This page is for personal, non-commercial use. You may order presentation ready copies to distribute to your colleagues, customers, or clients, by visiting https://www.parsintl.com/publication/autoblog/
Among the many changes ushered in by the pandemic year, has been an explosion in the popularity of camping. But even more so than camping trailers and RVs, rooftop automobile tents seem to be having their moment. Everyone, it seems, suddenly wants to sleep on the roof of their car. Most often, we see these tents perched atop some tricked-out overlanding rig or at the very least, a factory offroader like the Land Rover Defender or Ford Bronco. But how about a more earth-friendly option? Like, say, getting back to nature in a battery-powered Mini?
Both the battery-powered Mini Cooper SE and the plug-in hybrid Mini Countryman SE offer roof rails, a key foundation for a rooftop tent. Taking advantage of that feature, Mini offers two different rooftop tents as factory accessories, as seen here. Unfortunately, as of now, they're only available in Europe.
The intrepid nature-lovers better not go too far from civilization in the Cooper SE, since it has just 110 miles of range (according to the EPA) — although Mini optimistically suggests that many campgrounds now have EV charging points, so you can power up while winding down. For its part, the plug-in hybrid Countryman SE claims 17 miles of EV range before the gasoline engine fires up.
Should the rooftop tent craze continue even after people once again feel safe checking into a Ritz-Carlton, it would be great to see more offerings that are designed for smaller host vehicles. After all, eco-friendly cars would seem to be thematically aligned with the nature appreciation that's inherently a part of camping.
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Geico ordered to pay $5.2M to woman who got HPV from car sex
Florida man and woman crash into FedEx truck during sex act
North Carolina bill seeks to end the scourge of free EV chargers
Someone paid $265,000 for a 1998 Toyota Supra seized by police
2023 Nissan Altima gets freshened styling, new infotainment
News, Reviews, Photos, Videos delivered straight to your in-box.
Thanks for subscribing. Check your in-box to get started.
We get it. Ads can be annoying. But ads are also how we keep the garage doors open and the lights on here at Autoblog - and keep our stories free for you and for everyone. And free is good, right? If you'd be so kind as to allow our site, we promise to keep bringing you great content. Thanks for that. And thanks for reading Autoblog.
You still haven't turned off your adblocker or allowed our site. It only takes a few seconds.
You must be logged in to perform that action.
Please enter a display name