Transit Panoramic Announced

[Snowy]

Right now my favorite OEM is Panoramic because they really seem to have, IMHO, matched or maybe even beat Pleasure-Way on quality, beat Pleasure-Way on Technology, don’t skimp on small quality of life things like locking cabinets and drawers with dove-tails and metal parts, and have a Euro-style permanent bed/front lounge layout, which I prefer.

Panoramic recently announced that they will be shipping a new model in 2025 built on a Transit AWD chassis. I much prefer the Transit for reasons discussed widely here. The new model will also do away with propane, using a gasoline/electric Trauma air/water heater. Their announcement made reference to a better battery system to run the Trauma A/C for longer on batteries, but no specs were revealed. Also, no reveal yet on tank specs. The current word is that all specs will be revealed at a launch event in March.

Some downsides to the new model are caused by the narrow Transit chassis, turning the permanent bed 90 degrees and thus losing some space. This means they lose the pull-out pantry and, from the pictures it seems like they are losing the microwave. I personally would have preferred that they used flares, kept the crosswise bed, and regained this space. Some say that one reason for this is that Panoramic really likes *panoramic* windows. One other said that flares can leak (I don’t know how risky flares are in this regard). I don’t understand why people want a bunch of single-pane windows closely surrounding their bed, but to each his own. To me, the whole advantage of the front lounge layout is to separate living/working space, where I want it bright and sunny and with nice views, from the sleeping space, where I want it dark, cool, and quiet. I am not as intrepid as Avanti to build my own, other more-customizable offerings from Sportsmobile and small OEMs seem to focus on “adventure vans” which don’t suit my needs, and I just don’t see the ARV value proposition, so I must make compromises. This new Transit Panoramic may just be good enough for me to pull the trigger in 2025. Does anyone know any quality-minded OEMs that can build me something more to my liking than the new Transit Panoramic for less than an exorbitant cost with years-long lead times? I don’t care about picking fabrics or woods or many of the things that seem to add a lot of cost and time to ARVs offerings. I just want something well-made and as durable as possible given the constraints.

Thanks.