If the end of humankind was upon us, you could bunker down in the Kokoda Counterstrike Vincere with a few bags of veggie seeds and happily ride out the apocalypse in the desert. Indefinitely. This seriously specced-out off-road caravan has enough off-grid capability to sustain a small village. Producing its own water and with infinite power and an incinerator toilet, the futuristic Vincere raises the bar for off-grid caravanning.
But if you think off-grid means skimping on creature comforts, get set to have your mind blown. The Vincere is genuine luxury on wheels. It’s five-star-hotel comfort wrapped in a tough-as-nails shell. Think king-size reclining massage bed that morphs into a surround-sound cinema, stone benchtops and unlimited hot showers.
The gasless Vincere packs high-end design with world-first innovation you wouldn’t think was possible in a box on wheels. It’s so well equipped for off-grid living, you could camp out in the middle of the Simpson Desert with the air-con blasting and shower running around the clock and never run out of power or water.
All that power comes from the sun. But you can forget about an array of solar panels on just the roof. The Vincere has two hard slide-out awnings that extend like butterfly wings, packing 7.3kW of solar across a triple-rooftop surface. The power feeds into a 20kW (upgradeable to 30kW) 48V lithium battery bank and 10kW inverter. In optimum solar conditions, the Vincere can charge from flat to full capacity in about 3.5 hours. If you’re caught in a one-in-100-year storm, there’s redundancy for that. An 8kW whisper-quiet petrol generator will automatically kick in, keeping much more on than just the lights. In fact, powering everything in the caravan and more.
Kokoda Owner Trevor Price admits the generator is “overkill” but seems to have an obsession with just-in-case power and water redundancy. “For a caravan, we wanted to have systems that could create enough buffer from the elements and from trekking around Australia, that you would always have enough power, you’d always have enough water and you could always go to the toilet and not have to worry about a dump point.”
Not only is the Vincere a portable power plant, it’s also a water recycling factory. In fact, the Vincere creates AND reuses its own water. A sophisticated freshwater generation system sucks moisture from the air which is stored in a 110-litre freshwater tank and 50-litre dedicated drinking water tank. The grey water from the shower, basin and sink is then captured in a 110-litre tank, filtered through a high-tech process of reverse osmosis, and returned to the freshwater reserve. This continuous cycle produces water so pure, it’s safe to drink (but is not plumbed for this purpose).
The system can harvest up to 150 litres of water a day from thin air. That’s in optimum conditions – think hot, humid environments with a high dew point. Even in the worst conditions – cold and rainy – the system can produce 10 litres a day. That’s enough water for drinking and cooking, and the recycling process takes care of the rest. Price wanted to ensure that in the worst-case scenario, like puncturing a tank out bush, you will never be without fresh water.
An infinite supply of on-demand hot water means showers on the road are no longer a quick splash. In the Vincere, you can enjoy long showers without the water going cold or running dry, or worrying about grey-water runoff. This is a van that can turnover 1,500 litres of water a day.
©️Kokoda
Which brings us to the van’s luxury features. Forget everything you know about poky caravan showers. The Vincere has a huge shower with a multi-spray adjustable rain showerhead and floor-to-ceiling smart glass that turns opaque at the touch of a button. The Cinderella incinerator toilet provides hygienic, odour-free waste disposal, so you can forget about using a dump point or emptying a compost container ever again. Simply empty the pan of ash every couple of weeks. Above the toilet, there’s a concealed 6kg front-load washing machine.
In the bedroom, there’s a reclining king-size bed with built-in massage functions and a drop-down projector screen, topped with Sony surround sound. The roof and walls are sound proofed, so little noise travels down the van from the ‘master suite’ or outside. The kitchen has Corian stone benchtops, an integrated dishwasher (of course), soft-close drawers, curved composite cabinetry and dual slide-out rubbish bins. There’s a 274-litre fridge/freezer, portable induction cooktops for inside/outside cooking, a dedicated space for a coffee machine, and a built-in air-fryer.
