Camper — Freedom and a Challenge for the Home Handyman

Almería is putting up physical barriers to keep motorhomers off its former fairground — while Turkey simply evicts them from the beach. Lightship is quadrupling its electric-caravan factory in Colorado, even as 50% of Italian motorhome renters turn out to be under 35. Plus 800 kg of hashish in a motorhome at the Spanish border, Anker's 800 W charger running off the alternator, and Carstay as the mobile HQ of a Tokyo festival — all in this issue.

A fire broke out in a residential caravan on Tuesday morning in the village of Čiližská Radvaň. The flames completely engulfed the trailer and spread to a neighboring unoccupied house, but the person inside was unharmed. Firefighters extinguished the blaze, with the cause and damage still under investigation.

The European Union is changing rules to allow Category B license holders to drive heavier vehicles. The new directive permits driving alternatively powered vehicles up to 4.25 tonnes instead of 3.5 tonnes and provides for obtaining additional authorization to drive heavy motorhomes after specific training. EU member states have four years to transpose these rules into national law.

Spain introduced new road sign S-128 and banned camper vans from parking near beaches. Germany responded with a 3.82-metre electric camper van — fits anywhere, furniture not included. JAL now rents out motorhomes from Narita with miles earned per rental. Storm Ali blowing a traveller's caravan off an Irish cliff, and the Outbound demo for PS5 — all in this issue.

ARI Motors released a camper van the size of a regular van — and it's now Germany's smallest production electric camper at €30,000. JAL decided its passengers hadn't traveled enough and offered a sequel: a motorhome pickup straight from Narita. The lawsuit against Stellantis over "cheat" diesel software, a yellow DHL van in the hands of a retiree, and 413 million campsite overnight stays across Europe — all in this issue.

German company Ari Motors has introduced the 458 Pro, touted as the smallest camper van in Europe. With a length of 3.48–3.82 meters, an electric motor, and a range of up to 230 km, the base price starts at €23,350.