AORAKI

The Aoraki is the entry point into the Highland Vans lineup, starting around $145,000. It’s designed for solo travelers and couples who want a turnkey adventure rig without stepping up to a 170” footprint or a flagship price.

The whole layout is biased toward gear-hauling and easy day-to-day driving: Murphy bed with a big garage in the rear, 144” wheelbase that parks in normal spaces. If your trips are weekends and weeks (not months), and you’d rather spend money on the build than the square footage, this is the one.

Standard configuration is 2 sit / 2 sleep. The Murphy bed is a short queen, and you sleep two adults comfortably.

If you need extra seating, we offer an optional package that brings belted seats up to 4 sit / 2 sleep. Sleeping stays at two — the 144” Aoraki’s roof can take a rooftop tent OR a rooftop A/C, but not both. A build with a tent takes an undermount Cruise and Comfort air conditioner instead of the roof-mounted one, so you keep the air conditioning and gain two sleeping places.

Every Aoraki comes standard with a Wrappon Sunny self-sealing dry-flush toilet, housed in a dedicated storage cabinet. The cabinet holds the toilet plus storage drawers, so you’re not giving up usable interior space to a wet room.

Pro builds add an exterior shower. Keeping the shower outside is a deliberate tradeoff: it keeps the rear of the van free for the garage, and it’s plenty for the trip lengths an Aoraki is built around.

We offer the same two power packages on every Highland Vans build:

• Core — 5 kWh EcoFlow system, no solar panel, recharges via the factory alternator. Good for shorter trips and owners who do a meaningful amount of driving each day.
• Pro — 8.4 kWh Lithionics system + 300W solar panel, plus a dedicated alternator for fast recharging. Built for longer off-grid stretches and A/C use without daily recharging.

The 8.4 kWh Lithionics upgrade is also available à la carte on a Core build if you want the better battery without going full Pro.

Honest answer: it depends a lot on weather, A/C use, and how often you cook on the induction cooktop. Rough ranges:

• Core (5 kWh EcoFlow, no solar): a couple of days of careful use, then drive somewhere to recharge via the alternator. Fine for weekenders.
• Pro (8.4 kWh Lithionics + 300W solar): about 3–4 days in good sun, with normal cooking and modest A/C use. Push A/C harder or sit in the shade and that comes down.

In practice, water is the binding constraint and power is not, because the two run out differently. Run the engine and the alternator puts charge back wherever you are parked. Water means finding a fill station. The Aoraki Pro carries 35 gallons fresh and 28 gallons grey, so most owners are looking for water before they’re worried about the battery.

For two travelers in the Aoraki Pro, the 35 gallons of fresh water will typically last about 4 to 6 days.

This range assumes:

• Minimal Showers: Relying on the exterior shower only when necessary, or using public showers at camp grounds.
• Water-Saving Dishes: Using minimal water for washing dishes or relying on paper goods.
• Normal Cooking/Drinking: Standard water use for coffee, cooking, and drinking water.

If you are very conscious of water use, you can potentially stretch it out closer to a full week. Conversely, if you take frequent, leisurely exterior showers, you could drain the tank in 2-3 days. Ultimately, the Aoraki Pro’s 35 gallons fresh / 28 gallons grey capacity is designed for those 4-6 day stretches between refills, which is why most owners find they need to find water before they need to worry about the battery.

Typical loads we see:

• Two mountain bikes (with front wheels off, depending on size)
• Skis, snowboards, and boots for two
• Climbing rope bags, rack, and a couple of crash pads
• A dog crate plus food and gear

With the Murphy bed up, Aoraki maximizes the Sprinter cargo van’s potential, offering over 6 ft of vertical storage and making it a true dual-purpose vehicle.

Yes that’s a big part of why the 144” footprint exists in the lineup. It parks in standard spaces, fits in most surface lots, and feels like a normal Sprinter to drive once you’re used to the high-roof height – 10ft clearance.

The honest constraint is garage clearance. A high-roof Sprinter won’t fit in most home garages regardless of what’s on the roof. If you need a vehicle that lives under a low garage door, no van conversion is going to work for you.

For street parking, work commutes, and grocery runs, plenty of Aoraki owners use it as their only vehicle.

Yes, and you keep the air conditioning. The 144” roof on the Aoraki takes a rooftop tent or a rooftop A/C and not both, so a build with a tent moves the air conditioning to an undermount Cruise and Comfort unit under the van. It is priced with the rest of your build rather than off a list, because what it takes depends on the layout.

Tents make sense if you camp mostly in cooler climates or you occasionally bring a guest and want a second sleep spot. Every model can carry both. The Parbat’s 170” roof is the only one that holds the tent and the air conditioner together; on a 144” the air conditioner goes underneath instead.

Yes the layout works well for dogs. The rear garage gives a dedicated spot for a crate, a food/water station, and the gear that comes with traveling with an animal. With the Murphy bed stowed, the floor is open enough for a big dog to actually move around.

The Webasto diesel heater keeps the cabin warm in cold weather, which matters more than people expect for dogs sleeping at floor level. The Isotherm 130L fridge/freezer has room for raw food, frozen treats, or whatever your dog actually eats.

Both are 144” builds at similar-ish price points, so the choice usually comes down to how you’ll actually use the van.

Pick the Aoraki when:

• You’re traveling solo or as a couple and don’t need to seat more than two
• You want the rear cargo space a Murphy bed enables
• You’d rather have a dedicated bed than a convertible dinette

Pick the Kinabalu when the van also has to be your everyday family vehicle — soccer practice, school runs, weekend trips with the kids. It seats four, has a hangout-friendly dinette in the rear, and offers a TV/game console option the Aoraki doesn’t.

The Parbat starts around $170,000 vs the Aoraki’s ~$145,000, so the question is what that ~$25k buys you. Choosing the Aoraki means giving up:

• More interior space. (Parbat is based on the Sprinter 170” while Aoraki is based on the 144” chassis)
• An interior shower cabin (the Aoraki’s exterior handheld shower comes with the Pro)
• The ability to run a rooftop A/C and a rooftop tent at the same time (the Parbat’s roof is the only one that carries both)
• A standard middle-of-van dinette with two facing benches (Parbat has it, Aoraki doesn’t)