The Sunday Read

A Frankenstein Monster vehicle, an update on Starlink, and more

This…uh, vehicle could be yours for under $28,000.

Aspiring to van life after Nomadland? How about off-grid RV/aircraft living?

You can’t make this stuff up.

A 1979 Fleetwood Pace Arrow RV that has had the fuselage of a Convair CV-240 welded onto it is listed on Craigslist in the San Francisco Bay Area for the bargain price of $27,995, according to The Drive

The icing on the cake? The odd contraption is “off-grid-friendly, the Craigslist sellers say: Andromeda [the name its creators gave their Frankenstein Monster of a vehicle] is ‘powered by 50 amp landline plus generator and solar power, [meaning] this would be a very unique way to live sustainably,’” reports Interesting Engineering

And just when you think it couldn’t possibly get any weirder, guess what? It does.

The construction is credited to Tony Tosta and Jason Von Straussenburg. It turns out Straussenburg is actually the alias of Roger Crona, who allegedly escaped from a Michigan prison and was at large for 36 years, writes the Santa Barbara Independent

Originally busted for altering registration plates and possession of a forged resgistration, Crona was rearrested in 2008, and was subsequently shipped back to Michigan.

Reports The Drive: “There, Crona's health failed him, and in the years since, his Andromeda has changed hands multiple times at different asking prices and in ever-degrading condition.”

Here’s a chance for you to own a genuine piece of off-grid history.

A Starlink dish in rural Canada.

An update on Starlink

Starlink will likely be out of Beta testing this summer, Elon Musk tweeted on April 15, meaning that the much ballyhooed internet satellite service will be available to subscribers at that point.

CNBC surveyed 50 Beta users across the U.S. and Canada, and found the majority are thrilled with the service. “This a game changer for rural America. I think there is a lot of people who now have options to work remotely due to the pandemic that will utilize this service,” a user in Montana told the news network.

A Canadian tester told CNBC that their area had two local high speed internet service providers, but “that the coast was far too high by comparison.

The Canadian said their area has two local “high speed” internet service providers but that the cost was far too high compared to Starlink. “Both require substantial investment in hardware (towers, dishes, etc), have pretty restrictive data-caps and do not guarantee speeds. In short, they are s---.”

The one concern Beta users expressed to the news station is that Starlink will introduce data caps following the roll-out, but for now that is only speculation.

At this time, it looks as if Starlink could easily eclipse any Canadian internet service providers when it comes to providing high-speed internet in rural communities.

Putting a price on off-grid living

The Augusta Free Press has put together a bit of a primer on how much it costs to move off-the-grid.

Regardless whether the pricing is all that different between the U.S. and Canada, some of the figures seem wonky, to say the least.

The story’s author, for example, prices solar panels for “an average-sized home in the U.S. between $11,144 to $14,696.” Most Canadians would yell bargain if they could get a system so inexpensively.

And the writer estimates built off-grid homes from $320,000 to $1.5-million. Again, those figures seem wildly off here.

Overall, the article examines the cost of different power sources, food, land, water, homes, taxes, and heat. The paper suggests an initial investment of around $300,000.

All of it should probably come with a grain of salt.

Nor does the story take into account other, real costs such as for a tractor or ATV, the cost of maintaining your lane (which is probably going to be more onerous than most people’s driveways), investing in chickens and other livestock, and renos and so forth you may want or need to do to make a house you’ve purchased your own comfortable space.

Keeping things simple at the off-grid Olive Houses in Spain.

Off-grid inspiration from around the globe

Finally, for your viewing pleasure, here are 10 off-grid homes from around the world that Dezeen has collected.

They include the Ashen Cabin in the U.S. that sits on 3D printed concrete stilts, and is “wrapped in infested ash wood that would have otherwise been burned or left to rot… to demonstrate alternative and sustainable methods of construction;” and the lovely, spare Olive Houses in Spain.

Step into my tiny off-grid pad. It’s made of the finest infested ash wood money can buy.

The latter “are a pair of dwellings that Mar Plus Ask has nestled into the mountains of Mallorca as a peaceful getaway for architects, writers and artists.

“They are built around a dense grove of thousand-year-old olive trees and large craggy boulders that jut through some of the walls. Among the utilities that help the modest structures function off-grid is a wood-fire oven and a water supply from a nearby spring.”

Enjoy.