Avan Cruiseliner vs Ford Ranger

What's the difference?

The Avan isn’t for everyone, although usually when I speak to owners, they’re a passionate lot who love their campers. 

I really like how easy this is to set up and pack up, and the level of comfort a solid-walled camper offers. They don’t feel very large inside, mainly thanks to the sloping roof, and that’s where something like the Jayco Penguin just wins out. 

But if you can sacrifice that ‘feeling’ of space, this is a highly featured camper with a good amount of rough-road ability.

The Ford Ranger PHEV is an impressive plug-in hybrid ute. Its positives – including equipment, comfort and capability as well as acting as a novel power source for your job-site or campsite – will appeal to those who might otherwise prefer a diesel Ranger, but it comes at a cost. The Ranger has a bigger price-tag than the BYD Shark 6 and GWM Cannon Alpha, and offers less than those two competitors in terms of battery capacity and electric-only driving range. The Ranger brand has a strong following in Australia though, and the plug-in version will likely attract its fair share of fans.

Almost no-one builds an 11-foot caravan any more, and hasn’t since the 1960s, probably, but that’s essentially what the interior of the Cruiseliner is like. 

Small and pokey as it is, though, it’s not impractical and not even uncomfortable. With a bed at the back, kitchen in the middle and dinette at the front, it’s got all the basic elements for comfort and because of the steep pitch of the roof, there’s plenty of headroom where it’s needed most. 

It’s actually quite an efficient little space for two people, and that’s demonstrated in the storage that’s available. Almost all of it is easy to get to – except the cupboard under the table – and some of the biggest areas can be accessed from inside or out.

The Ranger PHEV retains what’s good about the ‘normal’ Ranger: a practical and comfortable interior with busy tech.

In fact, the Ranger’s interior has become so familiar over the years that. with its clean layout and user-friendly setup, it’s an easy space in which to spend many hours.

The Sport gets leather upholstery and plenty of soft-touch surfaces mixed in with the life-ready durability of plastic sections.

Upfront, the aforementioned 12-inch touchscreen system is a labyrinth of menus and sub-menus, but it’s easy to get your head around if you give yourself enough time to figure out where everything is.

If it’s charging you’re after there are USB-A and USB-C ports upfront and a wireless charging pad.

Storage? There’s a centre console receptacle, bottle holders in the doors, and cupholders upfront, and in the back-row armrest.

This Ranger’s front seats are as comfortable as usual: supportive and adjustable in numerous ways to suit the user – power-adjustable for the driver, manual for the front-seat passenger.

There’s plenty of head room in this cabin, even with the optional ceiling-mounted panel of auxiliary switches fitted to our test vehicle to offer aftermarket-style operational versatility.

The rear seats are, as expected, not as comfortable as the front seats but are more than adequate. Passengers back there have access to cupholders in the fold-down armrest, as well as an air-con control panel, USB-A and USB-C ports, a 230V power outlet, and dual air vents in the back of the centre console.

As for the tub, it’s 1605mm long, 1520mm wide (1217mm between the wheel arches), 498mm deep and has a listed load height of 878mm.

For securing loads, it has four tie-down points, and the Adventure pack’s cargo management system (moveable tie-down points in rails on the tub’s inner sidewalls).

It also has two 15A power outlets (3.45kW each) in the tub, connected to this Ranger’s Pro Power On-Board system which uses the battery pack to provide power through those points, and it can provide up to 6.9kW of output via three 240V plugs and a 10-amp outlet inside the cabin with 2.3kW of output – for a total capacity of 6900W.

This Ranger does not have a 12V outlet in the tub.

While the raised tub floor reduces the tub’s packability and the battery weight affects payload, the benefit here is that you can use the Ranger as a job-site or campsite generator, letting it run/charge the battery even while the vehicle itself is switched off and locked.

You can charge the Ranger at home – a Mode 2 home charging cable is supplied – using a standard 240V wall socket. The 11.8kWh battery takes about seven hours to charge on a 10A outlet, or about four hours on a 15A socket. I charged it from 0 to 68 per cent in about five hours off 10A power at home.

The Ranger PHEV does not offer DC fast-charging, but you can use EV Charge mode when you’re driving and away from power as that effectively turns the petrol engine into a generator: great for when you want to use the onboard Pro Power set-up to run 240V appliances on your work site or in camp.

This ute’s optional full-size spare is mounted in the tub so that also impacts the tub’s packability, but you could always relocate – to the headboard or on the roof – if you get the urge.

