Airstream’s clearly been spying on me because the just announced Airstream Rangeline Class B van-based RV is exactly the vehicle I’ve wanted them to build and they even made it for a reasonable price. Is this the best RV you can buy? Maybe!
There’s no best camper or RV for everyone because everyone has different needs. A giant Class A diesel pusher isn’t a great choice for a young couple who wants to #vanlife at national parks in the same way that a family of eight probably isn’t going to be comfortable in a Toyota Townace. What the Rangeline gets right, at least for me, is combining the best of what the Airstream Interstate offers in a package that works better for people with families.
Let’s start with what it is: A Ram ProMaster 3500 van converted into an RV with a fold-out bed in the rear and an optional camper top. This is a 21-footer with Ram’s 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 upfront producing a reasonable 276 horsepower. The transmission is the Ram’s TorqueFlite nine-speed automatic and power is put down only through the front wheels.
There are plenty of ProMaster-based RVs, but none of them are Airstreams and that’s important. The Mercedes Sprinter-based Airstreams are extremely nice with a fit-and-finish that’s more luxury yacht than manufactured home. I’ve always found the soft-closing drawers and locking cabinets to feel better than anything from any of their competition. Airstream is the brand it is because it gets the details right.
There are three problems with the Sprinter-based Airstreams if you are not a wealthy retired couple:
- The Mercedes platform is RWD or AWD only
- No matter how much you pay for one, even the biggest XL version only sleeps two people
- They’re expensive
The new Rangeline solves all of these problems, with varying degrees of success.
Because the ProMaster is front-wheel drive it means there’s no pesky driveshaft getting in your way, which allows for a low floor and a big open space for designers to go to work.
The interior layout of the Rangeline is ideal for a family with 1-2 kids. Combining what works with modified #vanlife rigs and what they’ve learned from building touring coaches, Airstream’s added a two-seat bench behind the driver and passenger with a shower/bathroom combo on one side and a galley on the other. This isn’t impossible with a Mercedes Sprinter (The Roadtrek CS Adventurous sort of does this) but it’s easier with a ProMaster. For reference, the Hymer Aktiv also offered a similar setup, but Hymer is no longer in the United States.
If you’ve got a small child you could get away with the non-pop up tent version for a while, but eventually that kid’s gonna grow so for an extra $11,694 it seems like a no-brainer and makes it more capable than any of the Interstates.
An RV that sleeps four people? Heresy!
There are a bunch of smart features here as well. The Rangeline doesn’t use a propane tank so if you’re away from shore power there’s a 2.8 kW generator that draws fuel from the van’s gas tank. There’s also a 270 Ah lithium battery bank with a 2,000-watt power inverter. No propane means no propane stove and instead an induction stovetop. The kitchen also features the standard microwave and small fridge/freezer. The availability of cheaper lithium batteries, I think, will start to make propane less of a necessity for RVs. At least I hope.
So what about heating up water or the van itself? Yet again, a smart solution: A hydronic heating system pumps hot water through the interior or into the shower/sink on demand and also uses the vehicle’s gas tank.
As an added bonus, the water hookup is concealed behind an external panel and the water/sewer hookups are hidden underneath the vehicle. To make the van even stealthier, the company’s painted the grille black.
And what does all this wonderfulness cost?
A base Airstream Ridgeline costs $131,882 with a shipping rate of $2,500 and a freight surcharge of $200. Wit the pop-top it’s $146,276 before taxes. This is a lot of money but a relatively good deal.
The shorter Airstream Interstate 19 only sleeps two and costs $200,681! A similarly equipped Winnebago Solis is $151,488 and I’m not sure if it’s as nice (though I need to drive one). A used Hymker Aktiv 2.0 can be had for a little over $100,000 if you’re looking for a deal, but I don’t think it’ll be as nice inside as the Airstream or as fully featured.
The only way this doesn’t feel like a value is when you consider that, in Europe, Hymer (which shares a parent company with Airstream) offers the shorter Hymer Free van for $61,450 before taxes and it has a similar layout. Feel free to move to Frankfurt to enjoy the savings.
Overall, though, this is perfectly in the sweet spot of what I want out of an RV and I’m just gonna have to go donate some blood or something to make room for it.
If this seems too price-y for you, VanLab has a way to DIY your own van and it starts under $5,000.
ITT: “This isn’t good for me so it’s bad for everyone”
JFC am I at the other site?
