Expo+ by Ecowagon Campervan

This award-winning premium conversion is now available on the T7 Transporter and is being marketed by Bodans

Remember the £130k VW campervan? It certainly caused consternation amongst some readers and YouTube viewers, even though it had the spec (and some of the priciest alloy wheels we’ve ever seen!) to go with that eye-watering price. Watch motorhome.ma/review266 to see what all the fuss was about and why Ecowagon has won multiple trophies for its Volkswagen conversions, including 2024’s Best VW Camper in our own awards.

Now on T7

Now there’s a new version of Ecowagon’s flagship Expo Plus, based of course on the new Transporter, or, as everybody but VW calls it, the T7. It starts at a surprisingly affordable £73,995, although the show/demo model here is £89,995, based on a 150hp, top-spec Commerce Pro van with automatic gearbox.

Available from Bodans in Shrewsbury

But the new (slightly bigger) base vehicle isn’t the only news. Previously, you would probably have had to trek all the way to Redruth in Cornwall to buy an Ecowagon, whereas now the sales of the Expo Plus are being handled by another Volkswagen specialist, Bodans Campervans in Shrewsbury.

That will be a lot more convenient from much of the UK, as well as allowing Kenny Green to focus more on Ecowagon’s new Mercedes Sprinter conversion.

Of course, after success at the very top of the Volkswagen campervan market, Kenny wasn’t going to throw the baby out with the bathwater with the latest Expo Plus but one change has been forced upon him.

A USP of the original conversion was its use of VW’s own California sliding seat system, neatly repurposed to sit on the nearside to go with the nearside sliding door.

But with the Cali moving onto the Multivan base and Volkswagen not developing its own conversion of the new Transporter, Ecowagon has had to look elsewhere for the most important component of all – the seat/bed unit.

Superb Stide sliding seat system

We’re thrilled to see that Kenny has chosen the best seat system we’ve yet seen in the new VW, from Stide. It doesn’t just slide along its floor rails, it really glides along them and Kenny reports that it is totally rattle-free.

There’s good storage under the bench and, in the Ecowagon, that’s a carpeted space – again to stop rattles. Here, the seat – superbly trimmed in tan leather – comes with three seatbelts (a key advantage over the previous Expo Plus) and a very comfortable height and backrest rake.

At night, it's easy to convert into a 1.92m-long bed, with a width (wall to wall) of 1.25m. Ecowagon’s own thermal blinds provide blackout and there are spotlamps for reading, mounted over the head of the bed.

Top quality

Anyone familiar with Ecowagon’s campers will recognise the high-quality kitchen with its distinctive curved counter, which is carried over virtually unchanged – it’s just a little deeper than before to take advantage of the new van’s greater dimensions. It has three soft-closing drawers, a Vitrifrigo 51-litre compressor fridge and a two-burner hob/sink combination unit.

Hot water comes from a Pundmann 12/230V boiler, that also supplies the external shower at the rear. Above the galley, the top lockers are increased in size, too.

What hasn’t changed, of course, is Ecowagon’s commitment to only use the best components, so the pop-top roof is still from Reimo, but with Ecowagon’s own roof bed featuring Froli springs.

There’s a panoramic opening canvas and generous LED lighting inside, while a 250W solar panel is fitted on top. A 200Ah lithium battery and a Victron 1,600W inverter cater for your electrical needs, while an underslung gas tank serves not just the hob but an outside barbecue point. If it’s too chilly to cook al fresco, the Webasto diesel heating with seven-day timer will be welcome.

Even details like the specific storage for the awning winding handles show that this is not just another VW conversion.

Ecowagon continues to build a VW camper that has a higher spec and better-quality finish than most of its rivals. Now with a bit more space and storage in the bigger T7 van and available from Bodans in Shrewsbury.