Germany checks motorhomes on A31 and A30 · VanLife Weekly #29

A lot happened in the motorhome world last week: Germany announced mass checks of motorhomes and trailers on the A31 and A30 on 27 July, owners in Finland started parking their vehicles up for most of the year because of a sharp diesel tax hike, a tornado tore down fifty pines at campsites on the Croatian island of Lošinj, and a Brazilian workshop in Guarulhos reported nearly 150 converted Volkswagen Kombis.

Germany will check motorhomes and trailers on the A31 and A30 on 27 July

On 27 July German police will run mass checks of motorhomes and trailers on the A31 and A30 — the height of the season, when northern German autobahns are packed with vehicles heading to the coast and back. The formal trigger for the attention was a case in Lippstadt: on 10 July a patrol stopped a motorhome that had no windscreen, no side windows and no rear window. The seventy-year-old driver, who was also not wearing a seatbelt, explained that he had taken the glass out because of the heat. The vehicle was declared unsafe, banned from moving on the spot, and the driver was fined — the police report called it a "rolling pile of scrap metal".

The story sounds like an oddity, but these raids will not be looking for anything exotic — just the ordinary stuff: technical condition, load securing, a working coupling and, most often, overloading. Exceeding the permitted weight remains the number one offence among motorhomes: a fully loaded vehicle with water, gas, bikes and food supplies easily goes over 3.5 tonnes, and the driver has no idea, because they have never driven onto a weighbridge. At a similar check in Stans, Switzerland, police weighed around 70 motorhomes and found a significant share of them overloaded.

The German raids are part of a bigger picture: keeping a motorhome in Europe is getting both stricter and more expensive. In Finland the diesel tax for motorhomes rose sharply at the start of the year, and owners — Jani Karenlampi from Kempele, for example — simply leave their vehicles parked up for most of the year, only bringing them out for the summer holiday. In Switzerland the TCS auto club published a set of rules for wild camping and reminded people there is no single federal law: the rules differ from canton to canton and even from commune to commune, and you get fined for getting it wrong. And the Dutch RDW, having counted 5,148 motorhomes and caravans in four municipalities of Lekstroom, asked owners to check tyres, lights and the coupling before setting off, not after.

In brief

• Germany, compact: Forster updated the A 699 DVB on the Ford Transit chassis — eight berths in under seven metres of length, starting price 58,900 euros. A rare case where a big family fits into a vehicle you can still park in town.
• Germany, premium: NIESMANN+BISCHOFF showed the full camper van iSmove 6.9 E on a Fiat Ducato chassis, 6.99 metres long and 3.5 tonnes — the price is over 35 million yen.
• France, manufacturing: the country's largest maker showed off its factory for the first time — Trigano VDL in Tournon-sur-Rhône builds a motorhome every two minutes, and half of all motorhomes sold in France are made here.
• Netherlands, removable camper: Vantrack presented the modular LightCamp kit for the Kia PV5 — the bed, kitchen and roof tent go in and come out without any permanent changes to the vehicle.
• Japan, concept: Honda Access showed a Step WGN minivan for sleeping and working on the road — a bed over two metres long, a fold-out laptop table and a 15.6-inch monitor.
• China, state support: the ministry of commerce and eight other agencies issued support measures for campsites and motorhomes — better driving conditions and incentives to modernise the industry.
• China, new models: Changan filed for registration of a hybrid motorhome with a CATL battery, alongside a Jiangfu model with a pop-top roof and a diesel Zhongyi.
• USA, electrification: camper and trailer makers are switching to electric systems en masse — about 342,000 units were shipped to dealers last year.
• Japan, tech: Nuts RV presented the Leak III EVOLITE camper on the Toyota HiAce Super Long — a household air conditioner runs all night without a recharge.
• Japan, rentals: JAPAN C.R.C. is offering 30% off kei camper rentals from 15 July, plus 5% off pitch bookings — a cheap way to try the format.
• Switzerland, oddity: Winterthur city police put an abandoned 1990 Fiat Ducato up for auction with a starting price of 1 franc from 23 July.
• Denmark, demand: the First Camp Frigård campsite in Kollund reported that bookings from the Netherlands are up 156%, from Belgium 129%, from Germany 55% — now the shift towards northern routes has numbers from a specific campsite.
• Sweden, debts: at the Sudersand Resort on the island of Fårö a motorhome was seized over the owner's 1.2 million krona debt — a reminder that a vehicle sitting on a campsite is not safe from enforcement.

