Remember eBussy? The German start-up created van? Well now it’s called the Xbus, probably because eBussy is, let’s just say an awkward name. Name aside, and besides it being absolutely darling, the little electric van had, and has, a very cool trick up its sleeve—modularity. The vehicle rides around on an chassis powered by an electric motor that can be a van, a box truck, a flat-bed truck, maybe even a cabover, if we’re not mistaken.
And now, a year after announcing what they were up to, ElectricBrands, the company behind the Xbus has revealed its camper prototype. All-wheel-drive, small footprint, and electric. We dig.
There’s a pop-top above the kitchen area for full-on standing. Wings that unfold to add more counter space. The sleeping area can pull out a bit from the main cab to add length. There’s solar on the roof to extend battery life. Oh — and as for the battery, there is a kind of battery tray so you can swap out a depleted battery for a fresh one. This is an interesting feature that, if widely adopted by automakers and with a whole bunch of logistical kinks worked out, could solve lots of issues with range anxiety and recharging. Pull up to a battery station, change out batteries, off you go. Probably fanciful future things, but fin to think about. For now, however, this little van can get up to 370 miles on a charge with the biggest available battery, says ElectricBrands.
Of course, it’s merely a prototype. You can reserve one in Europe at the moment, but not in the USA, though the company is planning to make it available here too at some point. Price is listed at about $33k for the off-road chassis version of this thing, which at this point is dirt cheap.
Please bring this here. Please.
Please bring this to the US, I would reserve this today if it were available here.
Me too!
Me Three!
Looks rad. First obvious issue is hauling stuff on the roof–doubt you can put screws through those PV panels for crossbar mounting.
But just picking nits. I dig it and hope it makes it to production and distribution in some form.
First heard about “battery swapping” at the Electric Vehicle Symposium in Brussels circa ‘97/‘98. With the fact that there isn’t even a commonly accepted plug it’s most likely that pack swapping will remain a dream.
I’ve always thought pack swapping was the way to go. Just as Justin described in the article, gas stations become battery swap stations. BUT, it would require all manufacturers to agree on a standard battery configuration system and that is about as realistic as the government addressing climate change in any meaningful way.
Love it!
I can’t belive there is not already something like this available in the US. I really like the solar on the roof. Seems like every EV should have this.
Put my reservation in!
It looks cute, I’ll give it that. Not sure about everything else. Looks too tiny to be a viable camper. Battery swapping (China already has that system) is a gimmick that can only be achieved in a single locale for taxis and rideshares, not for go anywhere vehicles.
Wouldn’t an adapter work just fine for swapping batteries? I run a portable dewalt air compressor with my makita power tool’s battery–works fine.
However, having used that as an example, I freely admit that other than running an on/off switch, I know almost nothing about electricity and batteries.
I bet the slave laborers in China and Africa who are beaten and abused digging rare metals necessary for vehicular batteries are just thrilled they can contribute to this cute little camper too. Not to mention the electricity sourced from the filthiest of fossil fuels (that would be coal for those of you who can’t think beyond your charging station) to run the cute little camper. Well done greens.
Normally I’d delete this because it’s just obvious negative trolling for the sake of being negative, but you have a lot to learn about 1) the energy grid and which states burn coal and which don’t and 2) the emissions footprint of driving an EV over gas even if dirty sources like coal are included.
Justin – my (limited) understanding is that EVs do much better than conventional cars when you analyze from point of purchase, but the environmental impacts of production are significantly higher, and they also ignore the battery replacement that must happen after ~10 years of use. Am I substantively wrong about this?
Most studies I’m aware of show that even including manufacturing, EV cars over their lifetime produce roughly half the greenhouse gas emissions of a gas car. Some of those stats are shown here: https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/electric-vehicle-myths
There’s tons of research happening on this right now, and the answer, seemingly as always, is that “it’s complicated.” There’s a direct connection between the weight of the vehicle and lifetime GHG emissions, and EVs tend to be heavier. (The Hummer EV is 9,000 lbs) And yes, end of life battery use is also an issue, though some manufacturers (Rivian) have plans to repurpose those batteries for lower-intensity needs. All that said, a recent study by Ford shows EVs have 64% lower emissions over their lives than ICE.
What I’m not hearing—at all—is the positive impact of EV drivers shifting away from fossil fuel products. EV drivers don’t buy gas or oil. Setting aside climate considerations, the hunger for oil has led the US into wars, entangled it with dictators and murderers, and further enriches fossil fuel barons who use their fortunes to get what they want from government. The oil ecosystem is as dirty and amoral as it gets, and while any vehicles come with impacts, reducing the funds that flow toward the fossil fuel industry is a good thing.
Understood Justin, I appreciate the leeway. I didn’t really think it would be posted, just needed to share my thoughts. It is rather annoying though when all this fuss is made about EVs and yet the greens turn a blind eye to the realities behind where and how these vehicles are made and powered. Trolling? Perhaps, although not intended, and certainly not ‘just for the sake of it’. Just calling it like I see it.
Admittedly I am not a grid expert. However 1) Does it matter which states burn coal and which don’t? All those CO2/GHG pollutants circulate freely in the atmosphere once there; not sure they observe state or international boundaries…
2) Not really concerned about ’emissions footprints’ per se. I just find it amusing that so much ‘virtue’ is made of EVs that are powered by coal and batteries sourced in the worst possible way. But you have encouraged me to do a bit of grid research.
I’ll take one today. Would be perfect for errand runs to town and all around the county. Unless I get on the interstate at the edge of town, all the roads I regularly drive are 45 mph. I rarely use the interstate if I can help it. Small town life.
I looked it up and it is similar in size to the VW vans of the 1960s and 1970s. The wheelbase is shorter which is great around town. Might not be very directionally stable at interstate speeds which it can’t achieve anyhow.
The doublecab configuration would make the most sense for our needs. Extra points if that little cargo bed is big enough for one wooden pallet. So many of the things I bring home are that size – car engines, transmissions, furniture, a set of tires/wheels, haul a couple of bicycles, minor hardware store materials.
I don’t need a traditional American sized hulking truck that is 20 feet long and weights 8000 lbs. I just need the ability to bring home ~750 lbs of stuff at a time (or less) for a project.
Anything larger I could stick in my Brenderup 1205S trailer which has been faithfully helping us with our projects for more than a decade now. Basically a light duty 4×8 trailer that weighs 400 lbs and can carry ~750 lbs. If the projects are any larger, I pay for delivery or rent a bigger trailer.
Naturally the US gov’t will tell me I can buy a motorcycle, preferably a Harley, and even ride it in some states without a helmet but I can’t import an XBus and license it for my own good. I could buy a sexy kit car and build that and put a 450 HP engine in it but I can’t import something like an XBus b/c safety. I can buy a 1925 Ford Model T and drive it anywhere I want – including apparently the interstate if it can achieve 45 MPH (minimum speed limit) but the XBus is not available for sale in the USA, the “Land of the Free”.
XBus, sell me one of these buses for about $23K like you’ve estimated the MSRP would be. I don’t need a dealer “experience” and I would consider buying it as a complete kit if the price reflected the amount of effort I’d need to make to assemble it. Naturally my gov’t will likely slap this vehicle with a “Chicken Tax” so we’ll need to do something creative like all the other car makers do when they import trucks and vans from Germany. Another problem is VW would probably fire up their lawyers just like Jeep did when Mahindra first imported the Roxxor off-roader. A local man has one of those too. Legally. Nice runabout for the purposes I would use the XBus for.