Things produced within the EU can be a better deal if it’s not too labor intensive. Camper bands are a good example of something being built within the EU and able to have a price advantage, even after factoring in taxes.
- vladvasiliu 4y agoI do. Take, for example, an iphone 14 pro, base model. Prices are from apple.com and apple.com/fr as of today. I choose this because it's the exact same model that's available from the same retailer, so easy to compare. But this happens with many other products. US: 999 USD FR: 1329 EUR That's way more than 23% (999 * 1.03 * 1.2 = 1235). 1 USD = 1.03 EUR (according to google) French VAT: 20% French import tax: 0% on phones (surprising, but there you have it: https://www.douane.gouv.fr/fiche/calcul-des-droits-et-taxes-sur-les-achats-letranger https://www.douane.gouv.fr/fiche/calcul-des-droits-et-taxes-...)
- balfirevic 4y ago1457 EUR in Croatia (VAT 25%, import duty also seems to be 0% for smartphones).
- 4y ago
- whiddershins 4y agoWhat I want is something with the off-road capabilities of a legit truck, but instead of a truck bed, living space. I don’t understand why this doesn’t exist. Is it because vans become so prone to tipping that they can never behave like a truck? Edit: Just a full sized suv but with all the back seating area converted to living space.
- almost_usual 4y agoThere are campers for truck beds and there have been for years. Depending on the truck you might need to change the suspension for the new weight. Example of a camper for OHV https://vagabondoutdoors.com/product/the-drifter/ https://vagabondoutdoors.com/product/the-drifter/
- qbasic_forever 4y agoYou're looking for an 'overlander' conversion. Stick that term in your search engine of choice and you'll find companies happy to build you one, but hold on to your wallet because they're all $200k+ (seriously). They take a $100k offroader (new G wagon, Landcruiser, etc.) and go wild makinng it livable.
- c0nsumer 4y agoA retired friend who recently picked up a nice camper van for travel mentions something rarely seen in the vanlife social media stuff: that most folks he's met doing the vanlife thing will stay for a few days in their van, then a few in a hotel / short term rental. This latter part is often ignored or glossed over by folks advocating this sort of lifestyle. The main reason for this is because showering and washing stuff (clothes/dishes) and generally keeping clean is a huge pain in just a van. Without a source of fresh water and easy way to store and heat it, you get dirty really fast. Especially if you're hiking / mountain biking / doing whatever beyond just sitting around.
- nebula8804 4y agoThe "Living in your car" youtubers I follow generally do not do this. Instead they go to truck rest stops like "Loves" which have properly maintained Shower + Laundry facilities and depending on how much gas you purchase, are either comped a free shower or typically pay ~10-15$ for it. (Or if you are a really attractive female, friendly truckers might walk up and offer a coupon for a free shower since they accumulate tons of extra coupons due to buying so much fuel) These showers from what I seen are a large private room with a code lock so you can peacefully freshen up. The youtubers I follow stress that you have to be extra strict to maintain cleanliness especially if you live in your car. They develop daily routines for cleaning and it seems to work from what I can see.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- carabiner 4y agoIt might be more cost effective to drive a fuel-efficient vehicle and stay in Airbnb's on a dollars per night basis, not to mention vastly more comfortable. What is the non-recoverable cost of a van (depreciation, maintenance, gas++) per night? I definitely know one guy like you mention. He has a $60k used van build but stays in motels when it's cold. Has to do a bunch of cold prep work (put up insulation, turn on a heater) in the van at night before he goes to bed in the motel. We were ribbing him for doing all this shit with his van with terrible MPG and scary driving on windy, icy roads in Montana (2WD very tall vehicle), while we were zipping around in a small SUV, but he likes the van because it's a trendy conversation piece / fantasy fulfillment.
- Markoff 4y agoI never understood how can people sleep with that 178cm interior width as always pictured in photos [1]. Are all people living in these camper vans midgets or what? [1] https://www.caranddriver.com/news/g41844354/2023-ford-transit-trail-revealed-gallery/?slide=15 https://www.caranddriver.com/news/g41844354/2023-ford-transi... And obligatory link for DIY van conversions since it's missing in article: https://www.reddit.com/r/VanLife/ https://www.reddit.com/r/VanLife/
- Comevius 4y agoThe same way people do it in tents. The Transit is plenty big for living. I like the Sprinter though, you can put a bathroom with a toilet in some of them. A wood stove is also useful.
- chrischattin 4y agoI built a camper van from a Promaster and it’s 78 inches across in the back. So with a thin layer of insulation I can fit a full size mattress across the back. The Promaster is wider than the Transit or the Sprinter.
