Mercedes-Benz partner Alphavan created a $145,900 smart Sprinter camper van — see inside
- Mercedes-Benz partner Alphavan created a Sprinter-based camper van with a “rear garage” space that can alternatively be used as a children’s bedroom.
- The tiny home on wheels has separate defined living spaces, including a seating area, bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, and the rear under-bed FlexPort that can be used as a garage or room.
- The Alphavan is available for order in Europe, but the company is now looking into plans to bring the camper van to the US.
- Alphavan starts at around $145,920 without tax.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Alphavan created a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter-based camper van with a rear under-bed "garage" space that can alternatively be used as a children's bedroom.
Alphavan, a Mercedes-Benz partner, was founded by three people with different backgrounds and specialties: Tobias Buhmann is the CEO of "interior solutions" company GETA, Stefan Krause is a technical and design "mastermind", and Philipp Wex has been working for Mercedes-Benz for the past 18 years.
According to an interview with Krause and Wex, the idea of using a Sprinter as the Alphavan camper van base was a no-brainer for the Germany-based company.
"I think Mercedes is currently one of the best vehicles you can buy for a camper," Krause told Business Insider. "It's more expensive than a Fiat, but if you compare the driving between Fiat and Mercedes, there's a big difference."
"Both the developers of the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and the Alphavan company speak the same language when it comes to quality and functionality, and make camper dreams come true," according to the Mercedes-Benz webpage about the Alphavan.
The automaker's User Experience (MBUX) provides a navigation system, while the ME Connect supplies driving-related information, such as traffic and weather. The ME Connect also allows for a WiFi hotspot for digital nomads who need to work on the road, and van owners can download the ME app onto their smartphones to control functions of the van, such as door locking, remotely.
The Advanced Control also serves as an on-board control center, but more so for other electrical tasks, such as setting the electric awning, controlling the air conditioning, and checking the water systems.
Like the ME Connect, these can be controlled via Bluetooth by using the MBAC app.
The Alphavan took 10 years to design and develop, according to Krause. However, according to Wex, the Alphavan has gone from "zero to really a product" in the last two years, in part because of the release of a new Sprinter van in 2018."What's clear is the segment for camper vans has been growing for the last five to six years in the two-digit growth rate continuously, and I have seen this also from the Mercedes side," Wex said. "What's definitely also true for Europe is the growth rate: although we have the bad COVID-19 situations, the interest in doing local vacations and driving around in your own apartment on wheels is a big deal over here as well."
The interior of the Alphavan is made up of several separate spaces: a seating area, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and a "FlexPort" rear garage that can be transformed into another sleeping space or a children's room.This allows the van to accommodate up to four people.
"It was important to us to create this new [roominess] concept," Wex said."We wanted to have a full living, seating, and cooking area with a full bedroom, and then we knew we needed flexibility for different sorts of customers."
The interior living space can come in two styles: the wooden and grey-themed "soft-line", or the white and grey "pure line."The interior is 6.89 feet tall, which allows van dwellers to stand up inside of their tiny home on wheels.
According to its maker, Alphavan's interior is 50% lighter than other campers, which is done by using Vöhringer's Vunder Tech — a lightweight and breathable material — in the van's furniture. In total, the Alphavan weighs about 7,716.18 pounds.
The kitchen — which is next to the entry doorway — has push-lock drawers, overhead cabinets with LED lights underneath, a refrigerator, a two-burner cooktop, and a sink.The kitchen unit also has three compartments on the side closest to the fly screen-lined entry door.
Meals prepared at the kitchen can be eaten across the way at the seating space, which includes a two-person bench and table. The driver and passenger seats can also swivel back to face the table, creating two extra lounging spots.
This dining or work area is surrounded by overhead cabinets and a 230-volt and two USB outlets.
Behind the seating space is the bathroom, which is in its own enclosed waterproof room. The bathroom has a pull-out sink, shower, and toilet with a ventilation system to prevent foul odors from lingering in the apartment on wheels.
In between the bathroom and the sleeping space is Alphavan's closet, which has a rail to hang clothes and a shoe storage compartment.
The bedroom, which has a 6.56-foot by 5.25-foot mattress, is surrounded by a ceiling and side windows with fly screens and shades for ventilation.The bedroom is elevated to make room for the under-bed FlexPort. However, its maker provides an aluminum ladder to help reach the slumber space, which is also equipped with LED lights — including reading lights — and more outlets.
In between the living space and the bedroom is a 22-inch smart television above the refrigerator. And because the television is mounted on a swivel arm, movies and shows can be viewed from both the bedroom and the living area.
To access the FlexPort, Alphavan dwellers can either open the rear door or crawl through the 3.94-foot tall door located under the bed.The 7.22-foot long, 5.58-foot wide, 4.2-foot tall FlexPort can store outdoor gear like bicycles, or be converted into another sleeping space for two people, or be used as a children's room for #VanLifers with kids.
For garage use, the FlexPort has a secured equipment storage system, chair holders on the doors, and the option for storage bags on the walls, to name a few amenities.The FlexPort also has two-floor cabinets that run down both sides of the van. These cabinets also serve as the base for the folding, "self-stabilizing" mattress that can be used by customers who want to utilize the FlexPort as a children's room.
And like every other space in the van, the FlexPort has outlets and LED lights.
All of the smart apartment on wheel's electronic components are powered by the van's 110-watt peak solar panels, 2,300-watt inverter, and 210-amp hour lithium-ion battery.This takes away the need to use any liquefied natural gas to power amenities like the cooktop.
The van comes with two package options: the Comfort and the Premium.The Comfort starts at around $169,263 including tax, or around $145,920 pre-tax. The Premium Package, which adds an additional $23,350, includes a bigger engine, automatic transmission, satellite reception, the television, and air conditioning, to name a few additions.
Customers will also have the option to purchase a four-by-four iteration.
"We are right now still quite a young company with a lot of experience, but we are in a stage where we are quite surprised about the extremely positive feedback we are getting from customers," Wex said.
Despite the German headquarters, the Alphavan may see itself overseas in the US and Canada someday."After we had the first press coverage here in Europe, it pretty quickly went over to the US, and we currently have quite a significant inflow of requests from US and Canada," Wex said. "At this point, we are not in the US yet, but as we have received so many requests, we are actually currently investing in what would be necessary to do this step."
This entails having discussions with Mercedes-Benz and looking into registration and legislation requirements.