Australia's first 3D printed caravan exposed

While the productions versions of its new 19ft 9in Expedition pop-top hybrid will be built on a more traditional production line, Zone RV founder and CTO, Dave Biggar, has outlined in a new video how the Queensland manufacturer built the initial prototype of the first fully moulded composite caravan in Zone RV's 10 year history, entirely with the aid of a 3D printer.

The 22m x 5m 3D printer, said to be the largest in the southern hemisphere and occupying its own factory building in Zone's $7.5 million 5000 square metre production facility in Coolum Eco Industrial Park, played "a crucial role in (the Expedition's) creation", with the first prototype coming together thanks to 3D printed 'plugs'.

Representing a total investment of about $5 million, Zone's huge 3D printer arrived from overseas around late-2022 and is now producing floors, roofs and walls, along with many small parts for the Expedition.

The 3D printer is also being used to produce hulls for offshore speed boats with Zone having established a separate factory at Coolum for their production. Biggar's background prior to starting Zone was in composite manufacturing of catamarans and luxury boats.

In the video, he says the new Zone Expedition will be built in a similar manner to products from the aerospace, Formula One and yacht racing industries, and brings the "weight and strength" benefits of top-grade "vacuum infusion" construction to the RV sector.

Biggar also says the significant investment in tooling and robotic assembly at the Zone factory will given the Queensland manufacturer a "competitive edge" in the premium off-road caravan segment that includes other prominent Australian manufacturers like Kedron, Bushtracker, Mountain Trail, BruderX, Track Trailer, AOR and Rhinomax.

"If this (composite moulded) process was cheap and easy you would see the whole market doing it," he says.

Priced from $139,000, the new Expedition couple's ensuite model will initially be built at the rate of two a week at the Coolum Beach factory alongside Zone's two other fixed roof composite caravan models; the 19ft Peregrine and 21ft Sojourn.

A pre-production Expedition complete with north-south bed layout was unveiled at the 2023 Queensland Supershow in June, and Zone has plans to sell the Expedition in the USA once the model is established in Australia.