Choosing the right van is a crucial step when planning to build your own mobile home.

This post will give you an overview of what's available in the EU market. We will focus on panel vans only and ignore any other potential vehicle types, such as box trucks, family vans or buses. Maybe we'll do a comparison of different vehicle typesin the future, but for now we'll stick to panel vans with a 3.5 ton limit or less, as this is a magical number that many do not want to exceed for various different reasons, such as:

• can be driven by andybody with a regular driving license
• many bridges and roads are restricted for vehicles above 3.5 tons
• tolls and ferries are cheapier than for heavier vehicles
• less weight means better fuel economy

Popular Panel Vans

There are a couple of different panel vans available in Europe. We will consider the most popular ones, since they are readily available on the used car market.

• Fiat Ducato
• Peugeot Boxer
• Citroen Jumper
• Mercedes Sprinter
• VW Crafter
• Ford Transit
• Iveco Daily

The Ducato, the Boxer and the Jumper share the same basic characteristics, such as chassis, body, dimensions etc. Since they are all built in the Italian Sevel factory, they are often referred to as Sevel Family.

Similarly, the Mercedes Sprinter and VW Crafter used to share the same basis. However, recent models are built in separate factories, so we will compare them individually.

Basic features

All details as of Q1 2019.

Size matters

The following lists width, height, length and volume of the cargo area of popular panel van models, subdivided in L(x)H(x) notation (e.g. L1H1 for Length 1, Height 1).
Dimensions are in millimeters, volume in square meters.
All dimensions for the two wheel drive version. The four wheel drive versions can have significanlty smaller cargo areas because of the additional space requirements for the mechanics under the vehicle.
All details as of Q1 2019.

As you can see from the above chart, the Sevel family gives you the best length-to-volume ratio, the Daily has the highest overall cargo capacity. The Sevel family is also known to have the least curvy walls, meaning you have more space in the upper part of the van, which gives you more headspace.

Other factors

There are other factors when deciding for a specific van, such as price, availability, perceived build quality, availability of spare parts, repairability, cost of ownership etc. which we will not discuss here but should nonetheless be considered when buying a van.

When it comes to the engine type, Europeans currently don't have a choice. None of the listed panel vans can be ordered with a gas engine, which means that pretty much all the vans you see within Europe run with on diesel. While some panel vans can be ordered with an electric motor, there are a number of drawbacks that need to be considered. Apart from the often mentioned range anxiety, the lack of charging infrastructure, the hefty price tag (roughly 70.000 for an Iveco Daily Electric), there is a more fundamental problem. The weight of the batteries simply does not allow for such a van to be properly converted to a camper van under the 3.5 ton limit. Currently, electric vans are simply too heavy.