A company from the Allgäu wants to get potential customers interested in zero-emission travel and has transformed the Peugeot e-Rifter electric van into a compact mobile home. For everyday use, the Vanderer can be converted into a normal five-seater in just a few minutes.
Finally found a parking space on the campsite outside of town, extended the awning and set up a seating area outside. Quickly connect the long power cable to the nearest socket. Camping life at its finest, the six-meter mobile home becomes your new temporary home. Comfortable, fully equipped and all in the middle of nature. But then the new neighbor, who raves about the restaurant in the small town and praises its local specialties. So pack everything up again and squeeze through the narrow streets of the old town with the big thing? And then there was the annoying search for a parking space.
“It’s also possible to go a size smaller,” says Tobias Menig, one of the bosses of the still young Kempten company called Vanderer – a mixture of Van and Wanderer. The latest creation is the conversion of the compact Peugeot van Peugeot Rifter, which offers up to seven seats in the long version and is 4.75 meters long. Above all, however, it is an electric car that, thanks to a 50 kWh battery according to the applicable standard, has a range of around 270 kilometers, depending on driving style. “The ideal basis for a compact electric mobile home,” explains Menig in flawless Allgäu dialect. “Behind the front seats we were able to design our modular system in such a way that it offers everything a camper needs.”
Vanderer has developed a furniture module that slides into the vehicle through the tailgate. It consists of individual, differently shaped elements that are nested in one another, similar to the famous computer game “Tetris”. This includes a kitchen with a gas burner and induction cooker or a sink and sink with running water from a 12-litre tank. A 16-litre compressor fridge-freezer sits between the front seats. The entire kitchen block is electrically height-adjustable and also serves as a coffee table or dining area. At night it is lowered and becomes the basis for a wide lying surface.
The large pop-up roof creates space for standing height in the kitchen and living area as well as for an additional bed. When folded up, it is reminiscent of a tent, can be darkened or designed with a zip so that fresh air can get into the car through the mosquito protection structure. If it lies flat on the car roof, it is no higher than the standard version of the e-Rifter with the roof rails. If desired, there is a solar panel on the top that can supply electricity to one of the two additional batteries.
“Actually, our model is two cars in one,” says Menig. “The entire kitchen block with all its components can be quickly pulled out and parked in the garage at home. This turns the recreational vehicle into a completely normal everyday car with five seats that fits into any garage.” This distinguishes the Peugeot Vanderer from the large mobile homes, which can only be used for trips and vacations and require a lot of parking space at home.
Technically, the currently only e-mobile home in the compact segment offers all the advantages of the normal Peugeot Rifter. The 136 hp electric motor has no trouble with the car, as light yet durable material is used for the furniture. Including the built-in devices, the car weighs around two tons. For long-distance planning, it is helpful that the Rifter can also dock at a 100-kW battery pack and be recharged to 80 percent of its capacity in half an hour. Since the network of charging stations, especially abroad, is even more patchy than in Germany, Vanderer assumes that customers are more likely to be traveling on shorter routes of up to 500 kilometers and in the larger radius of the cities, for example at the weekend.
Depending on the equipment, the basic Peugeot with a long wheelbase costs between 42,440 and 45,190 euros, and then has navigation, lane departure warning and braking assistants, traffic sign recognition and much more on board. Depending on the customer’s wishes, Vanderer charges around 20,000 euros for the conversion.
The people of the Allgäu don’t just have the Rifter in mind. Since the Stellantis Group also includes Citroën and Opel in addition to Peugeot, their almost identical models e-Berlingo and Combo e Life (Opel) can also be converted, which are also only available with an electric drive. Since Toyota also has its ProAce City built by Stellantis, the Allgäu-based company could also lend a hand. However, the French Japanese only exist with combustion engines.
