All-Electric Swift Basecamp Evo Concept Caravan - EV Camping

[@anneshirley1748]

Love this Cameron! Great review and looking all professional with the mic!! Suits you! So stylish this one, love the black kitchen and the colour scheme generally, nice one! Keep it up!! Hugs xxx

[@NotAnotherWhiteBox]

Thanks for your support Anne, it does feel like I'm having to be all professional in interview mode! x

[@anneshirley1748]

​@@NotAnotherWhiteBoxYou should be on TV! You really look the part and you're brilliant at it! x

[@jimjim661]

I didn't have a wee flap to collect rain water. I had a leak into the front lounge area. It's a brilliant van but by God they need to look at the quality of the build. I had an original basecamp. I wasn't expecting anything to go wrong with it being brand new. But it did. One day we came back to find the sky light window hanging off. Used sightly broader screws and no more nails to reattach. I hope this van doesn't have any problems.

[@kwrenvideo6654]

Great to see a gas-free caravan and I welcome the compressor fridge plus air con unit.

[@NotAnotherWhiteBox]

I don't think the fridge is a compressor one in this concept; that would be the best solution though! Sadly, they're prohibitively expensive at the moment.

[@tonks1968]

Great review Cameron and really applaud Swift’s effort and the general concept. I love the blue colouring, very cool. Like you, I’m not quite there with giving up my gas although I generally use electric when camping.

[@NotAnotherWhiteBox]

Thank you! Yes I applaud Swift for taking a step in the right direction with this one. As I said in some of the other comments, I think the investment in the future needs to be in the appliances themselves too to make them run more efficiently.

[@LeicesterMike]

Looks great and remember an EV with V2L could charge the caravan battery.

[@NotAnotherWhiteBox]

Absolutely, though I appreciate that caravans need to be independent of the car to help preserve the range of an EV.

[@LeicesterMike]

@@NotAnotherWhiteBox Yes it is a good idea as with any vehicle not to tow the caravan when it's unnecessary! But if you were off grid it would be easy to replenish the caravan battery from the car battery.

[@waynecartwright7276]

We were looking at the Basecamp 3 to replace our Discovery D4 , we dont use gas and tow with an Ioniq 5 so can power it from the car. Gas free would be great.

[@67er_matze97]

this is exactly what I have been waiting for. Kudus Swift for doing this! I think I will be your costomer if you decide to release this :) Great presentation too !

[@Bradtheone]

Great well presented review Cameron. Truly exciting stuff from Swift. I’d pay extra for this kind of tech in a van.

[@NotAnotherWhiteBox]

Thanks for the kind words Brad. I think caravanners need to accept that they need to put their hands in their pockets for this kind of tech, though I think there's still a lot of innovation that needs to happen. Caravan heaters, fridges and water heating systems are fundamentally the same design principals that they've always been since the 1960s. We hooked up a caravan to a smart meter and couldn't fathom just how inefficient it was on electric. Solve that issue, and this concept could really work.

[@andrewjones-productions]

Regardless of the ecological aspects to this concept, an all electric caravan is the perfect fit for an environment like Japan where getting any kind of gas bottle for your motorhome/caravan is nigh on impossible and boarding ferries with a gas bottle is forbidden. It is also good to see an aircon fitted and useable off of the battery. Our summers are extremely hot and very, very humid. An aircon is not a luxury, but a must have item. It wasn't mentioned in this concept, but caravan manufacturers (& motorhomes) are lacking in innovation is preparing their caravans for the use of portable electric units or 'solar generators' as they seem to be called these days. For goodness sake, where is the 'external hook-up' on the interior of these vehicles to connect a solar generator. It has to be on the inside to a) prevent theft and b) to keep the unit warm in colder weather to prevent battery loss. Worse than that, they need to find a space to put one. The only company that I know of thus far to have thought about this is Knaus on their new Yaseo lineup. There should also be a hook-up point for solar blankets that people are also likely to have if they have a solar generator. Well done Swift for developing this concept. It needs a bit of tweaking, but good so far. Just add a hook-up point to a solar generator so that owners can add to the battery capacity as I can guarantee you, that the batteries onboard are NOT enough to sustain the air conditioning for a weekend off-grid as well as heating hot water and using the cooker and keeping the fridge going.

[@stephenallman2777]

This has to be the future. I would really like to see a caravan that can help to charge the tow vehicle battery as it travels so towing becomes an asset rather than a liability.

[@MatthewNeilson]

I have an Eriba Troll and we rarely use gas so would be really interested in upgrading our Eriba to be electric only. Reckon there could be a market for full electric retrofits.

[@charlottebassett7971]

Love it. Hope it comes to the USA soon.

[@michaelcorcoran2781]

Great Cameron, 😊

[@SmokyMountainBlessed]

it's very nice, they need to bring them to America

[@74missey]

very nice, the collecting rain water for loo is genius, i like it but…. it’s missing a tv

[@someoneelse7629]

As I plan to convert a Van, and the regulations around installing gas here is really strict, I plan to build gas free, and since I am building it for myself (single person) I know really well my energy needs, I need a small chest-fridge, a single induction cooktop that will see little use, and my small coffemaker. Solar panels will be mounted on a tiltable roofrack, and cover the entire roof, including all the vents when folded down for driving. Heating is absolute unrealistic to do electric off grid, so either no heat or a diesel heater (I have done a lot of camping without heat) and finally, I can eat something that does not need cooking or is cooked on a fire outside if I have a week with little sun

[@lisaduffy5853]

I really like this

[@andrewjohnston1963]

Why are they waiting?!! BaseCamp with no gas and with air con is a no brainer! I’m looking at buying a BaseCamp and will wait for this to come to market as electric hook up with air con means I can confidently head south in Europe which I can’t do with current BaseCamp..

