Sunny Sharma wants to stay in Vancouver. But he fears he and his wife, Shilpi, may have to move outside B.C. some day to own their own home.
In the almost two years since Sunny and Shilpi moved from Delhi and became permanent residents through Canada’s express-entry program, they have been patching together beginner-level jobs in technology while running a small business. That way they can continue to rent a 500-square-foot apartment in Vancouver’s West End.
A perfect segue. Seriously I could live in a Van like this.
Not sure if “Canadian” year round living is possible in this new van from Storyteller, it’s built on the Ford AWD Transit. They use sheep’s wool insulation but the grey water tank is exterior mounted and likely will freeze in the Great White North necessitating a rework, it’s certainly winter capable based on what I know of it’s Mercedes counterpart, but if the exterior tank is rated only to -1 Fahrenheit (-18 C) then that won’t cut it.
It has the electrical power to do it however as they employ a Volta power system so running an air conditioner for 8 hours is possible. Solar is almost an afterthought as you can Boondock for days with the Volta and still keep your fridge running with plenty of power to spare for using your induction cooktop etc. The batteries can be charged via the high powered alternator they supply but lack the option to charge on “idle” like the competing system from Lithionics which is overall a better bet IMHO as it’s expandable and overall less proprietary.
I see they are listing a gas heater system, likely something like this from Heatso. Storyteller has built exclusively on the Mercedes Sprinter platform till now but people are shy of the Mercedes’ scant repair centres and maintenance costs and apparently highway diesel fuel is harder to find outside NA. By many accounts the Transit is a nicer ride especially after the Sumo shock installation though the Sprinter has dominated the High End Class B van space.
The on board “Halo” shower is different and seems workable though frankly I prefer the privacy of an enclosed shower/bathroom space. It comes with a recirculating hot water system which I am assuming allows you to “recycle” the same 3 to 5 gallons of water by cleaning it via filters allowing you an unlimited shower. Recirculating showers seem to be the future and system’s like the Volta can handle the power requirement without problem and most importantly they save you a lot of water. Water is always at a premium and also weighs a great deal so tradeoffs are necessary, a recirculating shower is a good solution.