Where to go

Japan, late July. Japan is rarely considered as a motorhome destination, and that is a shame: the infrastructure there is growing right now. In the city of Shimonoseki the Hinoyama Sanroku campsite has been finished at the foot of the mountain of the same name — with a panoramic view of the Kanmon Strait, where Honshu almost meets Kyushu and ships pass day and night. The preview opening for locals is 25 July, the official one 19 September. Meanwhile, Fukushima Prefecture is developing camper van tourism in the Hamadori region: entrepreneur Asuka Kusuga is building a network of motorhome pitches in an area recovering from the earthquake and the nuclear plant accident. Japan suits an unhurried two- or three-week route: distances are short, the roads are excellent, and sleeping in your vehicle is culturally normal here. You can try it without spending much — kei campers rent cheaply, and there are summer discounts on them right now. If you have been eyeing Asia for a while but did not know where to start, this is your excuse.

Take care

• Croatia, island of Lošinj, July–August: on 19 July at around 4:30 in the morning a tornado went through the Lopari and Rapoča campsites, uprooting about 50 pines; two holidaymakers were airlifted to hospital in Rijeka. On the Adriatic, summer squalls arrive towards dawn and with almost no warning — switch on storm alerts on your phone and do not park right up against tall pines, however tempting the shade looks.
• USA, Texas, rainy season: Bandera and Boerne ordered a mandatory evacuation of motorhome parks as the Medina River and Cibolo Creek rose. A pitch by the water looks perfect right up until the first downpour upstream: ask the campsite office how high the water has come before, and do not stay overnight on a floodplain when a storm is forecast.
• Everywhere, gas and fridges: in Ellsworth in the US a man died in a propane explosion in a converted bus — it went off in the cupboard under the gas hob. Separately, there was a look at why fridges in homes on wheels so often start fires: absorption models leak ammonia, and some Norcold and Dometicⓘ units were recalled outright. Check hoses and connections before the season, fit a gas leak detector, and do not put off repairing a fridge that has started to smell odd or cool poorly.
• UK, rentals: a family from Scotland found bloodstains and human faeces in a caravan they had rented for £550 at a Parkdean Resorts park, and the clean-up after they complained was superficial. When you check into a rented caravan, spend five minutes filming its condition before you bring your things in — without timestamped photos, getting your money back is nearly impossible.

Something good to finish

Two stories worth forwarding.

A hundred and fifty Kombis and a second life. Two Brazilians from Guarulhos quit their jobs and put 8,000 reais — all their savings — into their own venture. Today their workshop Namu Kombi Home has turned nearly 150 Volkswagen Kombis into homes on wheels and earned 800,000 reais in 2024. An old van that Europe would have scrapped long ago turned out to be the foundation of a whole business in Brazil.

A caravan instead of a house — for a son's dream. Three-time touring car world champion Andy Priaulx said that his family once sold their house and moved into a caravan to pay for his racing career. The bet paid off twice: he took three championship titles himself, and now his son Sebastian races a Ford in endurance events.

This week's questions

What do roadside raids check, and what happens if you fail?

They look at technical condition, load securing, a working coupling and the vehicle's total weight. Most often what they find is overloading — a loaded motorhome easily goes over 3.5 tonnes. For serious problems they can not only fine you but ban you from driving on right there, as in Lippstadt, where the motorhome with no glass was taken off the road. The best way to prepare is to weigh your vehicle in advance, loaded the way you actually travel.

How do you avoid getting caught by a sudden storm on the Adriatic?

Summer squalls there usually arrive towards dawn and build very fast — the tornado on Lošinj came through at around 4:30 and uprooted fifty pines. Switch on storm alerts in your weather app, check the overnight wind forecast in the evening, and pick a spot with no trees overhead. Shade from a tall pine is lovely in the heat, but in a squall it is the main source of danger.

Is Japan worth visiting in a motorhome?

Yes, if you like an unhurried pace: distances are short, the roads are excellent, and sleeping in your vehicle is culturally normal. The infrastructure is growing fast right now — a campsite with a view of the Kanmon Strait is opening in Shimonoseki, and a network of motorhome pitches is being built in Fukushima. You can start with a kei camper rental: it is the cheapest way to try, and there are discounts on them in summer.

Is it true that fridges in motorhomes often cause fires?

Yes, and mainly the absorption models that run on gas. As they wear, ammonia starts leaking from the system, and the fault can end in a fire — some Norcold and Dometic models were recalled for exactly this reason. Check the fridge before the season and do not ignore a strange smell or a drop in cooling performance.

Is the motorhome market growing or shrinking right now?

It is reshaping. On one hand, demand has not gone anywhere: in France the Trigano VDL factory builds a motorhome every two minutes, and in the US about 342,000 units were shipped to dealers in a year. On the other, the centre of activity is shifting: China issued state support measures for campsites and motorhomes from nine agencies at once, and development of new models is moving there too. For European manufacturers that means more competition, and for buyers, in time, more choice.

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