The Hymer VisionVenture is small space living that moves.
Who among us hasn’t dreamt of packing it in and hitting the road? I have often thought that the perfect tiny house on wheels would be something built into a Mercedes Sprinter van, a Class B motorhome, although the diesel engines conflict with my TreeHugger sensibilities.
© Hymer VisionVentureThe answer to my prayers may be coming down the road in 2025 from Hymer, the German motor home and caravan (camper trailer) manufacturer, with their VisionVenture.
It’s built on what looks like a standard Sprinter, but I am assuming that by 2025 I will be able to get an all-electric version to assuage my guilt. It already has a roof covered in solar panels.
The VisionVenture is a joint venture with BASF, so there is a lot of plastic and 3D printed components. It’s also covered a special paint: “Also new is the ultra-resilient paintwork in striking dark green: the temperature-regulating, energy-efficient Chromacool technology from BASF reduces the surface temperature of the vehicle by 20°C and that of the interior by up to 4°C.”
© Hymer VisionVenture
The interior is extremely spacious given the size of the vehicle. I wonder if the designers didn’t take some TARDIS-like liberties and cheat a bit on the rendering, but then the plan does look wide open.
From Hymer Youtube video/Video screen capture
The slate is light because it’s actually real slate bonded to plastic, between 1.5 and 2mm thick, so thin and light that it is flexible. Coming to a bathroom or elevator cab near you.
The bathroom design is clever too; the sink wall actually rotates out of the way to create a real stall shower.
The dining table is at the rear, with the back wall of the camper folding down to become a deck, which has a pull-out electric barbecue.
© Hymer VisionVenture
Here you can see the storage stair rising up over the kitchen, going up to the pop-up sleeping area. But it’s not like your Volkswagen pop-up with fabric sides; this is a sort of inflatable 7cm (2.75 inches) insulated honeycomb wall system that can be filled with warm or cool air in the space of a minute.
Inflatable radiant walls! It opens up to a deck on the roof and is covered with photovoltaics.
There is a lot to love about this design, which clearly is for the rich baby boomer market who want proper stairs to the loft and decent bathrooms more than lots of beds. Some might complain about the amount of plastic, but there are some things that plastic is very good at, and unless you forget to put the brakes on, it’s not going to end up in the ocean.
It even has a home office. I could live in this, a small space that has everything and can go anywhere.
