UNICAT Expedition Vehicle MD68M MAN TGS 26.500

Hello and welcome back to the Unicat channel. We have here another nice Unicat truck and this is the one we had presented on the Bad Kissingen Abenteuer Allrad Show in 2023. It is a MD-68M model, which means the body is 6.8 meters long. The M stands for a motorbike rack and the chassis is MAN TGS 26 500 6x6, which means 26 tons gross vehicle weight ratio and 500 horsepower. Power comes with 2300 newton meter of torque. Of course, we have all-wheel drive, we have a 12-speed automatic gearbox, there is a two-speed transfer case, differential locks front, center and rear. In addition, we also have rear axle steering for extremely good maneuverability. The emission standard of this vehicle is the latest we have in Europe. It's a huge exhaust system here and a 70 liter 18 gallons AdBlue tank. The diesel tanks can hold 890 liters, which is about 235 US gallons, so that gives you a range of about 3000 kilometers. Here we have the long version of the driver's cab, very comfortable. There is even a bed or emergency seating in the rear part and then here under the body we have, as said, the exhaust system. Here we have the main fuel tank, entrance area, here is the storage, then we have the two axles with 1400 R20 tires and then we have more storage with outside kitchen here at the end of the body. And at the very end we have a platform which holds the spare tire and which can also hold two motorbikes. The motorbike and spare tire platform is now folded up, that's why the spare tire is positioned vertically. When you want to carry your motorbikes, then you lower the platform horizontally, the spare tire is underneath and you have plenty of space for two motorbikes or a quad or whatever smaller vehicle you want to carry. The whole platform comes down for loading and unloading and this is done by a hydraulic system. Of course, when you want to lower it, the rear underride guard, which is a legal requirement, has to be folded in, which you would also do when you want to go off-road. The total length of the vehicle with the platform in the upright position is 9.8 meters and when the platform is down it's 11.1 meters. The width is 2.5 meters and the height is only 3.8 meters because we have no air conditioners or anything on the roof besides the solar system, which has a peak output of 2.1 kilowatt as it's covering the whole flat roof. On the left side of the vehicle, we also have a storage box here, a smaller storage box between the axles, then here in this area is a large fuel tank and here is a Fischer Panda three-cylinder diesel generator with the output of 10.9 kilowatt. And then we are back at the driver's cab. Anything special? Yeah, maybe we have a lightning protection here, so there is a bar or an antenna, solid antenna, that you can erect to catch the lightning because it's high above the vehicle and then you can also connect a cable down to the earth to let the lightning go into the ground. So that's one feature we don't have on every vehicle but on quite a few. Oh, then additional locks, but that's pretty much it here. So, let me show you the interior of this nice MD-68 body. MD means modular and that stands for the fact that we are using a lot of standardized components from the TerraCross line of vehicles but we mix it with some individual components from other vehicles or newly designed components. Now, the beauty of this one is that it's very open and feels very spacious and I think we should look around to see that. So, one of the proven and kind of standard elements in this truck is the u-shaped seating area on a pedestal so that we have enough space for huge water tanks, batteries, inverters, all the technical stuff, being low down for a good center of gravity and being in the center of the whole vehicle for minimum vibration. After the seating area we have the entrance area but then we have a real open space. So, you can look over the kitchen, you can look into the bedroom and you only have the high cupboards and the bathroom on the right side. So, this feels very open, very spacious. We also have a ceiling height of 2.15 meters which gives you a lot of head clearance and that also makes it more comfortable and just nicer to live in. You don't feel claustrophobic in this vehicle. But still, if you want some privacy you go to the bedroom and you close the door behind you. Here in the master bedroom there is a king size bed 1.8 by 2 meters. A very comfortable mattress with suspension and heating underneath. There are storages at the sides of the bed on both sides. There are hanger cupboards all around with plenty of storage and there is a separate air conditioner just for the bedroom. So, when you close the door you only have to cool a very little area and that will take only little power. So, in the morning when you get out of bed you open the sliding door and either you first have a coffee or you go to the bathroom. The bathroom is a pretty classic layout. You have a separate shower and bathroom with a sink and the toilet on this side. Hanger cupboard with mirrors, storage underneath, ventilation system and towel dryer radiator. Between the bathroom in this area and the seating area in front we have the fridge freezer. 257 liters of cooling capacity that equals 68 gallons and we have a smaller freezer compartment of 27 liters which I think is like 8 gallons. A huge fridge, very economic, latest model, works perfectly fine here. There is also a drawer underneath for provisions and then there are more drawers here for games, for chargers, for whatever small items you always carry with you. If you love to prepare food in the vehicle then this is your kitchen. There is an additional work area in the entrance area which you can make available when you need it but otherwise you just fold it down and you still have work area here. You have the basin here and you have the induction cooker next to it. Now, there is a lot of storage in this kitchen. Started with a drawer for cups, glasses, pots. Then we have a drawer with wine glasses, well protected, plates, bowls, larger plates, pots and pans, handles for the pots and pans. Here's space for provisions and herbs in this case. Oops, this way. More storage for water bottles. The height is made to fit them perfectly. A waste bin and space for cleaning materials. Another drawer for small items. One drawer for proper knives. Can't miss in a good kitchen. Another one for single ware. Now, this is a very nice kitchen I think but in the evening when you have eaten and everything is done then you might not want to see the kitchen anymore. So what you do is you lower the water tap and then you just close this area and nothing is left from the view of a kitchen. What else should you have in a proper household? A coffee maker, a water cooker, a convection oven and last but not least a washer dryer. To stay independent from any external sources for at least two weeks there are big batteries and big water tanks installed. So fresh water we have 1400 liters. 1400 liters that's 370 gallons in four tanks in different places. We have 233 liters of grey water capacity. That's about 62 gallons and we have 170 liters of black water capacity which is 45 gallons which will last way longer than two weeks because you don't need a lot of water to flush the toilet in this very simple gravity system we are using on pretty much every truck. The electrical system consists of 12 lithium batteries each 12.8 volt 200 amp hours and that gives you a really usable capacity or energy energy is the right word of more than 24 kilowatts and that lasts for a very long time even so you have a lot of appliances here big fridge washer dryer convection oven induction cooker but 24 kilowatt is really a lot and to recharge these batteries we have different sources we have a second alternator mounted at the engine which supplies 3.4 kilowatt there is a solar system with a peak supply of 2.1 kilowatt we have inverter charges which can charge the batteries with about 4 kilowatt if in case you you have a shore power connection or if you run the fisher panda generator for heating there is a central water heating system a diesel heater which supplies hot water coolant to the radiators there are radiators in the shower in the hallway in the seating area in the master bedroom under the bed in the outside storage and even the stair box which is a little bit external has its own radiator so there is no freezing uh inside this body air conditioning one air conditioner just for the bedroom you close the door you need very little energy to keep this area cold another air conditioner here for the living area and in particular for the seating area um what else do we have uh yeah that's uh that that's the basics of course we have communication systems we have router we have internet access all that stuff that yeah that's mandatory and that's that's on pretty much every vehicle we build do um i hope you you like that vehicle as much as i do um i wanted to show it to you because it's a different layout it's super super open it's it's so cozy um it's just the right layout or one of the the layouts where you can travel for months and years uh without feeling claustrophobic inside so i hope you enjoyed the video if you like it push the button if you want to be uh informed when we have a new video then please subscribe the unicat channel thank you for watching and bye bye