Tesla Battery + Ram ProMaster = Living Your Best Van Life

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Van life is one of those trendy hashtags that’s easily overlooked these days, but a #vanlife lived outdoors, on the trails, and “away from it all” may be just what the social distancing doctor ordered — and if you’re going to do it, you might as well do it in style. That seems to be the thinking over at upfitting firm Ready.Set.Van., who thinks that Dodge Ram ProMaster + Tesla battery pack seems to be the winning formula to living your best life on the road.

Ram Promaster Van with Tesla Battery
Image by Ready.Set.Van.

The Tesla battery doesn’t actually run the van like an EV in this case. Instead, the Tesla Battery Module’s relatively low weight, high power capacity, and proven durability power everything “else” in the van, from lighting to water pumps to the laptops that are surely along for the ride. It’s a huge packaging advantage, and these guys know it. “Our 840 AH battery system takes up 57% less space and weighs 140 lb less than an equally sized 12V lithium battery system,” they explain. “Sized at 420, 840 or 1260 AH, our system delivers many times more power than any other (RV van builder), standard.” So, it’s not an EV — but that’s fine. I’ve always maintained that the best way to learn to appreciate nature is to go and get out into it, and these Ready.Set.Van. conversions are designed to help you and yours do just that in almost obscene levels of comfort.

Below’s a quick look inside the main living area of a Ready.Set.Van. Basecamp model, built into a 159″ ProMaster van. This is their most basic model, and — well — just look at it and see for yourself …

Basecamp Living Room. Image by Ready.Set.Van.
Basecamp 2 Bike Garage and Outdoor Shower. Image by Ready.Set.Van.

It looks spectacularly high end to my eyes, but maybe I’m just drawn to clean, minimalist designs. Regardless, it doesn’t seem like “high-end chic” is what the Ready.Set.Van. guys were initially going for. “Our love for building adventure homes started with a 38’ school bus we built for Burning Man,” reads the website’s copy, doing a lot to establish these guys as “legit” van life enthusiasts. “We did that — we loved it — and boy did we learn from it. It was an epic eight-month welding, grinding, decking, cabinet-making race to the finish. Big Larry Bus was a wildly ambitious project that pushed us well beyond our known limits, and gave us a love for the journey long before we drove a single mile.”

There are a few different models available to help you get started with the van life of your dreams, with configurations finely tuned for bikers, hikers, and — I’m going to go with “napping enthusiasts” being among them. All of them made possibly thanks to the packaging benefits of Tesla’s high-tech battery packs.

I don’t know about you guys, but I love seeing an unorthodox approach to RV building that helps maximize the base vehicle’s fuel economy through reduced weight, minimize air and noise pollution by eliminating the need for a 12V fossil-powered generator, and lower EV costs by adding to the economies of scale for battery production. Maybe I’m just an optimist, though — what do you guys think? Great use of Tesla battery tech, or just another big van on the road? Head down to the comments and let us know.

Van Life Chic | Down by the River

Source | More Photos: Ready.Set.Van., via Motor 1.


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