Yeah, I was one of those waiting for the whole electric revolution to happen before spending a ton of money on a van conversion (I actually have a cyber truck preorder), however I realized its a long ways off and life can't wait for that. No way these EVs will be able to have a range beyond 100 miles if they are built with a high roof (i.e. non-aerodynamic), and weigh over 10k+ lbs with all the RV essentials, even given the largest battery packs that are coming (200kwh+)
Hi, been watch some of your videos. Thanks for those…nice to see communication by a dealer like that.
I was told several weeks ago that they ran out of door handles so some vans had to wait for them… which is pretty lame…. My van says delay to VPC, at least that’s what the dealer said. Not sure what that means. It was produced 9/14.
You forgot hydro which is the major player here in the PNW.
it should be everywhere. In New England we have abandoned mills that used to process power. They took them out long ago. I’d love to switch jobs and get these all up and running again
One of the top guys at Storyteller Overland in an interview on the STONation podcast said they will be switching to the AWD OM654 chassis mid 2022. I'm inclined to believe his information because they are a fairly large volume builder now, they must have some kind of insider info.
BrightDrop is coming out with a fairly compelling van but may be only available B2B for now.
I found the STO Nation YouTube video of that interview with Lee Conn, the President/COO and Andrew Cooley, the CRO at Storyteller Overland. Storyteller claims they are second only to Winnebago on building Sprinter 2500 4x4 vans - so they probably have some good insights on what Mercedes-Benz Vans USA is going to do in future.
2022 Sprinter AWD 4cyl 9sp discussed @ 34:25
I think she’s referring to one that she expected in soon
This is getting worse and worse by the minute. First MB going to a 4-cyl in 2022 and then electric by 2023? I'll be happy as a clam with the last of the 6 cylinders.
Van_Bae, what is the campaign that all or most of the august sept builds are waiting on?
It's simply supply and demand. The buyers are setting the market price, so it's hard to argue that it's artificially high. I agree that it's a terrible 4wd system, but it's obviously good enough for the folks lining up to buy them at a big premium. What is the motivation for MB to improve the US sprinter right now? They can't even keep up with demand for the current one. Increased demand is the last thing they need right now. The only reason they are spending time/$ on the electric version is because they see the writing on the wall with the ongoing emissions fight.
I’m not sure anyone is saying the old system is bad. I think they are actually saying that they can produce more(or make more $) if an in-house system is used