The Cruiseliner Adventure Plus was great to tow. The low weight and low roof height reduces drag and it’s very stable on the road. For a little while, Avan was importing its suspension from overseas, and the system had a few teething problems. Now the Adventure Plus is fitted with Australian-made AL-KO Enduro independent coil-spring suspension, which is a very reliable and high-performing package. 

Although this is the ‘off-road’ version of the Avan, the company’s ‘off-road’ policy is very conservative, and it recommends this only for gravel roads and water crossings no deeper than the bottom of the chassis. 

The off-road pack does go a little further than Jayco’s Outback pack, though, as Avan includes and off-road hitch, upgraded drawer runners and wall hinges, over and above the upgraded suspension and chassis. 

From the get-go – after climbing in via chunky side steps and using a substantial grab handle for assistance – the PHEV offers a very similar driving experience to the ‘normal’ Ranger in terms of handling and ride quality.

And that’s to say, impressive.

It’s composed on the road with smooth acceleration and response through its engine-and-electric-motor setup and it’s also very quiet, courtesy of the EV side of operations.

The reach-and-rake adjustable steering has a nice balance to it and though this Ranger is a heavy vehicle and not particularly dynamic on-road, it’s an easy-driving ute.

The hybrid system has four drive modes – Auto EV, EV Now, EV Later and EV Charge – which all pretty much do what you think they do. It quickly becomes obvious the Ranger’s electric-only driving range is reached around the 30-35km mark. You can recharge the battery through regen braking and selecting the ‘EV Charge’ mode.

So, it’s decidedly smooth, comfortable and refined on-road, but how does it perform off-road?

The standard Rangers are very capable 4WDs, so there’s no need to doubt the PHEV’s bush-ability.

It’s a big ute with a 12.9m turning circle so it takes some considered driving to work it through the bush, especially if tracks are grown-over, but it handles most off-roading scenarios with aplomb.

The suspension setup – independent, double wishbones, and coil springs at the front and live axle with leaf springs at the rear – yields soft, mostly controlled ride and handling, but this ute becomes somewhat unsettled though more severe ruts, corrugations and mudholes.

The full-time 4WD system gives the driver the option of selecting 4A (four-wheel drive auto, centre diff unlocked) which means you can drive it in 4WD on sealed/high-traction surfaces without risking transmission wind-up.

The Ranger’s combination of off-road traction control, driving modes, dual-range transfer case, and rear diff lock make it very effective in the dirt or on sand.

While its ground clearance (listed as 228mm), off-road angles (approach: 30.1 degrees, departure 24.7 and rampover 20.6 degrees) won’t set any serious 4WDer’s imagination on fire, if it’s driven well this Ranger can cope with a vast scope of off-road challenges.

With a wading depth of 850mm we had no strife driving through a series of knee-deep mud holes on our test track.

I drove up and down several steep rocky hills without the need to lock the rear diff, and this Ranger did it with ease and control.

Engine braking in this hybrid is lacklustre, but thankfully hill descent control makes up for some of that.

The bonus with this ute though is that you can drive it in 4WD high-range in 'EV Now’ mode, which offers up instant torque – there’s no messing around trying to get your revs up – and that means there’s plenty of oomph to tackle hill-climbs.

In general 4WDing, there’s more than adequate torque available and it’s delivered in an even-handed manner. And the Ranger’s suite of off-road-focussed driver-assist tech is comprehensive and effective.

Even the Ranger’s all-terrain tyres (General Grabbers) are decent enough, though better suited to light to moderate off-roading than hardcore 4WDing.

In terms of load carrying and towing capacity, the Ranger PHEV Sport has a listed payload of 934kg (at 2566kg kerb weight, or 805kg payload at 2695kg maximum kerb weight) and is rated to tow 750kg (unbraked), and 3500kg (braked).

For comparison, the BYD Shark’s payload is 790kg, unbraked towing capacity is 750kg and braked towing capacity is 2500kg; while the GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV has a payload of 685kg, unbraked towing capacity of 750kg and braked towing capacity of 3500kg.

Remember, start adding people, gear and pets – not to mention aftermarket accessories – and you’ll swiftly be over legal limits. Always keep those figures in mind – gross vehicle mass, payload etc. – because all of those numbers come in handy when you're trying to figure out how much you can legally carry onboard your vehicle.

GVM (gross vehicle mass) on the Ranger PHEV Sport is 3500kg and its gross combination mass (GCM) is 6580kg.