Kia Sportage RV waiting for Covid restrictions to end

In past decades my road trips involved throwing some things in the car and going.  Some of the things included a 2x6 foot piece of plywood, a deep cycle battery that occasionally got topped up with jumper cables and a small plastic ammo box with inverter, 12 volt and USB outlets hooked up to a set of jumper cables to clamp on the deep cycle battery.  Depending on the car, a seat might be removed.

Recently I've had time on my hands.  I've made a few small trips with this car so I combined that information with what I'd learned and dreamt about in the  past and made some progress on the Sportage RV.

When I push the drivers seat fully forward and tilt the back forward, there is a great deal of space in and around the rear seat.  That's the living room.  It is also the smaller of the 2 back seats so I removed the other one and made a box which is fastened down with 2 of the same bolts.  The box provides part of the bed, storage, kitchen, counter, desk and whatever else I think up for it.

Between the box and the front seat is the cooler.  The top is level with the box and the back of the car and forms the final part of the bed.  The cooler has 1 inch foam on most of the outside and inside and a smaller cooler inside.  I think there is enough room inside to dump a bag of ice around the outside of the small cooler.  It's still to be tested.

The front seat folds down on itself.  For now I want to be able to easily change the car back and forth so I will leave it there.  At a quick glance, the rear box just looks like the seat is folded down and I'll leave it.  The box on top of the front seat is about 2 feet square and 8 inches deep.  I've got some plastic bins in it for now to store things I might need from the front or back.  I put 1x2 around the top of the lid so things like map books and other things that might be up there won't slide off.  Both boxes have hooks with spring clips the keep things inside in case of an accident and the front one is fastened in place with a ratchet strap.

The curtain rod between the front and back is assembled from carbon and elastic tent poles and a few hooks.  It can be easily installed or removed.  The rest of the window covers are made from yoga mats from a thrift store.  The rear one is cut to the same size and shape as the window and has plastic wire clips riveted around it.  The clips just slip on around the window and then I shut it.  The side window covers are also cut from yoga mats and have suction cups on them.  I'm concerned about keeping the light out and will probably keep working on these.  Suggestions are needed.  Almost 4 years ago I got hit in the head with a car and my life now works best if I can get 12 hours sleep every day.  This is a serious concern for me camping in the summer.

I also installed the electrical system into the car.  I'm happy with the relay and wiring under the hood as well as the other end with the inverter, outlets and fuses.  I want to be able to put the battery in and remove it between trips so It ha plug connecting to the charging source and another plug leading to the destination.  This was mostly done with parts and pieces that I already had.  It works and the fuses are low enough to prevent problems but I'm already making an order list that will result in fewer and better connections in larger gauge wire.

I removed a pull out cup holder and an ashtray from the back of the area between the front seats.  The fuse panel is were the ashtray used to be with a small bit of velcro holding the cover in place.  The cover of the former cup holder is also held with velcro over the inverter.  The ciggie outlet is a higher quality one than most and I had to drill a hole for it.
MG

There has been no doubt in my mind that solar panels are part of my future.  I've been reading about them, here and elsewhere, and comparing various products on a huge number of websites.  This was just to learn more.  Honest!  Solar panels are for the future.  Honest!  

I had always assumed I would start with at least a 100 watt of solar panel.  It would go on the next vehicle.  I didn't want to mount panels on the Sportage and there's not much room left inside.

Skip ahead.  Canadian Tire is often called Canada's favorite department store.  The nearest store is so close that, for small things, I ride my bike.  There has always been a 3% discount for cash or debit.  It used to be Canadian Tire money.  Now it accumulates on a card.  

They put a 40 watt panel on sale at 62% off.  It is a portable panel, so it has reinforced corners, a stand, and it comes with 12 feet of cable and a charge controller.  With the accumulated savings on my CTC card, I spent less than $1 / watt with the charger and cable included.

My battery is in the footwell of the front, right seat and connected to the alternator with a relay and the "house" with an inverter and other outlets.  I connected the panel and will only put it out when stopped.  The front, right seat is folded down flat and has a box built on top of it.  With very little juggling, the panel sits happily between the seat and the door with the glass side against the upholstered seat.

I also just rebuilt the flat part of my bed and a new mattress.  Somebody shut the tailgate on the air mattress again.  Got some new material for window covers.  Had to find a better spot for the velcro, now they're too short.  For a very narrow mattress, the drapery section of the thrift store is a good place to look for bedding.  If adhesive backed velcro won't stick to fabric, use pop rivets.

[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Probably leave tomorrow to see how much electricity I can collect / use, test out the new bed / mattress, work on the new window covers,  read some books and avoid forest fires.[/font]

[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Find campsites with more than one way out and near water.  That's the best I can do.[/font]

[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]MG[/font]

Sounds like you are tweaking your set up well. Hope your adventure today was successful.

Every time I come home I have lists of things to change, fix or modify.  There have been quite a few changes since the beginning of the summer.

Two of the pictures show the bed and a bit of what's under it.  I removed a rear seat and bolted a box in its place.  A smaller box in front of it fills the space between it and the front seat when it is fully forward.  The rear compartment of the car and the two boxes form the top of the bed and provide a lot of storage.  The front seat folds down on itself so I built another box that is strapped down on top.  It also has a lid which is strapped down when I'm driving.  The box on the front seat (pictures to come) has cameras, coffee maker and many other odds and ends that I might want to access either from the driver's seat or from the seat behind it when I am at 'home'.

With the driver's seat forward and the back of it forward, I have lots of room.  I have easy access to the 3 wooden boxes and everything in the back of the car.  Prior to my ownership the car had some sort of cover for the area behind the rear seats.  I used the mounting locations to install a shelf level with the rear windows.  I keep this area clear when driving but when I set up it gives me space to spread things out and make them more accessible.

My invertor is a bit out of the way but I built an electrical box on the of a 10 foot extension cord with 2-110 outlets and 4 USB outlets.  I can either leave it inside with the cord coiled under the box or I can bring it outside when the weather permits.

A few months ago I got a couldn't resist deal on a 40 watt panel.  I didn't expect miracles but, with the addition of a monitor to follow the ups and downs of use and recharging, much was learned.  Last week I got a  100 watt panel.  Installing it was fairly easy.  Finding a place to put it was a bigger challenge. Winter, with its greater demands had already caused me to put the roof-top carrier on my car.  I strapped the panel to the top but it looked lot an open invitation to theft.  With some pre-drilled metal from the hardware store I built a rack underneath the crossbars of the roof-racks and it is almost invisible.

I came home on the 11th from 4 days of camping.  I spent the 12th shopping for bits and pieces for little changes before the next outing.  Many of them are related to keeping warm.

MG