[@cmacmenow]

Fab review. Will be interested to see price and specs.

[@promo-bandscustomprintedsi4639]

Question: the leaves that are caught by the rainwater collection filter, can you remove them afterwards and use them as toilet paper? In my mind, that is the ultimate eco-friendly toilet setup.

[@camptube7621]

Love the base camp range. But no gas is a deal breaker. I don’t use hook ups.

[@lisahodges8299]

No folding ones? Like the Esterelle? Birdy

[@bharatpublicmanch1974]

Its great product coneceptulaised by SWIFT........I would like to be first buyer from INDIA. All depends upon price and if price is affordable then it can change the Caravan Industry by becoming best selling product. Since we dont have Caravans in INDIA so if SWIFT plans to expand to Asia specially to INDIA then i would like to be partner to take lead..........

[@robbeard6929]

How many Co2 emissions has it cost to make it compared to a standard Base Camp?

[@douglasbannister9517]

Why not include these eco designs in to your existing model ranges ie keep gas for heating and hot water if needed but incorporate solar and rain collection as standard 🤔

[@NotAnotherWhiteBox]

I think the point is that these are new technologies that are being trialed on the Basecamp Evo, and they’ll filer into the rest of the range over time if they’re successful.

[@Mattlawton-ft6ew]

You are absolutely brilliant at this.

[@muteposting]

EVO seems to be to go to name for all electric. IIRC, EVO was the name Bailey chose for the all-electric Orion(?)

[@NotAnotherWhiteBox]

Yes you'd be right, it was called the Bailey Pursuit Evo-4 and strangely wasn't very successful.

[@joesoy9185]

Some good innovative features, Cameron. However, I think the rain water flush system is a complete waste of time, money and weight. The weekend (I suppose two nights) off-grid capability is very vague and doesn´t say whether cooking, water heating for showers, washing up etc are included in the battery consumption. As a backup, a Campingaz Bistro 2 stove would be a good idea. Regarding the price, my guess is not far off 30K.

[@NotAnotherWhiteBox]

I can't see that the rainwater system would add much in the way of weight versus a normal flush tank. The downside as I saw it was losing space in the front locker for the tank. I think you can add a bit onto that price guesstimate...! It does seem that manufacturers default to "all electric", whereas I don't think the technology is there yet to leave gas well alone completely. Caravan heaters, fridges and water heating systems are fundamentally the same design principals that they've always been since the 1960s. We hooked up a caravan to a smart meter and couldn't fathom just how inefficient it was on electric. Solve that issue, and this concept could really work.

[@louisehollyhead6807]

What happens when we have a heatwave and it doesn't rain? And how do you add your toilet flush fluid to the toilet flush? (We use the green eco friendly fluid)

[@iannorton2253]

Many comments I've read from Basecamp owners say the build quality is poor and there's always bits falling off.

[@NotAnotherWhiteBox]

I agree… we went to the NEC in October 2022 to buy one when the new BC3 came out. I decided to wait it out, and lo and behold, the first batch through after the show all seemed to have a water ingress issue around the front window. The fact that the BC Owners Group play “splashback roulette” to see who’s is going to explode after each trip is also quite worrying, considering that it’s been a known defect since 2016 and Swift haven’t changed that design detail. Great concept, great design, but the build and aftersales service seems to leave a little to be desired to put it mildly.

[@SISU889]

Love these practical , lightweight basic vans , but £23,000 + for one Geez !

[@mickdeane1542]

23000 live for free

[@SISU889]

@@mickdeane1542 Lol , what planet are you on ? NOTHING is free these days.....

[@mickdeane1542]

Hi lived in a citroen berlingo van 8 years airfryer compressor fridge induction hob and 1000w kettle 100 w solar just bought ecoflow delta 2 max and ecoflow alternator charger charges at 800 watts when I'm driving live for free no poll tax electric gas the list goes on mortgage bought my home in 2004 rent it out cannot afford to live in it thanks mick ever I lay my hat that's my home

[@mickdeane1542]

@@SISU889 tea tonight 11 chicken wings m and s £1.65 free energy in the airfyer salt and pepper 20 minutes lovely

[@marklittler784]

Suppose all electric it's less likely to blow up but they have lighter plastic bottles for LPG than the calor gas cannisters

[@NotAnotherWhiteBox]

This is true, but reducing dependency on fossil fuel is always a good thing! 😊

[@louisehollyhead6807]

​@NotAnotherWhiteBox and how are power stations fuelled in UK? Still a lot of gas. Plus how are batteries made? Electric isn't as ecologically sound as it needs to be yet!

[@marklittler784]

@@louisehollyhead6807 It was efficient years ago when they run trolley buses using overhead power with no need for batteries to be carried around.

[@Davebsuk]

Should keep at least 1 gas bottle too for when it’s needed. Same reason that hybrid cars are better than EV’s. Why is it always either or?

[@pavlo-zk9fb]

27450 €$ ???????

[@althekaworks6737]

... IS NOT INNOVATIVE BUT DECORATIVE OF THE OLD BOX ...

[@michelpichon8681]

Manque le porte velo

[@sparkmeister4706]

Induction. Give over. Your lying

[@randolphjones4814]

It's to small for anyone I wouldnt waste my money on this

[@robmcintosh725]

must be an ignorant american comment, the destroyers of the planet