Alpine Cross Cabin Camper - a lot has happened again
- Written by Portal Editor
Of course, our tour of the Caravan Salon also led us back to the stand of the Alpine company, which exhibited twice at the trade fair: first, with its standard products and secondly with the Alpine Cross Cabin Camper, which has always fascinated us since its first presentation in 2023 due to its option of mobile working.
For mobile working on the go - a concept car is being developed
Now well acquainted with each other, the reception at the Alpine stand was very friendly and accommodating. And of course, the first question was what had changed or transformed since the last meeting at the CMT in Stuttgart, which also led to a tour of the vehicle.
We were always particularly interested in the easy adaptation to the respective needs of the mobile home and work vehicle for a good work and Life balance, which was already well done in the first version, but with the limitation that some impractical areas and storage options were built in, which were beautifully designed but not very practical. Many of the variants presented for the first time had already been adapted and implemented in the second version. It was important to us that a permanent workstation was integrated that would not disturb the living area as much as possible during the day, and even allow the living area to be used as a conference zone.
From the very beginning, we really liked the small PC workstation opposite the sliding door, especially since the PC screen can be lowered, thus creating additional storage space for the kitchen.
The omission of any fossil gas operation for devices such as heating, cooking, etc. is also clearly forward-looking.
With the solar and battery concepts used, this should also be possible without any problems, so that shore power can also be almost dispensed with.
A good step for our environment, which has not yet led to a rethink by so many manufacturers.
Enlarged bathroom thanks to compact sliding element
The enlargement of the bathroom using a sliding mechanism that can be moved in front of the entrance side door of the vehicle when in use has also been very successful.
In this way, the bathroom with toilet, shower and washbasin is brought to a comfortable size, which means relaxed use and only reduces the need for entry through the wide sliding door element.
The shower is certainly not important for everyone, as it naturally takes up a lot of space and technology to implement, but for us at least it is very important when used all year round.
It does make a difference whether you "just" want to go on holiday with the vehicle or whether you want to use it for mobile work.
Conference zone turns into a sleeping area
With just a few simple steps, the "conference zone" or the "living area" with the almost sofa-like benches can be converted into a bed.
There are two possibilities, which will probably be limited to one option in the future and which will also be used in other vehicles: by folding down the table to the height of the seats and moving the seat cushions, you get the sleeping area.
In the previous model, full extensions were still mounted on the seats so that they could be moved towards the middle.
Whatever the decisions in the next model variant will look like, this will be presented at the CMT in Stuttgart next year. Work is continuing on detailed solutions.
This also includes the part of the technical part of the cabin shell construction, which is still looking for solutions due to delivery bottlenecks.
In any case, there will be another model variant based on a MAN vehicle at the CMT Stuttgart, which will be around 10 centimetres shorter but will show additional equipment details in an adapted form.
It is also clear that not every customer request can be met, even if small series are built.
The number of requests is simply too large, it always has to be a compromise, or the price is ultimately irrelevant.
We are excited to see what else is to come.
Please read as well:
Cross Cabin Concept Van von Alpine