Outdoors

Yatoo concept turns your car into a camper with a tent, kitchen and bed

Yatoo concept turns your car into a camper with a tent, kitchen and bed
The Tipoo can be attached to the vehicle to create a contiguous interior space
The Tipoo can be attached to the vehicle to create a contiguous interior space
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The Yatoo concept turns the average car into a camper
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The Yatoo concept turns the average car into a camper
The Lidoo bed preserves space via a raised frame and collapsible design
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The Lidoo bed preserves space via a raised frame and collapsible design
Window inserts provide shade and ventilation
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Window inserts provide shade and ventilation
Two adults can sleep in the cabin of the car
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Two adults can sleep in the cabin of the car
The two-part kitchen unit slides out for easy use
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The two-part kitchen unit slides out for easy use
The Kinoo kitchen unit includes a cooking module and a washing module
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The Kinoo kitchen unit includes a cooking module and a washing module
The cooking module has a gas grill and storage space
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The cooking module has a gas grill and storage space
The washing module includes both clean and waste water tanks
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The washing module includes both clean and waste water tanks
The Tipoo is an add-on tent that provides sleeping for two adults or three children
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The Tipoo is an add-on tent that provides sleeping for two adults or three children
The Tipoo can be attached to the vehicle to create a contiguous interior space
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The Tipoo can be attached to the vehicle to create a contiguous interior space
The Tipoo can be configured with the vehicle in several ways
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The Tipoo can be configured with the vehicle in several ways
In addition to adding sleeping capacity, the Tipoo can be used for eating, sitting in and other activities
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In addition to adding sleeping capacity, the Tipoo can be used for eating, sitting in and other activities
Two adults can sleep atop the floor mats
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Two adults can sleep atop the floor mats
The Tipoo has a series of doors and windows
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The Tipoo has a series of doors and windows
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The French-designed Yatoo is a camper concept that looks like a lighter version of the Swiss Roombox. The three-part system equips a standard car, truck or van with the essentials for wilderness living. Owners get room to sleep, live and cook while keeping much of the vehicle's interior cargo space.

Unlike the average camper, which entails a separate trailer or roof unit, the Yatoo concept makes use of the car's interior. The Lidoo part of the system is a bed that's made up of a series of slats that compact like an accordion for travel. During the ride, the Lidoo's small footprint allows you to keep the seats upright and haul gear in the trunk. When it's time to turn in, the slats fold out into an elevated bed on top of the folded seats, offering sleeping for two. It sets up in as little as five minutes and includes two inflatable mattresses.

In addition to the bedding, the Yatoo also offers black-out window inserts for shade and ventilation. The Lidoo doesn't require any vehicle modification and assembles without any tools.

The Lidoo may be camper enough for couples, but families and larger parties will want extra room. The Tipoo part of the package is essentially an add-on tent module. It can connect to the back of the car in several configurations, and also appears like it could work as a standalone tent. It expands the amount of camping space you'll have, providing sleeping quarters for up to two additional adults or three children. It also provides a shelter for sitting, changing clothes, playing games and other activities that can't be comfortably performed in the back of a car. The Tipoo includes front and side doors, two windows, mosquito netting, storage room and removable floor mats.

Outside of sleeping, the one primary essential of camping is eating. The Yatoo handles food preparation with the Kinoo kitchenette. The unit consists of two separate modules: the cooking module and the washing module. The former includes a gas stove and drawers to store utensils and other cooking essentials. The washing unit houses a sink, 20-liter clean water tank and 20-liter waste water tank. The unit appears to mount securely inside the trunk area, and includes a combination of sliding rails and kickstand that allows you to pull it out and set it up right outside the car.

The two-part kitchen unit slides out for easy use
The two-part kitchen unit slides out for easy use

The Yatoo system suffers from the same drawback as the Swiss Roombox and other small camper systems we've seen: high price. The price depends on the specific equipment that you purchase and starts at €510 (US$625 at the time of publishing) for just the Tipoo tent and vehicle connection module. A fully equipped three-piece Yatoo prices in at more than €3,500 (about $4,300), which is moving into camping trailer territory. The Lidoo bedding unit with window inserts retails for €1,565 ($1,915), and the Kinoo kitchenette retails for €1,510 ($1,850), as described above, or €719 ($880) for just the cooking half.

