# Future mobility

Vanlife - modern vehicles for connected camping

Mobile homes designed for working life on the road

You’ve heard of the young family spending their parental leave camping across Australia in a retro camper. You know about the freelancers who drive from job to job in a motorhome or trailer, living and working wherever assignments take them. Most importantly, you’ve seen the Instagram posts, showing shiny, happy people living life on the road, 365 days a year. 

With digital nomads and influencers increasingly embracing #vanlife, camping is rapidly getting a 21st-century upgrade. Living in an RV (Recreational Vehicle) is an aspirational lifestyle for anyone who enjoys travelling off the beaten track and can work from anywhere. As the traditional image of camping receives a revamp, so do the modular homes on four wheels that enable a modern, smart and connected life on the go.

Take a look at the high-tech camping gear and smart technology behind the sliding doors of today’s mobile homes.

Connected Vanlife in networked mobile homes

Today’s office workers call any place they can set up their laptop an office. These digital nomads have fueled the popularity of 21st century mobile home ownership – and the #vanlife hashtag. To work from anywhere in the world, their only must-have is a reliable data connection.

Whether through a portable hotspot or an external router with its own SIM, a mobile home’s internet connection is the lifeline connecting it to the rest of the world. For trips to areas with poor reception, a signal booster or even a satellite communicator is worth investing in.

However, a networked camper with high-tech gear provides so much more than just a Wi-Fi hotspot. A modern RV is like a smart home on wheels, with everything from the temperature and lights to battery, water and gas levels controlled through an app. The most advanced systems even allow hands-free, voice-controlled optimisation of the interior gadgets. Even the security gadgets in today’s mobile homes are connected, setting up a geofence around the vehicle and sending an alert to the owner’s phone in case of a break-in.

Off-grid technologies for a civilised life in the great outdoors

It takes a lot of gadgets to stay connected while going off-grid. Campers who truly want to unplug need to provide all their own utilities before setting off on a camping trip away from mobile home parks or campsites. Self-sufficiency is the key that unlocks the road less traveled, so solar panels, a water tank and heat are must-haves. Obviously, mobile nomads need power to charge all their gadgets and keep the camping office running – and solar-powered supply, combined with energy-saving appliances, is the most eco-friendly way to keep the power on, even in the great outdoors. 

Motorhome camper car with solar panels

Tyres that keep mobile homes rolling

Tyres are one of the most important parts of any vehicle, and that is especially true for RV wheels and tyres. Not only do mobile homes travel longer distances than the average car, they often encounter more diverse on and off-road conditions, not to mention extreme weather. To minimise the need for repairs and risk of breakdowns in remote locations, they need to be extremely reliable.

VanLife visiual

Complement your high-tech camping gear with high-end tyres, paying attention to the following:

  • Buy the right type of tyre for your camper. What type of roads will you be travelling on and in which weather? Continental offers summer, winter and all-season van tyres, with a wide variety of treads and rubber compounds to suit different heavy and lightweight, large and small campers and travel trailers.

  • Pay attention to the weight rating of your RV. Keep in mind that an overloaded vehicle will exceed the recommended weight, placing undue strain on your tyres.

  • Protect mobile home tyres from heat, cold and the sun with tyre covers.

  • Check the tyre pressure of your RV tyres before each trip, plus every day while on the road and at least once a month when your camper is parked. The correct tyre pressure isn’t just a safety issue, but also an energy-saving measure that can increase mileage.

Find the perfect Continental tyres for your mobile homes, campers, trailers and vans

High-tech for intelligent RVs

Of course, modern campers don’t want to put any old tyres on their smart, high-tech mobile homes. Thankfully, we offer high-end connected tyres in keeping with the gadgets on board. The following innovative technologies were designed to provide an even smoother ride for those who live and work on the road:

    Vanlife visual
    • A flat tyre is unpleasant in any scenario, even more so when travelling in a heavy motorhome, far from the nearest garage. Our ContiSeal™ tyres are designed to reduce the impact of punctures, sealing smaller tread damage and making roadside tyre changes or towing unnecessary. Just like a first aid kit for RV tyres.
    • You don’t want to ruin the serenity of the great outdoors with the noise of your own RV. Our ContiSilent™ is a technology we have developed to reduce interior noise, so your next journey is as chilled as your timeout in nature.

    That’s not all the high-tech gear we have in store for campers. Some even more advanced designs are currently being developed to make future camping trips more comfortable:

    • ContiSense uses intelligent sensors, integrated throughout electrically conductive rubber compounds, to monitor road conditions, measure tyre pressure, temperature and tread depth. It can even detect punctures and instantly send an alert to the vehicle.
    • PressureProof and PressureBoost technology maintains optimal tyre pressure by monitoring and storing excess compressed air, and re-injecting it when needed. Not only will this technology make RV travel safer and more economical, it also saves campers the hassle of manually checking and adjusting tyre pressure.

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