Through a series of imaginative concepts we're seeing how Nissan's versatile NV series vans can be decked out for nomadically minded folks in need of working space. The latest to convert the vehicle's cargo area into a roaming workshop was cooked up with carpenters in mind, offering woodworking professionals the ability to mix their business with the pleasures of life on the road.
In 2007, Nissan's clever slide-out NV200 concept was the first example of how these vans can serve as mobile workspaces, and probably its most ambitious. More recently, we saw the company team up with the UK's Studio Hardie to fit out the interior with the bells and whistles of a modern office, including leather and chrome seats and an espresso machine.
The two have again joined forces, but with a more blue-collar style of worker in mind. Where their last project involved Nissan's NV200, this time around they've taken the larger NV300 van and turned it into a neat and mobile woodworking shop.
Unveiled at the 2019 Brussels Motor Show this week, the new NV300 Concept-van is heavy on the raw woodworking theme with unfinished timber lining the floors, walls and ample storage cupboards. Tucked into the corner behind the driver's seat is a workbench with a touchscreen computer and wall-mounted tool storage overhead, while the swiveling stool slides up and down the length of the space on rails mounted to the floor.
All that workspace wouldn't be much good without some power, so Nissan has packed a portable battery into the back of the van that can be charged via a rooftop solar panel. With a capacity of 700 Wh and maximum power output of 1 kW, Nissan calls this portable and weatherproof battery pack the Energy ROAM, and has built it using second-life batteries recovered from its Leaf electric cars.
Nissan imagines this kind of setup could fit the bill quite nicely for woodworkers constantly on the move between work sites who need to keep their power tools topped up and the creative juices flowing. Though the concept was built seemingly as a way of demonstrating the versatility of Nissan's vans, it has real plans for its portable Energy ROAM pack, which will launch in the European springtime of 2019.
You can hear from some of the folks involved in the concept in the video below.
Source: Nissan
