This article is from page 23 of the 2012-04-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 23 JPG
A CLARE company will later this month become the first group in the world to create a touring van which runs completely on electricity. Vanderlust, which is based on the Quin Road in Ennis, are currently re-engineering a Renault Kangoo van to be the world’s first electric tourism van.
The company, which is run by Ennis man Dave Hanley, plan to launch a series of eco-friendly touring routes in Clare later this month, with several different overnight trips already identified. They aim to complete each route without using petrol or diesel.
“The electric camper van is a totally new thing and this will be the first one anywhere in the world. Our van is based on the Renault Kangoo van and we are reworking that to include a seating area that folds into a sleeping area for two, a cooker, a sink, a fridge – basically everything you need for a camping holiday,” said Dave.
“Everything in the back of the van will be run using solar panels so the van will be powered by electricity and all the amenities will be powered using solar power. So it is totally electric.”
It is estimated that the van will be able to reach 170 km before it needs to stop and be recharged.
“I have put together a number of routes which include a charge point every 100 km so there will never be an issue of running out of juice. People can charge their vehicles in the camp sites on the routes and they will be all ready to go the next morning,” continued Dave.
“We are still working on the van at the moment. We have been developing the conversion using a diesel version of the Renault Kangoo and that went well so we would hope to be able to convert the electric version quite quickly.
“We want to have this van on the road by June at the very latest. We have set out a nice route which people can follow if they want to take a seven-day trip around the west and never run out of electricity.”