EziVan set for expansion

Canberra retiree Peter Buscombe has been inundated with enquiries since his unique, two-berth expanding caravan prototype aired on The New Inventors TV show in mid-September.

Buscombe’s EziVan was one of three Aussie inventions that appeared on an episode of the popular TV show, and while it was pipped by potentially revolutionary solar paint for the judges’ pick on the night, the lightweight ‘Transformers’ caravan has created a buzz within the caravanning and RV community.

While pop-top and ‘fold-down’ caravans are not new, Buscombe’s utilises some clever engineering and trick features not seen before in a compact caravan of this size.

The prototype was created in the driveway of his home over a three year period and was born from a desire to own a caravan that was “easy to tow and store, simple to set up, but comfortable to live in”.

Buscombe, utilised his background as a civil engineer and experience gained from 20 years ownership of a camper trailer to create what he describes as the “just right” caravan: not too big, not too small.

It’s not the only RV he has modified to his requirements, having tinkered with his small camper trailer to the point that when he sold it “it was probably the oldest, smallest and flashest camper trailer in Australia”.

Conceptualised “as a sketch on a café napkin”, the EziVan evolved over a year of building scale models and three years of building the prototype.

Its storage length of 3800mm and 1875mm tow height, expands to a total length of 4600mm including the drawbar, which can be folded after the removal of a single bolt.

“The drawbar can be locked in its folded position, making the van very difficult to steal,” Buscombe said. “When the top shell is folded down the cabin is also exceptionally secure against pilfering.”

Expansion of the insulated hard shell cabin is a 45 second process that involves unlatching four catches and pressing a button.

“How the lift system works is proprietary information,” said Buscombe, who has applied for a patent, “but it is powered from the onboard 12 volt batteries. Cranking by hand or cordless drill to raise the top shell is the fallback in the unlikely event the batteries go flat.”

Once expanded all features are ready for use in the relatively roomy cabin, requiring no further actions such as deployment of secondary walls or making up of the bed.

After expansion the cabin ceiling height is 1950mm. “Raising the roof increases the interior volume by about 70 per cent,” he said.

One of Buscombe’s major gripes with his earlier camper trailer was its canvas walls, so he made sure the EziVan was fully hard sided and insulated, for improved convenience and comfort.

The chassis comprises Duragal 40x40 square hollow sections in a three-layer 'ladder' construction.

“This gives good strength while keeping the weight down,” he said. “The prototype tare is 1120kg. I am aiming for a production tare under 1000kg."

“The chassis design enables the floor in the front section of the van to be under rather than on top of the chassis. This partly accounts for the exceptional space-efficiency of the van.”

Internal cladding is 2.6mm coated plywood, while the outer is aluminium sheet. The upper shell and roof are insulated with 25mm polystyrene foam.

“The shell construction lends itself to the vacuum bonded aluminium or fibreglass-foam-plywood composite construction increasingly being used, and I hope to pursue this option during the production engineering phase,” he said.

The two-person seating and table also expands in seconds to seat four, while the queen size bed converts to a four-person couch.

Another innovative feature is the EziShade self-deploying roofshade, designed to reduce cabin temperatures on hot days.

“In one particular online caravan forum there has been some concern that this shade structure may flap during road travel,” he said. “We have now done about 10,000km of travel with our prototype including, incidentally, one trip including the 120km of corrugated gravel into Mungo NP, which it handled with aplomb, and no such flapping problem has been detected.”

The EziVan features most options available on modern caravans including electric brakes, large lockable boot, fully-fitted out kitchen, and LED interior lighting.

While not intended for serious off-road use, its ‘ladder style’ engineered Duragal chassis, ALKO independent rubber suspension, adjustable ride height and robust design make the EziVan XTV (Extended Terrain Vehicle) suitable for rough road use.

Another attractive feature, according to Buscombe, is that “unlike some expanding caravans, the EziVan accommodates a full three metre Fiamma wind-out awning”.

The 63-year-old, said he was initially reluctant to submit the EziVan to the TV show’s producers but was persuaded by his wife and daughter. He’s now keen to get a production version to market.

“I am retired and it’s a bit late in life to go into manufacture and marketing myself but I am currently exploring commercialisation options,” he said.

For enquiries email Peter Buscombe at peterbee@grapevine.com.au


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