These are not purchased with the same kind of terms as vehicles. You can find RV loans offering 15+ year terms.
People shopping for these are not considering this a vehicle purchase. It is considered a vacation home. It serves most of its function when stationary, it just has the ability to move to that parking spot under its own power.
One thing to remember with these smaller units. The Cargo Carrying Capacity is about 600 to 800 lbs on a good day. The passengers, water tanks, and waste tanks all count a cargo.
This means you can carry 1 to 3 people and your favorite tissue box (half full).
In addition, this is not alot of room inside. It works as a mobile tent if you spend your time outdoors. Try to spend weeks with 2 or 3 people and someone is getting thrown out the door.
If you have the right lifestyle, as mentioned in the article, then these are not bad. Just not how I would do it.
Provided I had the funds, I would put that towards a Class C or Smaller Class A. I like room to move in my mobile vacation home.
Check out the Leisure Travel Vans. Built on a Sprinter or Transit chassis, with actual living space and a real shower. Prices start at $150k with a LOT more content than a van conversion.
Don’t overlook that $150K will get Kurt Cobain’s ghost to appear over your bunk at night to mess with the A/C controls.
(Your celebrity haunting may vary. Offer not valid in AK, HI, and P.R.)
I find it interesting how so many people assume that the Sprinter must be a comfortable luxurious vehicle just because it’s a Mercedes, obviously these people have either never driven one, or else never driven another van to compare it to. For example the ProMaster /Fiat/Citroen/Peugeot van is so much nicer to drive in every way: it rides a lot better yet still feels more stable, it’s less noisy even with the 4 banger diesel, and the interior is more car-like and less utilitarian than the Mercedes. And this was true for previous generations of these vehicles as well. Yet every single time these two are mentioned in an article or video, it is implied that the Mercedes is naturally a much better choice, just more expensive. Well I’ve done 10’000s of miles in both of them, and it really is the other way around.
I didn’t even know that there is a word for a heating system that pumps hot water through radiators to heat living spaces. This what we in Germany simply call “central heating”. Every conventional heating system I know works exactly like that.
I was expecting to see a heat-exchange scavenging heat from engine coolant. But, hot water tanks weigh a LOT and take up space.
OTOH, on-demand heating takes a massive amount of power, and I question capacity given the lack of energy-dense propane. It’s academic to me: even if I somehow won a lottery I don’t buy tickets to, I’d more likely convert an old Unimog than buy this
Hydronic heating circulates the ‘water’ through tubing mounted under the flooring instead of radiators.
Since this is a vehicle that will be sold where temperatures drop below freezing, I would have assumed the fluid for the hydronic heating system would be some sort of anti-freeze unsuitable for drinking. There must be a heat exchanger to use the heating fluid to warm potable water for general use.
I get the fact that corporations are exploiting the pandemic and “supply chain issues” to turn around the standard profit model (efficiency, mass production, broad demand -to- specialized production, artificial shortages, narrowing high profit sales to elites). But when journalists for what’s basically a middle class wrenching blog start pushing products that no one can or should afford, we’ve come almost all the way down a path toward ruination and civil disturbance.
😉
Easily the best way to deal with the electrical power thing (a separate generator?) is a hybrid powertrain. We power all the important stuff in our house from our Prius or Rav4 hybrid when PG&E kills our power. A vehicle of this size as a hybrid would be an ideal camper base. Everything for power is already there. And as much as I like cooking on a propane stove, it seems like this one figured it out. Well, other than having to add a second gas powered motor just for electricity.
Today Autopians learned that high-quality RVs are expensive. Have you guys NEVER seen an Airstream price tag before?!!? No need to go after the writer, jeez…
Not to pile on, but it was premised as nearly affordable. I just pulled up wikipedia’s US median household income article, which list two surveys reporting ~$62k in 2018. There’s no reasonable way to argue any piece of kit -however nice or relatively cheap – that costs more than double median household income is affordable.
I can conceptualize things in relative terms. When the term “affordable” is used in this category, the ending phrase “…for an RV” is automatically implied. At least it is for me, and like I said, I’m poor.
It’s like when a Falcon 9 rocket launch is called “inexpensive”. Of course it isn’t inexpensive for you and me, but it is for the people who regularly buy launch services.
Affordable is relative, spending cheap house money on a camper van doesn’t feel affordable. Spending $25-30,000 on a trailer to hook up to my old but paid for truck is affordable and spending a few hundred a year to rent off RV Share is even more affordable.