Outside, the external kitchen has slide-out bench tops, an inside/outside pantry and a second, 80-litre fridge/freezer. Bug-resistant amber-mode awning lights help keep the mozzies at bay. While the high-end fit out may sound like the Vincere is strictly off-limits to kids, you’ll be surprised to find this is, in fact, a family van. Up front, opposite the bathroom, are the triple-bunk beds. And each of the indoor living areas is climate controlled with zoned ducted heating and cooling throughout.
The Vincere removes so many caravanning pain points, including manual set-up. With airbag suspension and electric stabiliser legs, levelling and stabilising are done at the touch of a button, via a Garmin control panel. The electric jockey wheel will even park and level the van for you. No more manual jacking and messing about with chunky levelling ramps and stabiliser winders. A second, vehicle-mounted Garmin control panel enables you to monitor and adjust the van’s systems while driving. Instant tyre-pressure alerts give real-time feedback and Wi-Fi cameras provide 360-degree visibility.
The Vincere is made from XCore foam-reinforced composite construction, with 33mm walls and a 40mm floor for strength and insulation. The van sits on Cruisemaster ATX Air Suspension and mud terrain tyres, and comes with raptor coating, a sloped A-frame for off-road manoeuvrability, and rear recovery points.
Price and his wife Kathryn took over Melbourne-based Kokoda Caravans in 2019, eventually bringing all manufacturing and design in-house, and reducing the range to focus solely on off-road caravans. Price says the inspiration behind the Vincere – meaning ‘victory’ in Latin – was to produce a caravan that could go further for longer, without the limitations of power, water and waste that typically limit remote journeys. The caravan took six years to come to fruition and, after a 12-day shake down with their family of three boys in remote South Australia, the Vincere came out, well, victorious.
At $380,000, this van is pricey, but when you consider the next-generation features, it could realistically cost half a million dollars or more, Price says.
“When you start adding it up, really quickly you realise how well-priced it is,” he says. “Kokoda’s about value for money, not cheap, but just providing a lot of value for the money, and really focusing on helping people travel remotely. And we wanted the Vincere to set a statement, not only in its capabilities, but in what the market should be priced at.”
Every caravan has its sacrifices and limitations. The Vincere wants for nothing when it comes to off-grid capability. However, this is a big, heavy caravan with a 23ft footprint and a 4.5-tonne ATM. Naturally, its size is the Vincere’s biggest hindrance in accessing some of those remote off-grid places it’s designed for. This is not a caravan for tight mountain trails and small campgrounds with overhanging branches. Getting the full benefit of the triple-roof solar system means parking up at a spot with a lot of space with room to slide out both awnings, unobstructed by trees.
On the interior, the Vincere has a small dining table, despite sleeping a family of five. This assumes the family opts to eat outdoors, but this isn’t always practical and is a surprising design shortfall, given the breadth of features and extras in this van. There’s also not much kids’ storage in the bunk area and some families, particularly those with young children, might prefer kids being safely tucked away at the back of the caravan rather than by the door. Of course, this changes as they grow.
Spoiler alert: this is a limited edition caravan. There were only five made and at the time of writing, only one remained to be sold. That said, Kokoda is always innovating and the next iteration is due as early as 2016. Price won’t reveal where Kokoda could possibly go from here, but you can bet it will be worth the wait. Watch this space.
Price – From $380,000
Sleeps – 5
Construction – XCore foam-reinforced composite construction, with 33mm walls and a 40mm floor.
Chassis – Cruisemaster ATX Air Suspension with sloped A-frame, mud terrain tyres and rear recovery points.
Power – 7.3kW solar, 10kW 48V lithium batteries, 10kW inverter, 8kW petrol generator
Water – Unlimited water generation and recycling; 110L fresh, 50L drinking, 110L grey
Length – 23ft (7 metres)
Weight – 3,860kg tare, 4,490kg GTM
