Thor Industries, Inc. is an American manufacturer of recreational vehicles having its headquarters in Elkhart, Indiana. The company sells pull able and motorized RVs through its subsidiaries brands including Airstream, Heartland RV, Jayco, Livin Lite RV, and others.
In October the company has finalized design of new ERV at Leisurefest, Melbourne and the production has started. The first ERV-1 Off-Road having 18’-6”-foot (5.7-m) length offers several floor plans on single- and double axel trailers. Suitable for any type of surface, Mickey Thompson tires and a Cruisemaster TS off-road suspension system have been used in the vehicle.
Retreat depends on a new fusion construction with optimized thermal insulation which helps air conditioning system to maintain the indoor temperature in any type of climate. There is no need of ventilation in kitchen as the all-electric design is capable to ventilate it.
The new ERV is equipped with 24 inch smart TV with an entertainment system, a washing machine, and a water heater. A duel burner induction stove, a convection oven/grill an isolated 65L drinking water tank with two additional 110L tanks, and a fridge with enough capacity is provided in a modern kitchen. Retreat has equipped the kitchen with a toaster, electric kettle and an electric coffeemaker. Furthermore, a slide-out Weber electric grill and a separate 36L fridge is also available for outdoor usage. All equipment is powered by an off grid battery, and a CZone smart command center offers full digitized monitoring.
It depends on a Centralized Energy Management System (CEMS) supplied by Australian caravan tech startup, OzXcorp, Co-founded by Andrew Huett. With the CEMS, OzXcorp offers an automatic 14.3-kWh lithium battery packed inside a galvanized steel chassis and distributes power through a 48-volt electrical architecture. A 5000 watt inverter is capable to keep multiple appliances and components running at once
The OzXcorp system was manufactured to bring caravan into the smart age of design and tech. Breaking free from LPG it is called the world’s first fully electric caravan, the ERV, Australia’s Retreat Caravans goes beyond concepts.
The ERV does include an alternate power hook-up for times it’s parked in a fully equipped campground, but it’s really built with off-grid travel. It is electrified from the tow vehicle while driving and includes a solid roof-mounted solar blanket that packs up to 2,033 watts, depending upon floor plan and overall roof length.
During first test drive, the ERV traveled more than 12,400 miles (20,000 km) throughout the Australia over six months. The goal was to make the trip depending completely on solar power, keeping the trailer unplugged from both the tow vehicle and all shore power hook-ups. The aim of the ERV is to offers fully unplugged trips which depend upon their power usage and available sun.
According to Retreat the ERV will starts from US$ 75,625 (AU$109,900) and new models will be launched after initial model will make his way in the market. Retreat has provided wattage figures for the different electrical components on his official website.