Ecowagon Conversion - Caravan And Motor Home Club Magazine

[Davenjo]

Just got around to reading the latest (June) version of the Caravan and Motorhome Club Magazine and there is a very nice looking LWB conversion in there from Ecowagon - limited photos but looks really good. I'm struggling to see how they have come up with the £80k price tag though!!

 

[Davenjo]

 

[sweatysock]

This van has loads of kit not visible in pictures . Its not all about big wheels and silly side bars to some people

 

[Fish]

Ouch!

 

[Fish]

Thanks to @Davenjo I wanted to read that artical,so you saved me a few more pennies towards another Ròse.

 

[Ed Webb]

Old member different avatar?

 

[Davenjo]

This van has loads of kit not visible in pictures . Its not all about big wheels and silly side bars to some people

No big wheels or silly side bars (or other bling) on my van either - still struggling so see where the price tag comes from though.

 

[sweatysock]

I wasn't having a dig . Just a lot of people have criticised this van because its white and on standard wheels etc .
The cost came from a one off stainless custom water heater , lithium invertor battery , £1500 of Italiian hide, Vb air suspension etc etc

 

[andys]

I quite like it, it’s the sort of layout I considered before getting mine, though having had experience of them in the past I found that beds relying on the front seats swivelled round to form part of them are a recipe for backache!
Not sure why they’re touting the moving of the underfloor water tank inside as a plus though, I suspect it was a consequence of having the air suspension.

Incidentally electric emptying of the waste tank is on my mod list and it’s quite easy. Just get a 12v valve from eBay, I paid £3 , fit it on the end of your waste pipe and wire it to a switch to supply 12v to open it (normally closed). I was going to line my outlet up with part of the side I can see in the mirror so that it could be done with getting out and firkling about under a wet muddy van in bad weather. You could use an inline pump too, and even fit a camera like on top end motor homes. I’ve done a proof of concept by fitting it and applying power from outside but it’s one of those mods you only do when you’ve done everything else so wiring into a switched supply on the dash is well down my list.

I didn’t see any mention of the water heater being custom made though, it sounds to me like it’s using a webasto top type heater and a standard electric heater inside like mine. I can easily see why it would top £60k in price but it’s not worth £80k in my mind.

 

[sweatysock]

You need to make sure you get a solenoid valve with an inch bore otherwise it may get clogged up.
Also, we had to make a custom waste tank for it as space was a real issue being 4wd . The water calorifier uses the water from the engine to heat the water in the tank and it can also be heated from a 240v emersion element via the 12v lithium leisure inverter battery.
The Lwb 4wd 204kw with every option ticked on the list = 48k Then a custom conversion on top of that = 80k+

 

[andys]

3/4" is fine, I had to put a converter in line to get that big as my outlet is only 15mm. I'd thought about it for a while, interesting that a converter has come up with the same idea. Yes that's the webasto thermatop I think it's called, quite a few on here have one and it's standard fit in some markets. I presume eberspacher do a similar one. My water heater works off 12v and 240 so I can use it straight from battery, but it will obviously be a lot less powerful than yours, esp with lithium. Is it LiPoFe or whatever it's called, and what charging setup do you have?

It's a great setup, even more so that you've got it to 4wd. I'm all for alternative layouts to the traditional side one, especially if you're rarely going to use the downstairs beds. I can see now how you got it up to that price if it's 4motion with all the options ticked, but I'd need to be really confident I was going to keep it for a long time so that depreciation didn't massacre me come sale time.

 

[sweatysock]

The charge set up is all built in to the unit it is a Clayton lps .
Its not the webasto system in this van we had the system designed and manufactured especially for this vehicle .
The main benefit of this layout is the flushing toilet .
I don't think the customer is worried about depreciation as they are taking the van across Iceland this year and across Africa next year , they built is to use it !