- ad700x 4y agoI lived in a Ford Transit (MR, 132") for 2 years. I'm a little over 6'2". I slept a little sideways and was smart with my interior build out. Most people are shorter or spend the money on flares. (Flarespace)
- teleforce 4y agoIt seems that the European version of this Ford Transit Nugget by Westfalia has two beds (inside and top) that are big enough for four 6-footers. [1]https://westfalia-mobil.de/en/modelle/westfalia-nugget-hochdach/westfalia-nugget-plus-hochdach_en_copy.php https://westfalia-mobil.de/en/modelle/westfalia-nugget-hochd...
- theGnuMe 4y agoThis shows you how bad the rental and housing market is.
- rcarr 4y agoI agree, there are a lot of people considering vanlife because they’ve been priced out of home ownership and renting in many places.
- CobaltFire 4y agoI have a similar van, though a size class smaller (Mercedes-Benz Metris; the only one sold in the US in that size class) and we did SOME of the upfitting you see on these. L-track the full length of the back that the bench seat is in and can slide along, swiveling front seats, standalone power system, insulated window covers for every window, and planning on the Westfalia style roof tent that is available. It tows 5,000 lbs, has a 2,200 lb payload, and gets over 30mpg at 60mph on the highway (32.5 yesterday). Most practical vehicle I've owned, but as I said, we only did a partial upfitting as we don't need the "living" stuff, just the "camping" and flexible use stuff (my son is autistic and it's his space when he can't handle grocery shopping, etc.).
- rcarr 4y agoI still can’t figure out why Tesla hasn’t released an all electric camper with solar panels and starlink built in specifically aimed at digital nomads. It’s a massive missed opportunity. They could literally release the vehicle that defines an entire generation and movement the same way the VW Campervan was the defining vehicle of the 60s.
- c0nsumer 4y agoI believe this is because most folks who fancy themselves as vanlifers want to fulfill the idea of going off the grid, of disconnecting from infrastructure for a while. Electric doesn't really allow that because solar won't allow for fast enough charging to compete with petrol. It's also very easy to bring along a couple jerry cans of gas to extend range, whereas with solar one would have to park and wait.
- rcarr 4y ago> Electric doesn't really allow that because solar won't allow for fast enough charging to compete with petrol. I'm not sure this is much of an issue for the target market. As the song goes: slow ride, take it easy...
- CrimsonCape 4y agoAnecdotally, all of the "trendy outdoors type" I see with expensive kitted-out vehicles are from California who blast into the wilderness as fast as possible to get back home before the weekend is over.
- rcarr 4y agoHaha fair enough then, my perception has probably been warped by the media into thinking the majority of digital nomads were relatively easy going hippie 2.0 types
- lamp_book 4y agoThey're inching that way, especially with Starlink, but EVs don't do well driving off-road with a lot of weight, especially into remote areas without charging infrastructure nearby. I was hoping my next vehicle would be this concept, but there's a way to go to get there.
- wiremonger 4y agoOur products are popular with the vanlife crowd. We’ve sold to dozens of conversion companies at this point (we sell wire that can be used to hook up all the low voltage devices that get installed in them). So I’ve tried to figure out who is buying these, since as many people have noted, they’re so danged expensive. The best I’ve come up with is: people enjoy recreation. Some people like to go to the lake and might buy themselves a $100k boat. Other people like camping and might buy themselves a $100k van conversion. As for why a van vs an RV, I think there are arguments about size and maneuverability, but really I think it’s just that the Mercedes vans are cool, RVs are not, and people with disposable income like cool things more than uncool things.
- carabiner 4y agoI think in a few years, there will be a ton of these vans on the market after people get over the fad. Will be nice to pick one up then.
- wiremonger 4y agoI agree, seems to me like a lot of their popularity was tied to pandemic lockdowns coupled with people's balance sheets going up because of stock, real estate, etc. Basically, a microcosm of the huge increase in home improvement and durable goods spending in the last 2 years.
- chatterhead 4y agoCenter drive! Why isn't anyone making center drive Van Life!? Van Life is a great vehicle for testing 'grounded space life' and the entire vehicle should exude that feeling. Center drive vans are the future of Mobile Living Spaces.
- ranger_danger 4y agowhat is a center drive van?