Perhaps I’m confused by what “should” be considered affordable these days. I think I’m in the dark here since my wife and I both work, have 2 kids and a house and a camper we would consider would be around $5-10,000. In fact, we bought a Eurovan and a roof tent (in 2009, before they were cool) and toured 23 states with our boys. That setup was $5k. There is no way I’d spend the equivalent of our combined incomes for a camping/glamping toy. So that makes me think that either we are making all too safe life choices, or we are just working class and will never afford nice new things.
It’s just that you’re not an idiot.
This is what a “reasonably affordable” house should cost, not a glorified camper-van. If you think otherwise you are fortunate to live in a fantasy world where the other 97% of humanity doesn’t exist.
I think it’s funny they didn’t call it way too fucking expensive, when that’s what it is. Way too fuuuuuuccccckkkkkking expensive!!!!! But what do I know, I’m just a lower end working class american. Like most people in the world, I’m fed up with shit that I used to dream of having, end up being so ungodly expensive that my dreams have been abandoned for tiddly winks and distraught traffic cones. Rise against the status quo!
I think it’s funny they didn’t call it way too fucking expensive, when that’s what it is. Way too fuuuuuuccccckkkkkking expensive!!!!! But what do I know, I’m just a lower end working class american. Like most people in the world, I’m fed up with shit that I used to dream of having, end up being so ungodly expensive that my dreams have been abandoned for tiddly winks and distraught traffic cones.
It looks nice, and the Van based RV’s sound great, but they don’t work well for me in practice. I usually need a car when camping to visit nearby sites or run to a store, etc. It takes work to break down camp and set up again. We have a 15 year old 23′ Airstream and a very nice truck and the combo was significantly less than this van. I can daily-drive the truck and when camping I can leave the camper behind to go on day excursions or errands without breaking camp. I can sleep 4 and have a dry bath. It would be hard to convince me to go to a van over a pull behind camper.
Dodge – I would never own one and this one is really a Fiat. roflmao
FWD – You can’t be fucking serious? An adventure van with front wheel drive is worthless.
Count me as part of the chorus of people saying that this is not even remotely affordable to practically anyone. I actually feel offended by the suggestion that this motorhome is a reasonably-priced anything, other than an actual home that you can get a real mortgage on, and which will generally gain value over time. This is a luxury vehicle, and an expensive luxury vehicle at that. Almost nobody could ever even dream of paying that much for their daily driver, nevermind a toy that will probably get used a handful of times ever and which will depreciate like raw fish. I don’t know who this article was supposed to be for, but it feels deeply, deeply out of touch.
It’s all relative. This is a terrible deal in Europe, but based on prevailing RV prices in the United States it’s a pretty good value.
As long as it has a kitchen, bed, and a bathroom, your motorhome can have a real mortgage too, with tax-deductible interest and everything.
Here is the problem – You have to take out a huge loan on a Ram Promaster – easily the worst commercial van in the current crop. I don’t know anyone that is running these as a fleet or personal vehicle that hasn’t had problems. Ram Promaster = Fiat Ducato = Hell nay.
I worked for a company that replaced its two Sprinters with ProBastards (that’s what I call them). Even brand new with nothing broken yet, I loathed them. The lousy “manumatic” transmission remained on an endless search for the proper gear, and not even shifting manually would help it find the right one. The driving experience was like an oversized electric golf cart with a weak charge. And that’s before the rear door mechanism went out after less than two months of use. You know, functioning rear doors are somewhat important on a delivery van.
Having driven both the Sprinter and the ProBastard: if you own the former and are thinking of replacing it with the latter, I recommend spending the money on a concours restoration of the Sprinter instead. I am not joking. Fuck the ProBastard right in its cheap Italian asshole.
Anyone know why the bumper/grille treatment on the Promaster looks so much worse than the Fiat version? The Ducato front end is downright stylish.
Wondering if the huge jutting Ram underbite had to be done to fit the corporate V6 into the nose of these.
I believe it was a combination of the V6 and heavier-duty suspension pieces that are used on the North American version. However, the 2023 update is finally bringing the ProMaster in line with the Ducato in terms of styling, as well as way more interior features. In fact it’s so much better that any Airstream customer should wait until the Rangeline moves to the new ProMaster.
I was definitely expecting under $100k. Otherwise, there is no way to justify this unless you are a well-off retiree and are going to spend a couple of years #vanlifing.
