Dethleffs e.home – A Motorhome Covered in 31 m² of Solar Film

Long before solar campers became a trend, the German motorhome maker Dethleffs showed what an all-electric, solar-covered motorhome could look like. The e.home premiered at the Caravan Salon 2017 in Düsseldorf as a concept vehicle.

It is based on the Iveco Daily Electric chassis with a liquid-cooled 80 kW (109 hp) three-phase motor. Its walls and roof are covered with about 31 m² of thin-film solar foil generating up to about 3 kW. The energy goes into a 91 kWh sodium-nickel-chloride battery, a chemistry that can be recycled and lasts about 1,500 cycles, or roughly 250,000 km. Supercapacitors help with peak loads. Range is about 200 km, top speed 80 km/h; a full charge from a household socket takes about 24 hours.

Inside, Dethleffs used phase-change heat storage plates: they absorb heat above 26 °C during the day and release it in the cool evening. A tablet app (CampConnect) controls all systems.

The e.home stayed a show car, and Dethleffs did not publish a price. But it showed the direction many of our members take in smaller form: big solar area, efficient heating and a large battery. See the student-built Stella Vita and the self-built Solarcamper.

Technical data

Sources

• automobile-propre.com: Dethleffs présente un camping-car électro-solaire
• ecomento.de
• Wikipedia (DE): Liste von Solarfahrzeugen