- SevenNation 4y ago> For a time, Ford CEO Jim Farley had a reference to the bit — and his late cousin — in his Twitter profile: “Mustang and racing fan. Happen to love white vans ... preferably down by the river.” The auto executive has paid other tributes to his cousin on the social media platform through the use of memes and other media. Popping over to the Wikipedia page, the connections to SNL continue: > James D. Farley Jr. (born June 10, 1962) is an American businessman who is the CEO of Ford and a board member of Harley-Davidson.[1] His career in automobiles was inspired by his grandfather, who began work at Henry Ford's River Rouge Plant in 1918. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Farley_(businessman) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Farley_(businessman)
- club_tropical 4y agoHave Prius camped in the bay area for a few months. It is possible to do this gradually if you're not straight off-roading. Slowly building out the interior, taking things one step at a time. Pros and cons, of course, but the freedom of being on wheels, just driving, without pressure to go back to a particular spot at night has been immensely freeing.
- sahila 4y agoI'm wanting to do this but always worry about finding a spot to park during the night. Is that difficult?
- club_tropical 4y agoNot at all, in my experience. If you are beginner in your journey, like I was initially, (no tinted windows, exiting vehicle before re-entering from the back to sleep), then I would recommend Walmarts. They always have car campers parked overnight, many people sleeping within earshot, round the clock security cruising around, easy to find privacy where you are surrounded by a tree or bush or something on front&side of vehicle. If you are advanced (tinted windows, rainguards to crack open windows without being visible, internal supplementary window covers so you can have lights inside while blacked out from outside, and a way of getting to the sleeping area without exiting the vehicle), then the world is your oyster. You get very good at developing a sixth sense for safety, just based on how the people on the streets are behaving, the houses, the trashiness, etc, but you can also use my favorite method: fire up Zillow and find rich neighborhoods and/or find neighborhoods with artisanal French bakeries.
- tobyjsullivan 4y agoHas anyone else noticed that Ford is secretly mastering quick turnaround (relatively speaking) on new models to catch certain trends? Specifically, I'm thinking of two examples so far: 1. Ford Lightning electric pickup 2. This van Neither of these are super unique in the market but that's not really the point. Maybe I'm out of touch but my impression of automakers is 10-year lead times and a fixed selection with maximum mainstream appeal, and a few trims and color choices. Conversely, Ford seems to be jumping on "niche trends" (again, relative to the industry) with only a year or two of lead time.
- sangnoir 4y agoIt's not even secret. Ford dropped sedans before everyone else. That decision had me scratching my head, but it turned out they were ahead of the curve on US market preferences. Im not a fan of trucks, but the Lightning is not half bad as a car replacement. If Ford were to announce an electric Lighting with Vehicle-to-Load - I'd sign up immediately.
- olyjohn 4y agoWhat did they have to do to make this van? They added a 3.5 inch lift, and some slightly bigger tires. Gave it a trendy "Trail" name. There isn't much else out there for information. It's a marketing stunt. And a smart one at that.
- rufus_foreman 4y agoOriginal article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv2VIEY9-A8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv2VIEY9-A8
- teleforce 4y agoThis is more nimble than traditional campervan, motorhome or RV, and it's also much cheaper to boot. You can also use the van as normal vehicle with the available five seats everyday if you are not on the road or camping, unlike the traditional ones. This American Ford Transit van has a cousin that is currently being sold in the UK and Europe. It's official Ford's vehicle with collaboration with Westfalia that has more than 70 years designing campervan conversion vehicles [1]. The version with the toilet inside is called Ford Transit Nugget Plus and the waiting time is more than a year. It can cater for four adults sleeping inside and has the built-in toilet unlike the normal Nugget van. [1]The Nugget Plus Highroof: https://westfalia-mobil.de/en/modelle/westfalia-nugget-hochdach/westfalia-nugget-plus-hochdach_en_copy.php https://westfalia-mobil.de/en/modelle/westfalia-nugget-hochd...
- graycat 4y agoFord has a new vehicle? Okay, if Ford is interested in new vehicles, then here is one I'd like to see: Cars are a big chunk of the US family budget. Here should be a good way to save a LOT of money: Start with a Ford 2-door sedan from the 1940s, 1950s, or maybe 1960s. Use a modern electronic controlled system for the fuel mixture and ignition. Use modern, long lasting suspension ball joints and bushings. Use disk brakes with dual master cylinders. Use a modern automatic transmission. Use modern rubber formulations in the tires. Do what have to do for current laws on the exhaust system, and try to use modern materials that will do well resisting corrosion. Otherwise, keep it as it was: No additional electronics or systems. Certainly no 'stability control' and hopefully no 'ABS'. Stability control steps on the brakes when I don't want to, and ABS releases the brakes when I step on them -- get rid of both of them. No electric windows. No power steering. No power brakes. No air conditioning. Now, what might the price have to be????? One half current prices? One third? Only 20%??? Cheaper to buy and to maintain. I'd especially like a stick shift transmission with very wide ratios, maybe 4:1 first gear, and a very low number rear axle ratio, maybe 2.5:1. Apparently could still use some of the 6 or 8 cylinder engines used back then -- apparently are still using them with little change.