I can make a decent used Sprinter into exactly the custom camper van I want it to be for way, way less than six figures.
Holy s**t, $131,882!??
In Europe you can easily get a Sunlight Cliff, which is basically the same van (a FIAT Ducato), with the same interior layout, and a diesel engine that manages between 34 and 26 mpg, for just under $60.000.
If you fancy your #vanlife in the wild, French outfit Dangel will fit your FIAT Ducato, or its sisters from Peugeot and Citroen, with 4WD, a rear locking differential and lifted suspension, all while keeping the flat floor.
Oh, and you can get a pop-up roof with bed installed for anything between $3000 to $6000. $11,694 sounds like a no-go extra, rather than a no-brainer one.
The quality, affordability and abundance of European vans is something I feel deeply and I need to experience more of them before I can pass judgment, but I will say the Airstreams tend to be much nicer than the average European caravan. Also, the starting price on the smaller VW Grand California caravan thing (which is more comparable) is already at $100k, and I think that we’re in a closer range.
I’d rent the shit out of one of these.
Would I buy one? Ha ha ha, no. I have a kid to put through college and a roof on my house that is looking suspicious AF as it ages.
Sounds like you need a good hailstorm, or maybe just some neighbor kid with a paintball gun and some marbles.
I disagree with quite a lot of this.
Firstly $131K+ is way too much.
Secondly Poptops suck.
Honestly the best Motor Home is a cargo van with a built in sink, toilet, and shower or toilet/shower and sink. It’s a cargo van the overwhelming majority of the time and when you need an RV you throw in your mattresses, cots, hammocks, induction cooktop, etc. Honestly the best RVs I’ve ever used were either factory converted into a cargo van (GMC Motorhome TransMode) or converted from a motorhome to a cargo van (VW Eurovan).
Really the only things interior wise I want out of a RV is seating for 3, a 6ft long space so I can sleep there, and a bathroom. If I don’t need a bathroom I can get a cheap van, pickup with camper top, etc. and just camp out of it.
“The only way this doesn’t feel like a value is when you consider that [you can buy a high trim HD truck and a nice 5th wheel for the same money]”
You really gotta be committed to a small footprint to drop $150,000 on this.
Think about it this way: It’s only about 40% more expensive than a fully loaded luxury SUV like a Wagoneer or a BMW X7.
Sure, but that isn’t the cross shop.
I can buy a $75K F350 Platinum and a $75K fifth wheel, and still have a truck to use year round when I’m not camping, or I can have a $150K van that’s only good for camping. Like I said, small footprint has to be near the top of your wishlist to find value in this vs. other camping solutions.
I will say this though, I take back my previous comments about this site only fetishizing cheap subcompacts when $150,000 single purpose vans are considered reasonably priced.
We all have our own peculiar fetishes!
I can’t fuck an RV, a camper van, or a pop up trailer.
I’ve not tried, but I’m sure I can’t.
>I can buy a $75K F350 Platinum
where?
Here’s a hint, they aren’t all diesel….
So it’s 40% more expensive than a high-end luxury vehicle that is itself well out of the reach of the middle class? That’s what “reasonably priced” is supposed to mean?
But you can’t poop in the back of a Wagoneer.
Well, I guess technically you can. But you really shouldn’t.
This is actually pretty sweet, but I expected “affordable” to translate to something around 60K. I know it’s tired to make comments about our broken economy, but calling a $150K RV a deal just feels so wrong.
Maybe I am sad because my 401k is in flames and toys like this just twist the knife.
the only bonus is it is a 350 level chassis and should be able to tow a decent trailer if you say wanted to use it in stead of buying another vehicle like say a HD pickup truck.
Not really comparable to a 350 truck except in payload. You still have a V6 and FWD, and towing tops out at 5-6000 lb even without accounting for the added weight of the camping equipment.
https://www.ramtrucks.com/content/dam/fca-brands/na/ramtrucks/en_us/towing/Ram_PM_Trailer_Tow_Weight_Chart_MY20_R1.pdf
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. That’s a lot of dinero. My biggest thing is I want to be able to poop and shower inside, as well as have running A/C. That ticks off a lot of boxes but oy, that’s a bit rich for me. I was thinking around $60ish myself. In all seriousness, is it cheaper just to buy a used commercial van in reasonable shape and then plop down $20-30k to make an equivalent or better class B style RV?