GoRV - Digital Magazine Issue #93 | Page 10

At the rear , however , Harvok was unable to have a complete onepiece panel . Essentially , the internal furniture is built outside of the van , which means that to get it inside , a section of the rear has to be left open . When the interior is finished , an aluminium panel is fitted and then neatly sealed with black silastic . All other joins , however , have been robotically welded , while a honeycomb system is used for the flooring . Aside from the marine ply used for the interior , no timber is used in the construction of this van . Of course , the major benefit of the monocoque construction is that eliminates the possibility of water ingress .
There are very few vans of this nature available on the Australian market . There have been attempts over the years to create monocoque fibreglass rigs , with some success , but this is the first robotically-welded aluminium construction I ’ ve seen . It ’ s certainly a solid van , too , conveying a sense of strength and purpose .
But it has another point of difference : a 48V electrical system , rather than a 12V system such as what you ’ d find on virtually every other van in the country . It is made up of a 10kWh 48V lithium battery . It ’ s important to understand what this means , since we caravanners tend to think in 12V terms . A 48V system offers four times the efficiency of a 12V system , give or take . Every time the voltage is doubled , the amp draw is halved . So while a 10kWh battery is nominally about 208Ah , it provides much greater efficiency .
10 \