The Sustainable Long-term Future of Vanlife
Keep it mean, keep it green.
Strategies for meeting our environmental commitments and ensuring the ongoing sustainability of all areas of our lives have dominated the headlines for years now. The upcoming United Nations climate change conference in Glasgow has prompted nations around the globe to announce new targets for reducing emissions, preserving green spaces, and even the goal of capturing existing atmospheric carbon. Like every other green-obsessed vanlifer, everyone at The Custom Shop are 100 per cent behind new environmental initiatives, and try our best to make the changes we want to see in our own work.
A recent SMMT report outlined some of the challenges facing the campervan and motorhome sector, including issues of vehicle range, availability of charging stations, and cost. Fortunately, plenty of manufacturers – from the key players at Mercedes, Volkswagen and Fiat alongside new companies – are rising to the challenge of electrifying or hybridising their offerings. Building on information from the Caravan and Motorhome Club, the report concludes that greater electric vehicle charging infrastructure is essential before mass adoption can be expected. The government has finally announced much-needed investment in EV charging points, aiming to complete 3,550 such stations in anticipation of the ban on new petrol and diesel cars schedules for 2030.
Luckily, the long lifespan and often domestic usage of campervans means they still represent a responsible investment from an environmental perspective. The team over at Cambee have put together an information checklist with some important findings; firstly, the average age of our beloved campers is almost three times that of cars (20 years to seven), and owners tend to maintain and run them for as long as is humanly possible, driving down the environmental damage of new vehicle production. Many UK vanlifers like to take their vehicles to the stunning natural landscapes of Scotland, Wales and England, or take a short ferry ride to Ireland or Europe to explore further. It can be difficult to sift through the data on driving vs. flying (check out this article on Treehugger), making the most of British beauty spots and keeping your travel distance down is undoubtedly a good place to start.
We are yet to convert our first electric camper, but can’t wait to get stuck in with whoever comes through the door looking to get a bespoke conversion done on their e-van! WhatCar recently put together a run-down of their favourite electric vans of all shapes and sizes. As close followers of industry trends, we love to see how the major manufacturers are rising to the challenge of electric vehicles, and upgrading tried and tested favourites with all-electric powertrains to meet the needs of tomorrow. Understandably, we are most interested in the Volkswagen eTransporter, which has already made quite a splash, alongside the dedicated ID BUZZ electric camper concept.
Whatever is round the corner for sustainable motoring, we are committed to doing all we can to pushing the limits of what sustainability and positive environmental impact. The base vehicle is obviously a big part of this, but we also consider the environmental impact of our work processes, materials and buildings. Given the tremendous levels of positive energy from the vanlife community when it comes to meeting our climate obligations, we have no doubt that the future is bright green for campervans!