While it's nice to have the option of buying the components separately, pricing still seems high. We'd love to see a comprehensive in-car sleep-cook-clean unit that isn't competing with used and low-end camping trailers. Ideally, it would be priced more like a tent with kitchen - somewhere in the mid- to high- three figures sounds about right. Since the Yatoo requires you to sleep in your car anyway, you could save a whole lot of money by buying a camping stove and sink and configuring a sleeping area on your own.

The Yatoo system is available for more than 160 vehicle models. Yatoo's distributor network is concentrated in Europe, and it doesn't appear to have a presence outside of the continent. The device has been around for a few years. It is being showcased at Germany's Outdoor Friedrichshafen show this week.

Check out the video for a thorough look at how the equipment works in the field.

Source: Yatoo

YATOO, LE chaînon manquant...

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7 comments
7 comments
BigGoofyGuy
It is cool. It would be nice if it was less expensive.
Slowburn
They want how much for a tent and propane grill?
sutski123
Hi Greg.
Mine cost:
$26500 for the Nissan NV200 van (new) $3000 for Nissan roofrack and Autohome.it roof box double bed (new) $350 for the Easycamp Daytona awning/tent (new) $6 for the velcro to attach awning to roofbox $50 for a camping Gaz BBQ $100 for a 12V 20 gallon water container with shower Total
$30,006
(Actually bought in Swiss Francs, but $:CHF is nearly 1:1 now!!)
Cheers!!
MQ
Slowburn: Well the whole package is a little more than a grill, but I get you...
Comment to everyone else: A quality tent isn't cheap..... (in the range of $500 - 1500 for good quality fabric and fixings... of course it can be done for less. (or you can pay $1000 for a crap tent).. that is why there is a range in any camping store / warehouse.)
If a $200 dome tent will do you, come and see me after a couple of years use.... (When you need to buy a new one...) or "I" can sell you one which will last for a lifetime and if it gets damaged will be repairable not throwaway.
Setting up with the gear that this system appears to have wouldn't be cheap....
Maybe "one" could do it for less than $4000 but by how much ?? ... (check wholesale prices for units..) ....and where's the profit.... and this appears nicely integrated... oh, but it probably wouldn't stand up to the rigours of long term use, or the Australian Outback..
For people like Slowburn and me, we can get by with a little less luxury than others maybe, or we are able to make / fabricate (or get done) the cabinets etc, that we want, but for people who want it Now, and don't have the time or wherewithal to put it all together, sure pay the Price, and get a sweet little "tuck-in-the-back-of-the-car" (TM) camper, oh, but remember the ad, is that it is an ad, there will probably be a little less space in the back of the car than this article leads you to believe....
Sure a tuckaway bed (not forgetting that is often the mattress which is bulky, even inflatable ones), gas burner and portable fridge is about all you need to enjoy the great outdoors, all of that fits easily in my ute, with plenty of storage space under the bed...
Bit if the eskimos are buying, I will also sell them ice.
Zdaxxy™
Too expensive for what it is and I hope whatever you are driving can make it to the camp site. If not then you will be lugging all that and your vehicle on your back.
Joe F
MD, where are you shopping? $500 is a solid quote - for a super high tech, lightweight tent. Even then it's high. You can easily get a tent that's built by a top manufacturer, bigger than the one mentioned, and will last for years or decades for well under half the price you're quoting. Not for nothing, but the tent pictured doesn't look all that high quality, it looks like it doesn't even have floor. I'd be happy to see you after a couple years of use in my $150, four man dome tent, what now?
Joe F
Oh...the rest of the comment..... You can lay out in some cars no need for a bed. You buy a decent stove for $100, a Coleman hot water tap for like $250, an air mattress for $50 and you have a less fancy package with everything above for about $400. Even if you accept your $500 tent price your still at less than a quarter of the price. Not as cute of a package, but it's definitely cheap enough to make it worth the little extra shopping time. Now you can use that extra three grand for better equipment, other accessories, gas and trips. Heck, buy a grill, Kobe steaks and nice bottle of wine to celebrate your savings!!!