Mobile bush suite
The manufacturer ELXV’s Ghari 4.7 gives new meaning to luxury in the bush, says Leon Botha.
The ELXV – which stands for Elite Luxury Offroad Vehicles – is still new in camping circles, but it made its presence felt on arrival. Where have you seen an off-road caravan that has a washing machine let alone an electrically operated step-ladder? The aluminium chassis is just as unique, not to mention other luxuries, including the 12 V air-conditioner and electrically operated pop-up roof.
ELXV currently builds the Spoor, Ng’ombe and Ghari models, with three versions of the latter: the 3.7, 4.2 and 4.7.
Built to last
Just by looking at the materials, it’s clear the Ghari is built to last. (That’s aside from the aluminium chassis which is equipped with Al-Ko’s Enduro X suspension.) The panels consist of a 2 mm fibreglass skin on both sides of a 25 mm XPS foam layer, which is reinforced in an aluminium frame.
The pop-up roof lifts electrically with four risers: two on the rear corners and two closer to the middle. The roof lifts a total of 50 cm within 10 seconds, leaving you with a floor-toroof height of 2,1 m. The switch for this is in the door, where you’ll also find a switch for the automated step-ladder by Thule.
The outlet for the 12 V air-conditioner (9 000 BTU) is to your right as you enter, with the bathroom next. On the other side, the queen-size bed fills the nose section. Either side of the bed are elongated double insulated windows that open – each also has a mesh screen and a blind for privacy. Under the windows are narrow shelves that run the entire length of the bed for items you want to keep next to you at night. Each side also has electrical plug points (12 V and 220 V).
The bathroom has a shower on one side and a Thetford cassette toilet on the other. A hand basin folds out of the panel above the loo, and the whole room is a wet room. This is also where the automatic washing machine is installed. It works on 220 V power and is large enough to take a 2 kg bundle of laundry.
A chef ’s dream
Outside next to the entry door are four cupboards next to one another. The door of the first one folds flat as a worktop, with open shelves in the hull for storage space. The microwave, an NCE (23 ℓ), is also here. Because the microwave doesn’t have a turntable, you can even fit in a square bowl that fills the entire oven.
It seems strange to see a tap next to this, because the sink unit pulls out from the third cabinet. This is water from the purifier
and handy close by.
Two deep drawers for pots, pans and some groceries pull from of the next cupboard.
The three-burner gas stove is part of the sink unit and comes with a glass top that covers it when you’re not using it.
In the cupboard at the end next to the A-frame is the fridge/freezer, but this one is not mounted on a sliding frame. It’s a built-in Vitrifrigo fridge/freezer (90 ℓ) that pulls out as if it’s a drawer. The advantage of this is that there’s no fridge door to get in the way, because the entire top is open.
Inside the Ghari is a second standing 230 ℓ Vitrifrigo fridge/freezer that works on 12 V and 220 V electricity.
On the other side
There are three similar cupboards with 600 x 600 mm doors in the right panel. Two of these are open cupboards for storage. A third is also mainly empty, with the water purifier in the upper left.
The power box with all its Victron systems sits in the fourth cupboard. This includes the fuses, circuit breakers, 3 000 W inverter, 12 V DC-to-DC charger, regulator for the 1 300 W solar panels (MPPT 150 V 45 A). The battery is 200 Ah (lithium iron phosphate). The geyser is a Truma 10 ℓ model.
Some of the optional extras include, but are not limited to, air suspension and a Daewoo washing machine.