Zone Expedition wins Best New RV Award

Australia's first '3D printed' caravan has taken out a major prize in the 2023 caravancampingsales Innovation Awards.

The Zone RV Expedition picks up the Best New RV trophy in the 2023 Innovation Awards, which are designed to recognize and reward advancements in the areas of technology, design, quality and safety throughout the RV industry.

“At a time when some caravan manufacturing methods have come into question, Zone has taken a methodical and hi-tech approach to the design and construction of its latest composite bodied hybrid caravan, with the end result a level of fit and finish you'd expect from a company with access to Australia's largest 3D printer,” said caravancampingsales’ editor and Innovation Awards' judge Chris Fincham.

"The state-of-the-art design also helps maximise interior and exterior storage space, while the use of complex curved panels has also allowed Zone to keep an eye on aesthetics, with its A-frame toolbox cleverly incorporated within the aerodynamic nosecone, just one example of this."

Fellow Innovation Awards' judge Phil Lord was also impressed by the painstaking approach that Zone has taken with its latest Expedition hybrid off-road pop-top.

"This shows such ingenuity and provides a clever way of producing exact quality builds," he said.

Innovation Awards' judge Michael Browning said the use of large-scale 3D printing in the Australian RV industry is a game-changer and "takes the fight to Bruder", whose EXP-8 expedition trailer was runner-up in the 2022 Best New RV category.

Runner-up in the Best New RV category in the 2023 caravancampingsales Innovation Awards was the ARB Earth camper trailer, with the Kimberley Kruiswagen off-road campervan in third place, after all judges’ votes were tallied.

"When a firm with a history and reputation like ARB applies its expertise and nous to a new RV, rivals – and the market – ought to take notice," Innovation Awards' judge Rod Chapman commented.

"ARB’s first camper is bred tough to meet the needs of discerning (and cashed-up) intrepid Aussie explorers, and it appears this Aussie powerhouse has left no stone unturned in creating the Earth Camper."

While fellow Innovation Awards' judge Michael Browning had this to say about the compact ARB Earth bush camper, which was seven years in the making.

"Finally a challenger for the evergreen Tvvan with some time-saving innovations".

Other finalists in the 2023 Best New RV category included the radical New Zealand built Romotow, the NSW-built EarthCruiser Extreme XTR330 6x6 compact expedition vehicle, and the Melbourne-built Kokoda Commando F226 off-grid glamour-van.

Other category winners in the 2023 caravancampingsales Innovation Awards include the TerraGlide suspension (Best New Technology), 1 Key Caravan (Best New Product/Accessory), and Tow Guardian (Best New Safety Feature).