Reflections on 6 Months of RV Research! ;)
Hi Class C Forum, I caught the RV bug about 6 months ago after a particularly stressful stretch at work. Researching RVs has become the way that I decompress when I have some discretionary time. Cu...
Forum Discussion
What is on the market will likely be changing between now and when you have tuition paid off, particularly for B+/C, though it is also happening to smaller A designs. The process has started with the introduction of North American versions of "global" vans and design of new motorhome floorplans to fit these platforms, along the lines of what we've been seeing in Europe for about 10 years.
With the lower floor of the Ducato/Promaster (and FWD Transit when it finally comes over) motorhomes will no longer have to be 10'6" to 11'6" high to provide interior headroom. With many B+ designs we've already started the shrink in width from 8'6" to something less than 8" (and of course, anything contained within a van will be less than 80" or the slightly smaller metric equivalent for the "maximum standard width" of a vehicle). Bringing GVWR down from seven tons or more to something around five tons, or less, has seen the introduction of lighter weight solutions to the house systems, such as tankless water heaters, composting or cassette toilets, all-electric systems replacing LPG appliances and on-board gensets. Some of this, of course, is possible because of changes in how we use RVs, and if you must be off the grid yet want on the grid comforts, you'll be buying something more like what was worked out in the 1960s and remains in use today.
I'm looking forward to the changes, just have not yet seen them go far enough to make it worthwhile to trade my paid for, too big for me but quite adequate RV for something with a lighter footprint. What's being built here today on Ram Promaster represents manufacturers experiementing with what the market might accept, but also looking toward a changing market with more social consciousness.
With the lower floor of the Ducato/Promaster (and FWD Transit when it finally comes over) motorhomes will no longer have to be 10'6" to 11'6" high to provide interior headroom. With many B+ designs we've already started the shrink in width from 8'6" to something less than 8" (and of course, anything contained within a van will be less than 80" or the slightly smaller metric equivalent for the "maximum standard width" of a vehicle). Bringing GVWR down from seven tons or more to something around five tons, or less, has seen the introduction of lighter weight solutions to the house systems, such as tankless water heaters, composting or cassette toilets, all-electric systems replacing LPG appliances and on-board gensets. Some of this, of course, is possible because of changes in how we use RVs, and if you must be off the grid yet want on the grid comforts, you'll be buying something more like what was worked out in the 1960s and remains in use today.
I'm looking forward to the changes, just have not yet seen them go far enough to make it worthwhile to trade my paid for, too big for me but quite adequate RV for something with a lighter footprint. What's being built here today on Ram Promaster represents manufacturers experiementing with what the market might accept, but also looking toward a changing market with more social consciousness.
