Follow this blog:
RSS

Video: A motor home that folds up, fits in your car

By | July 6, 2011, 1:08 AM PDT

For anyone who’s ever wanted to live comfortably on the road, the only option was to buy a motor home. But those giant RVs can be cumbersome in more ways than one — like finding a parking spot, maneuvering through traffic and not to mention fuel costs.

Now a company in Switzerland has created what’s best described as a portable modular living system — the first real alternative that allows drivers to literally live out of their car. It’s called the SwissRoomBox and consists of stack-able modules that contain within it everything you would need for day-to-day survival such as a sink, shower stall, dining table, chairs, refrigerator, bed and yes, a toilet.

Best of all, most of the fold-able units can be collapsed to fit in the trunk of a compact car — although for the complete set, you’d need a minivan.

Setup is convenient and easy. The company says in a press release that the SwissRoomBox can be unpacked and assembled in about fifteen minutes, without any tools. But what makes the system work is the crafty way its designed to make use of the limited resources available found inside cars.

While each appliance is powered through a cord that runs from the car’s battery, a built-in intelligent control system monitors volt usage and automatically shuts off power when the supply of electricity dwindles to 11 volts. That’s the minimum amount of juice a battery needs to start the engine.

Although the mini-motor home system is available for shipment throughout Europe, a U.S. compliant version is still in the works. In the meantime, you can sign up for the waiting list.

For more information check out www.swissroombox.com

(via Press release)

Related Stories:

More innovative inventions on SmartPlanet:

Start your week smarter with our weekly e-mail newsletter. It's your cheat sheet for good ideas. Get it.

Tuan C. Nguyen

About Tuan C. Nguyen

Tuan C. Nguyen was a contributing editor for SmartPlanet from 2011 to 2013.

Tuan C. Nguyen

Tuan C. Nguyen

Contributing Editor

Tuan C. Nguyen is a freelance science journalist based in New York City. He has written for the U.S. News and World Report, Fox News, MSNBC, ABC News, AOL, Yahoo! News and LiveScience. Formerly, he was reporter and producer for the technology section of ABCNews.com. He holds degrees from the University of California Los Angeles and the City University of New York's Graduate School of Journalism.

Follow him on Twitter.

Tuan C. Nguyen

Tuan C. Nguyen

Tuan C. Nguyen does not hold any investments in the technology companies he covers.

He writes for SmartPlanet and is not an employee of CBS.

If you liked this, don't miss...
12
Comments

Join the conversation!

Follow via:
RSS
+1 Vote
+ -
SwissRoomBox for the USA?
I want one.
Looking forward to learning the price on this.
Posted by wpeckham@...
6th Jul 2011
0 Votes
+ -
this is a really good idea, with a price of
$10,000 (approx) cost. If you go to the site, there is an option on price of 8630 swiss francs.

I can see this being used throughout the world.
Posted by DadsPad
6th Jul 2011
+3 Votes
+ -
Huh?
Throughout the world huh? I can only see this being used by rich people at that price. Also, it doesn't do much more than a $5 water cube from Wal-Mart as far as sink utility. The table part really cracked me up. I don't think I have been camping too many times where I wanted to sit and eat that close to the ground. It's an invitation to ants.

Also they are space hogs. There was little room left in that trunk for anything else. Not for serious campers.
Posted by kwabinalars
6th Jul 2011
+2 Votes
+ -
Not for the rich, the next government stimulus program.
They can setup a factory to produce them and put 100 people to work. Then they can give these out to the 1 million people who lost their jobs and their homes were foreclosed on.
Posted by Hates Idiots
7th Jul 2011
+3 Votes
+ -
Interesting design
It is misleading to say that this is a motorhome in a box. These boxes open into useful things like a sink and cooking space. It does look like a good set of car camping options to make living in a car nicer.
Posted by sboverie
6th Jul 2011
+3 Votes
+ -
stay away from mosquito rich areas
In the part where they put the tents together, it doesn't look like there is any seal between the tent and the vehicle. Mosquito are bad enough in closed tents but I wouldn't want to have to sleep in a tent with gaping holes in them.
Posted by elangomatt
6th Jul 2011
+5 Votes
+ -
Swiss Room Box
$10,000 ??? I'd buy a Pop-Up and call it a day!
Posted by novice51
6th Jul 2011
+1 Vote
+ -
Thank you very much
Well done! Thank you very much for professional templates and community edition
sesli chat sesli sohbet
Posted by yarinsiz
Updated - 25th Aug 2011
+1 Vote
+ -
Condensation?
I'm always amused by videos of car camping, whether in SUV/minivan ads, or this video. Unless you're camping in a desert, you'll wake up to windows completely fogged up (and more likely actually dripping) from condensation from your breathing. This video showed perfectly clear & dry windows, supposedly after a night camping in a mountainous region where the evening temperature would have been quite low, well below the dew point. Those windows would have been dripping, especially with two people in the vehicle. And those unpadded dining seats didn't look too comfortable either.

I'm with @novice51, if this had only a small price premium over a pop-up, I'd consider it for the greater ease of driving and parking. But for something that will only see occasional use, this seems a ridiculous price-point.
Posted by bradhansen@...
17th Oct 2011
0 Votes
+ -
Useful car camping accessories, but not a replacement
After living in a motor home for the past 2 1/2 years (and sitting in it right now), I don't see this as "A motor home that folds up, fits in your car". As others have pointed out in various ways, this is a nice set of utility items which fit ingeniously into a small set of packages. However, calling it a "motor home" and implying it is a complete temporary living set, even when paired with a car, is like calling a set of plastic sporks and a roll of paper towels a mobile kitchen.
Posted by gardoglee
13th Mar 2012
0 Votes
+ -
Forward Thinking
It amazes me that the people who come to this site can be so negative about a new product or idea. OK so maybe it isn't a pop top, the price is too high, and getting close to mosquitoes is ill-advised, but you have to admire the ingenuity behind the product.
Posted by kaur
Updated - 14th May 2012
0 Votes
+ -
It should not have been called a motorhome, that's the issue.
It would be better called a field kitchen. Honest product names and headlines make happier readers. There are good features, but I can see the little chairs breaking easily, and the table is too low to the ground. the ants and bugs will find you!
Posted by opcom
23rd Oct
Join the conversation
Formatting +
BB Codes - Note: HTML is not supported in forums
  • [b] Bold [/b]
  • [i] Italic [/i]
  • [u] Underline [/u]
  • [s] Strikethrough [/s]
  • [q] "Quote" [/q]
  • [ol][*] 1. Ordered List [/ol]
  • [ul][*] · Unordered List [/ul]
  • [pre] Preformat [/pre]
  • [quote] "Blockquote" [/quote]

Join the SmartPlanet community and join the conversation! Signing up is fast and free. Don't wait -- we want to hear your opinion!