Container House as Motorhome

Using a container house as a motorhome has advantages such as being eco-friendly and cost-effective, but issues like structural integrity and legality need to be addressed.

Advantages

• Eco-friendliness and Cost: Container-modified motorhomes promote eco-friendly concepts and are cheaper than traditional motorhomes, making them more acceptable to young people who love life. For example, there are cases where a cargo van can be transformed into a motorhome for just 80,000 or 130,000 yuan, meeting accommodation needs.
• Space Utilization: The interior space can be diversely designed to integrate living functions such as a kitchen, bed, and bathroom. Some container motorhomes have a double bed formed by a circular sofa and an electric bunk bed inside, accommodating up to four people for sleeping. The middle section is equipped with basic household appliances such as a household inverter air conditioner, induction cooker, sink, and refrigerator. There is also an independent bathroom at the rear, which, although lacking a cassette toilet, allows for simple showering and washing. Some even have special equipment like coal stoves.
• Modularity and Customization: Some motorhomes adopt a modular design, where each living area and device inside the motorhome becomes an independent module. Owners can freely install these modules in the vehicle, customizing everything from the overall layout to the color and shape of cabinets. For example, the motorhome modules developed by Van Jorn in the Netherlands allow owners to customize the interior style according to their preferences and choose pop-up roofs to increase space height and transparency.

Challenges

• Structural Stability: The structure of an ordinary container house may not meet the requirements for motorhome use and needs to be reinforced. For example, Qingdao Senlinhe Motorhome has obtained a patent for a container house with a stable structure. It forms a stable support frame through bottom and top support frames, ensuring structural stability. Moreover, the house can be folded and retracted, facilitating transportation and installation.
• Legality: Modifying a motorhome must comply with laws and regulations, ensuring that the vehicle's length, width, height, and weight meet the load standards. Generally, the necessary configurations for the motorhome can be designed into the container and installed on a truck. During annual inspections, the container can be removed to allow the vehicle to pass the inspection.
• Aesthetics and Space: There are no technical barriers to making a shelter-type motorhome. Ordinary users can use a truck to pull a container to create one, but its aesthetics are not ideal. Moreover, the domestic blue-plate C license is limited to 6 meters. Even for flat-headed light truck-type motorhomes, the available space at the rear is limited.