I want the camper van ... but without tying myself to one van. That's essentially what spinoff brand Hunker sells with its new slide-in camper system. An all-in-one camper van floor plan on roller skates, the Hunker Pod turns an empty Ram Promaster into a warm, inviting camper van with kitchen, dining area, queen bed and toilet – no time-sucking DIY conversion work, no six-figure custom build, and no bottomless pit of never-ending obstacles and expenses. The pod and van combined cost well less than most US-market fully built camper vans, and the Hunker Pod will even outlast the van itself, installing in a new van just as easily as the first time.
A spinoff of Denver-headquartered multi-city camper van rental service Native Campervans, Hunker has developed a different style of camper-in-a-box. It's a full van fitment style we've seen debut in several European iterations over the past decade but not so much in the US. The European market has introduced camper boxes that both slide into the van for camping and slide out of it to camp independently and free the vehicle.
Interestingly, it was the PlugVan, one of the first European designs we ever saw when it debuted as a big highlight of CMT 2019, that directly influenced the folks at Native when deciding to develop their own system for the US market. Hunker explains that it worked closely with Berlin-based Innovation4Van GmbH, PlugVan's creator and parent company, relying on its unparalleled expertise in the area of wheeled full camper modules toward designing and engineering the Hunker Pod.
For its part, the Hunker team brought a wealth of evidenced knowledge about the whims and needs of the North American camper van market by way of its Native rental experience. So it's no surprise the US-market Hunker Pod looks quite different from the Europe-roaming PlugVan.
The biggest difference is that instead of leaving a big hunk of empty van between the front end of the box and the cab seats as the PlugVan module does, the Hunker Pod is designed to fill the entire space more like an in-built conversion. That's easier to do in the US, where a much smaller van market (we love our trucks) makes it easier to design the pod for one specific van model – there are only a few different full-size vans, anyway, so it's less likely buyers will prefer a totally different make/model.
No surprise, then, that Hunker's choice of van is the same Ram Promaster series with which it's become intimately familiar on the rental side. More specifically, the Hunker Pod is custom-designed to fit the 2014+ Ram Promaster 159 High Roof.
By creating the Pod for one specific van, Hunker is able to make a cleaner design that fits like a hand inside a tailored glove and secures to the van's factory-installed anchor points without any drilling or permanent vehicle modification necessary. The 1,000-lb (454-kg) Pod rolls into the van on wheeled legs that retract upward during loading.
Once the unit is fully inside, the installer extends the Pod's outer walls and roof to press up against the van cabin, ensuring no space goes to waste and the anchor points are all lined up and ready to bolt. Then, the unit bolts to the van, becoming a secure load that happens to contain a full living suite. Components like the overhead cabinets assemble into camping form.
Hunker estimates the whole setup process can be completed in an hour, the removal process about the same amount of time. Both processes are meant to be performed by Hunker and its authorized installation partners, so the unit isn't designed to be removed/installed back and forth by the buyer to convert from camper van to work van on a regular basis. It is, however, designed to turn the van into a permanent camper van, then easily remove if you want to retire the original base van and use the Pod in a newer van.
Instead of combining the living room, kitchen and bedroom into a single lounge space like PlugVan, or developing separate kitchen and lounge/bedroom modules like VanCubic, Hunker integrates discrete kitchen and dining lounge/bedroom areas into the same module, recreating a popular camper floor plan inside one box.
Hunker goes with a familiar kitchen block that comes complete with a portable dual-burner stove for use atop the counter or outside, a sink plumbed to an electric pump and 26.5 fresh and waste water canisters, and an under-counter Dometic refrigerator. The kitchen area also includes a cabinet and drawers, plus overhead cabinets that run the length of the module. The tiled backsplash makes for a homey touch.
The remainder of the Pod floor plan is also quite familiar from the greater camper market. The dual-bench rear dining lounge converts over into what Hunker calls a "true queen-size" bed via a lowering table top and repositioned cushions. You then have a comfy bed inside the rear double doors, complete with storage drawers and cubbies under both side bench bases.
Hunker also installs a complete electrical system via TrekMount modular mounting hardware. The package begins with a 312-Ah lithium battery and includes a 1,200-W inverter, 200-W solar charging setup, DC-DC charger, shore power hookup, USB charging ports and dimmable LED lighting. Hunker estimates roughly two days of off-grid runtime from a full battery charge.
The one glaring disadvantage of Hunker's Pod design is that it doesn't include a bathroom – in a van with plenty of space for one, particularly in a two-passenger layout like this. Hunker does offer an optional portable toilet to take care of that end of the equation, and it would be easy enough to carry along a pop-up privacy tent and maybe a portable shower system, but sacrificing a proper indoor bathroom in a camper of this size is sure to deter some shoppers from considering the Hunker Pod.
It's worth mentioning that PlugVan does offer a bathroom in its European catalog, but it's a standalone expandable tent-like unit designed to fit in the leftover space in front of its primary camper module, not a component of the module itself.
The Hunker Pod is available now for a base price of US$32,995. Buyers can provide their own van and bring it to Hunker's Denver shop for installation or they can purchase one of the full vans Hunker occasionally pulls out of the Native rental fleet and offers for sale. The company estimates that a used van with Hunker Pod will start around $55,000 while a brand-new van with Pod would be roughly $78,000. It's currently advertising a pair of low-mileage 2025 Pod-equipped Promasters for $71,995 each.
Hunker Pod options include a more flexible Lagun table, Boxio dry toilet and auxiliary heater. Options like the passenger-side window and ventilation fan require modification to the base van.
Source: Hunker
