Rise of the off-road, off-grid caravan
It's cabin fever, not COVID-19 driving buyers to spend big on self-contained caravansCOMMENT
I’ve got it and so it seems have many other Australians – not COVID-19 but cabin fever! So much that it’s driving some major changes in our caravan and camper market.
Counter-intuitive to the steady march of bitumen along many of our great Outback highways, sales of off-road caravans have surged this year in most states, while the average age of buyers has dropped from retirees in their 50s-60s to families and singles in their 40s and 50s.
Lack of overseas travel opportunities appears to be the main trend driver, fanned by caravan/camper trailer manufacturers, with the concept of ‘experiencing Australia with your kids before they leave home’ replacing travel after early retirement.
Despite more sealed roads and updates to many caravan parks in popular tourist areas, ‘off-road, off-grid’ is the theme that has driven many new sales.
Beam axles and leaf springs are being replaced by trailing arm independent coil spring and airbag suspension, while lithium battery power systems are now being ticked on the option list of most premium large caravans to replace AGM batteries.
An increasing number of off-road caravan makers – notably those in Queensland – no longer even offer a leaf spring or AGM battery option.
While more price-conscious caravan buyers purchasing in the $55,000-$65,000 range are still well-served by mainly Campbellfield, Victorian manufacturers, the writing is on the wall, with some sales staff urging intending buyers to ‘future-proof’ their purchase by equipping it with items that the next owner will demand.
A similar sales pitch has been used successfully to make ensuite bathrooms, microwave ovens and air conditioners standard on most caravans over the past decade.
One caravan supplier with his finger on the pulse -- Enerdrive Energy System boss, Chris McClellan --- says his team used to talk more people out of buying Enerdrive's high-end lithium battery-based power systems, but they have now given up and supply what they want, even if they will never need it.
”People have been totally sold on the ‘off road, off grid’ lifestyle,” McClellan says on a recent visit to Enerdrive's Brisbane showroom. “They may never take full advantage of the equipment they buy, but they want to know that they can do so, if they want to.”
McClellan says that demand for Enerdrive's premium 200Ah-300Ah Pro Power Packs and more affordable B-Tec 100Ah-300Ah batteries has "gone through the roof" this year, with demand for some systems up by as much as 50 per cent.
“We now are building more than 200 lithium system a month,” he says.
According to McClellan, the trend to lithium had begun before the COVID-19 virus peaked, and had flowed on to other associated caravan components.
“Where you see Cruisemaster independent suspension under a caravan, you will usually find an Enerdrive lithium power system in it," he reckons, citing Bushtracker, Kedron, ZoneRV, Trakmaster, Evernew, Royal Flair, JB Caravans and Titanium among some of Enerdrive's major customers.
He says the motivation to buy a top-spec off-road caravan was often to fulfill the dream of discovering the ‘real’ Australia, or to tick that ‘Big Lap’ off a bucket list.
“The ability to access part of their superannuation early – sometimes twice in the case of families where both partners work – has been a big factor here, as many people who can’t holiday overseas and have seen their family growing up have decided ‘it’s now or never’ and placed a deposit.
“Like a sports car, where few owners ever explore its full potential, people want to be prepared for the worst, even if their nerves will never take them there.”
While the cost of lithium over lead acid batteries still remains high – as much as 200 per cent – this hasn't dampened demand, with many drawn to the higher spec by its significant savings in weight and space.
Lithium batteries are also claimed to outlast lead-acid batteries, although with the technology still in its infancy after less than 10 years’ operation in Australian conditions, battery life is still not really quantifiable.
“We are saying ‘about 10 years’ with proper use for our larger Pro Systems and seven years for our smaller B-Tec batteries – about double than of typical AGM battery – but it could be more in some applications,” McClellan says. “We are seeing more than eight years already on our original systems with no indication that they are approaching their end of life yet.”
Another trend that McClellan is witnessing is the shift in emphasis from the caravan to the tow vehicle for lithium auxiliary power.
“There has been a noticeable shift away from conventional 4WDs to crew cab utes with enclosed rear canopies as preferred off-road tow vehicles,” he says.
“We know this as we are getting a lot more orders for additional lithium systems to go into ute canopies. What many people are doing is fitting their crew cab ute with a slide-out kitchen, perhaps with a 200ah B-Tec battery running through a DC-DC charger and a 2000 watt inverter, to run an induction cook-top and a coffee machine.
"They are then using it for all their cooking, rather than the kitchen in their caravan, which will most likely be fitted with a larger 300ah lithium battery and reserved for sleeping and living.
“So, when they leave their off-road caravan somewhere as a base station, their ute is ready to go and fully-equipped for full, off-grid, remote living, while their caravan with its solar-supported lithium power is left ready to welcome them home with all its heating and cooling comforts.”
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