- notch656a 4y agoFord has no trouble selling vehicles at their current prices, so I think they have nothing to gain by competing downward with themselves for a niche vehicle that appeals to people who want a utilitarian basic low-priced vehicle. If you want something spartan you may have to look at a less regulated market like motorcycles.
- yourusername 4y agoThis vehicle will be illegal to sell in big parts of the world and get 0 stars in any crash test. No ABS or ESP? Can't sell this car in USA, EU, India or China. E: coming to think of it the only places you might be able to sell this is some low income countries in South America, Africa and maybe central asia?
- graycat 4y agoLooks like you are correct: E.g., this ESP (ESC -- electronic stability thingy) is now required nearly everywhere. Now I'm especially glad my car, used I bought recently, is too old to have ESP. It has ABS which doesn't work -- fine with me. The brakes, with dual master cylinders, work fine. A guess is that the problem with ABS is a corroded electrical ground connection back to the frame -- that illustrates one of my concerns for ABS, ESP, etc., maintenance problems. To me some good news is likely most or all of these electronic systems can fail and the car will be more like one from the 1950s and still work fine. So, if ESP or ABS gets sick, just cut some wires and drive off just fine! I've driven nearly 1 million miles with only one accident, not serious, and with no insurance claims! I have a squeaky clean driving record and am a total cream puff customer for the auto insurance industry. In all that driving, I never had, needed, or wanted either ABS or ESP. I used to do a LOT of driving, and cost, time, botheration for maintenance of the car was always an issue. For so much driving the current cars with ABS, ESP, etc. look more expensive, both to buy and to maintain, by a factor of several. All of this urgency to make cars more complicated looks like a big shot in the gut of the US family budget: US families are having a tough time paying for a house, schooling for the kids, groceries, medical care, and now the cost of driving is a factor of several more expensive than it was and could be. Looks like there will be some ups/downs, I don't know which, of prices in the used car market. E.g., maybe some owner of a recent car gets a repair estimate of $15,000 to fix one of these super electronic systems and decides to sell the car. Then the price on the used car market might be nicely low! And the buyer of the used car just disables the electronic system! Yes, I know, there was a big problem of smog from cars in NYC, LA, maybe another 10 large US cities, but I never lived in any of those places and now live in TN with no chance of any smog problems. Besides, a lot of the US has, had, no smog problem: Some parts have very low population density and people can get winter heat from wood fires that put out smoke and still have no smog or smoke problems! Smoke from a wood fire? Ah, smells like home at Thanksgiving or Christmas! And a lot of the rest of the US is farming country where there are tractors, often Diesel, with little or nothing for smog reduction -- with, wonder of wonders, still no smog problem! There's long been a big theme: Go after the cars!!! That's part of a bigger theme, really popular in some parts of Europe: We all need more government to do things for us!!!! I like seat belts fine. Maybe air bags are worth the cost and botheration. ESP, modulating the power to the drive wheels, applying the brakes in tricky ways -- I can't believe that that would actually be good for anything.
- rambambram 4y agoI like the idea of vanlife a lot, and stealth vans even more. But being attached to a pricey, big, and gas guzzling van is not my definition of freedom. I opted to build a cheaper and more natural alternative for this. Go look at https://www.theredpanther.org https://www.theredpanther.org if you want to see my bicycle cart/caravan. Pedal powered, only 42 kilograms (without luggage) and building the thing only costs me a couple of hundred euros.
- manifoldgeo 4y agoDoes this news story strike anyone else as native advertising, i.e. a product placement disguised as news? As always, it's hard to discern between the two, since the lines are blurred. Still, there isn't a lot of novelty to this article-- no new technology, no real changes besides a slightly bolstered build for outdoor travel. The article just describes a new Ford vehicle and tells you the price and when it's available. How is this newsworthy?
- yencabulator 4y agoFor anyone complaining about the price: 1. Before Covid times and increasing demand, buying new at 40% off the list price was possible, you just had to time it right with new models coming out. 2. RVs lose something like 20-30% of their value in the first year, 50% in the first 4-6 years. Buy used, it's better that way (all the warranty work has been dealt with; very few brands manage to build them well enough to not need warranty work).