Retreat OzX blasts 3200km across the Nullarbor

Five days after leaving Melbourne the Retreat OzXcorp gasless caravan has reached Esperance, with another 700km travel required to get to Perth for the caravan show. The show at Rockingham starts this weekend, taking place over 5-7 April.

The van will be taking a hiatus for a few days at the show as its door gets flung open to the public and drivers John and Fran can take a wee break.

OzXcorp Director Andrew Huett explained, “We are not sure if we will have the van inside or out at the show. If we are outside then the plan is to just utilise the sun to charge the battery. If we are inside, then we will remain off-grid for the duration of the show. Of course if the drain is too much we’ll see that and before any damage to the system occurs we can charge it. We are not expecting that to happen though.

“The power drain at a show is massive which is what we experienced at Melbourne. We ran the air conditioner, stove, boiled the kettle and more to show just how the tech in this van can work for days on end. The public ate it up! The good thing regardless of how the show works we’ll be able to get some hard data on power usage, battery condition and more that will help with the trip ahead.

“After the show, the van will get a service and check-over before heading north into some remote country.”

In their notes John and Fran have been using all the 240V appliances from heating and cooling to cooking hot dogs and toasted sangas. So far the drain on the system has been minimal, with the battery dropping to just 72 percent. The weather has been pretty unkind with drizzle and very overcast days, yet everything is holding together really well.

Stay tuned as after the show the Retreat starts the super-serious part of the testing journey heading east and north towards Laverton!

Written by Anthony Kilner from RV Daily for the original post click here.