Our internal test drives have been completed and our first Supporters of the crowdfunding campaign have already been able to experience their first camping adventures with E-Luise. E-Luise is now officially ready for rental.

Is Project E-Luise now complete?

Not quite. "You're never finished" - as the saying goes. This also applies to the E-Luise. The conversion and electrification of the E-Luise is a prototype development and there is always room for improvement. So it is already clear that the E-Luise will be back in the Voldrive workshop over the winter to continue tinkering with ideas and improvements.

But as things stand at the moment, E-Luise is definitely ready and fully operational. So you can enjoy the full pleasure of cruising through the countryside in an old VW T3 campervan, electrically and almost silently. There are, of course, a few things to consider, but that's always part and parcel of classic cars.

The interior conversion into a fully-fledged campervan has also been completed:

Equipment of the E-Luise

The E-Luise is equipped with everything you need to enjoy a cosy camping trip in the great outdoors:

• A kitchen with induction hob, dishwasher with running water and a fridge that even has a small freezer compartment.
• Crockery, cutlery and everything else you need for cooking and eating.
• A bench seat with optional table for cosy lounging or eating in the camper.
• Two beds: one in the lower area, where the bench seat can be folded down to form a bed, and one in the roof when it is set up. Both beds measure approx. 120x180cm
• Storage space for personal items
• Camping chair and camping table for outdoors
• USB and 230-volt sockets to operate or charge all electronic devices
• Light for indoors and outdoors
• We can also provide a dry separation toilet from the company KoMaland on request

And how does the E-Luise ride?

After Leonard from our team had completed his first test drive, his first words were: "Well, all I can say is that when I rolled along the country road in the E-Luise for the first time, I couldn't stop smiling."

So it is definitely a great feeling to be travelling electrically with the E-Luise. The driving experience is also very pleasant thanks to the good centre of gravity on the road (the batteries are located under the body) and the retrofitted power steering.

Leonard is happy to share a few more facts about driving the electric camper:

Acceleration and (travelling) speed

In terms of acceleration, I would say: a lot at the bottom, but less at the top and on hills. The E-Luise with its new electric motor has relatively good acceleration at low speeds. However, at higher speeds and especially on hills, acceleration decreases significantly. So not much has changed compared to the original motor.

In addition, the conversion and the camping conversion have made the E-Luise quite heavy (2.2 tonnes unladen weight), which is of course very noticeable on hills. On flat roads, however, the E-Luise is very pleasant to drive and the acceleration is more than sufficient to keep up with modern traffic. The top speed is limited to 110 km/h, although we do not recommend travelling that "fast" with the E-Luise.

On the one hand, the aerodynamics of a T3 are unfortunately very poor, which is particularly noticeable at higher speeds (and fuel consumption increases dramatically as a result), and on the other hand, you don't want to have an accident with a VW T3 in general, but especially at higher speeds (unfortunately we can't retrofit modern safety equipment).

So the motto for a ride with E-Luise is: take your time, ride comfortably and enjoy the peace and quiet and nature around you. This also brings another advantage: more range!

Reach

In general, the E-Luise has a range of more than 300 kilometres. However, we only achieve this in urban traffic, which is of course not what the E-Luise is primarily used for now. My test drives have resulted in the following ranges:

• With a very leisurely driving style (around 70 km/h) on country roads, the E-Luise can cover around 250 kilometres.
• From 80 km/h the fuel consumption then unfortunately rises very sharply (this is due to the poor aerodynamics), although at this cruising speed a range of approx. 200 kilometres is still possible.
• Anything above this has a very strong negative impact on the range. So depending on how far you want to drive in a day, you should adjust your driving style accordingly.

Loading speed

As far as charging speed is concerned, the current version has a maximum charging capacity of 7.5 kWh (we will be working on increasing this to 20 kWh over the winter). This means that you can charge up to 100 kilometres of range in three hours at public charging stations or on high voltage current (e.g. when staying overnight on a farm).

It takes around 10 hours to recharge a range of 100 kilometres at a normal socket, which usually provides around 2 kW. So as long as there is a socket nearby (which is the case on many farms), you always have the option of charging the batteries during the day and especially overnight.

Rent the E-Luise for your camping trip now!

You can currently find the VW T3 E-Luise electric camper via the platform PaulCamper.at to rent. This means that both you as the renter and the E-Luise are fully insured and protected during the rental period. You can find all the details and booking options directly via the following link: