Working off a few emails, perhaps taking a seated nap or stretching his feet for a moment - Benjamin Schaad can only laugh at the usual routine at the charging station.

If the compulsory break for the 100 kWh battery is too long for him, then he cooks himself a meal or goes to bed straight away.

After all, he is sitting in a Mercedes EQV with a camping conversion.

It's just too bad that he's seldom been camping lately.

Because Schaad is not a vacationer, but an entrepreneur and, as the deputy managing director of the Swiss conversion company Sortimo, has plenty to do. So far, they have mainly assembled workshop and delivery vehicles at the company's headquarters in Jegenstorf near Bern, but the boom in leisure vehicles has also changed their business. That is why they are increasingly cutting pop-up roofs in people carriers, building beds in the seating areas and kitchens in the trunk.

"So it made sense to combine the two big car trends of that time and also to convert the EQV," says Schaad and is not alone with this request. Not even half an hour further they had the same idea at Yellowcamper. And while Schaad is just presenting its first electric car for almost 140,000 francs at the Suisse Caravan Salon in Bern, they have already sold the first car in Burgdorf for a total price of a little more than 100,000 francs and the next one is in the works.

Both cars are designed similarly and use a modular system that can be adapted to individual needs. If you pull out all the stops and book all options, you will get four beds on two levels for conversion prices of around 40,000 francs and you can set up an eat-in kitchen under the tailgate - with tent walls around it in bad weather. In addition to a cool box and hob, there is also a sink, pull-out shower and, of course, storage space for provisions, dishes and luggage in the inserts. Winter campers can even store their ski equipment here.

Technically, the retrofitters make no difference between EQV and V-Class and use the same equipment here as there. Only when it comes to energy supply is at least Sortimo a little cautious. While the Yellowcamper feeds its consumers from the on-board network and thus makes use of the huge battery, they build a second circuit in Jegenstorf and prefer to keep their hands off the traction battery. Instead, the dozen USB sockets, the Schuko plugs for laptop or bicycle batteries, the parking air conditioning and the reading lamps have their own buffer storage and soon three square meters of solar cells on the roof.

It goes without saying that the electric campers are making their debut in Switzerland, of all places, for Yellowcamper boss Thomas Freiburghaus Swiss campers usually enjoy their vacation at home. And in a country that is only 330 kilometers as the crow flies from Geneva in the west to the Engadin in the east, you can get quite a long way with an EQV. Even if a few mountain ridges in between take a toll on the 400 km standard range. Just like the two hundred pounds of additional equipment that will come together despite the lightweight construction for the kitchen and bed.

In addition, you should have time and leisure to recharge at your destination, says Schaad.

Even if there isn't much more than a household socket on most campsites and the EQV treats itself there for 100 percent over two days.

But where else can you wait and drink tea more comfortably than in a motorhome?