LONGMONT, Colo. – The RV industry likes to talk about getting campers off road and off the grid. But Bliss Mobil has a completely different idea of what it means to go off grid than most manufacturers. We’re talking African safari, deep Alaskan wilderness and even South American jungle off grid.
Spencer Park, who handles North American operations for the Netherlands-based manufacturer, said Bliss Mobil’s vehicles handle the kinds of conditions that would leave the average pickup or four-wheel drive van in pieces by the side of the road.
But Bliss Mobil doesn’t pretend to be for everybody. It’s vehicles are fairly customized and require more attention ahead of the purchase than a dealer can handle. Only about 10 of the vehicles are built in an average year.
Bliss Mobil’s manufacturing profile also is different than most RVs. The living quarters, or habitat, are built overseas and sent to a small facility in Longmont, Colo., just north of Denver, where they are paired with a pre-chosen chassis. The chassis vary in manufacturers, but they are beyond heavy duty. A sampling of what was on hand at the plant on a recent Friday included Isuzu, International, a RAM 5500 and an Acela as well as a refurbished MAN military transport vehicle that was fitted with a habitat. The RAM 5500 uses an Aisin transmission while the others employ an Allison transmission.
Park said that, due to the nature of the travels most owners take, the company recommends the vehicles be fitted with components that can be serviced in any country. For example, he said Eaton transmissions are recommended.
Inside, the habitat are fixtures that might be familiar to most RVers from suppliers such as Dometic.
But the Bliss Mobil vehicles aren’t fitted for just visiting national parks or campgrounds.
Park said the company has an owners’ group that is getting ready to take an extended international tour.
“We have a customer-guided expedition that’s actually starting at the end of next month,” he said. “It’s going to start in Washington, go up to Alaska, all through Yukon and territories and everything up there. And then those customers have two choices. They can come back down a different route to Washington, or take the ferry back to Washington and the group meets back up. And they’ll do the Pacific Northwest and then over to Utah and then Arizona. And then they’ll continue on to Baja, Mexico and do the entire Pan American trail down to South America.”
In order to be able to handle the kinds of stresses from roads or trails like those that might be found on Alaskan tundra or deep in the jungle, Bliss Mobil uses a pivot sub-frame. “So that way the when the truck is off road, it’s pivoting and does not put in the stresses into the habitat from the off road travel,” Park said.
Another benefit of attaching the completed habitat to the truck is the ease of running tanks, electrical and plumbing. The habitat is bolted onto the truck with one electrical plug and because of that can be removed in two hours if some major servicing needs to be done to the truck.
The price of a Bliss Mobil vehicle can vary drastically depending on the type of chassis the buyer chooses. The smallest habitat the company builds is an 8-foot box that starts at $120,000 by itself. The 23-foot option runs closer to $1 million once the truck is figured into the mix at likely about $250,000.
The vehicles come with a large bank of lithium batteries and are connected to solar panels for charging. Generators are a rarity.
“For our customers, what’s important is freedom of independence,” Park said. “You don’t have to rely on hook ups or campgrounds or camp areas – you can fully travel off the grid for extended periods of time and be comfortable doing it. It’s built for extreme conditions, but refined for comfort.”
