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A Highland Vans Sprinter in blue and grey topographic livery parked in winter woodland, its rear ladder, gear carrier and spare wheel visible on the back doors

Our Process

How we build a Highland van, and how you order one.

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Design

Wood veneer planks, fabric swatches and grey and white colour chips laid out on a round oak table beside an open laptop and a coffee

Every Highland Van starts as a complete digital model. Our designers build each layout in CAD down to the last hinge, which means we can show you exactly what your van will look like — and prove the ergonomics — before a single panel is cut. It’s how we use every cubic inch of a Sprinter without the interior ever feeling engineered.

Design here is never one person’s guess. Our three standard layouts have been refined every year since 2020, shaped by feedback from more than 150 owners using their vans in the real world: where they actually cook, what they actually pack, what breaks on washboard roads and what doesn’t. When you customize your build, you’re starting from a design that’s already been tested for you.

Engineering

A designer’s desk with a van interior modelled in CAD on a curved monitor, a bed-frame drawing on a pen display, and two hands working over printed drawings with digital calipers and a marker

Our team comes from an engineering background, and we run every design through a tiered review: performance and functionality, potential failure points and safety, interaction with surrounding systems, and overall integrity. It’s the discipline of product engineering applied to a house that does 75 mph.

That discipline shows up years later. Aluminum framing that doesn’t loosen, wiring you can actually service, fasteners chosen for vibration — the unglamorous decisions that determine whether a van still feels tight after 50,000 miles. It’s why we can back every build with a 3-year / 36,000-mile warranty.

Technology

The Highland Vans CNC room: a flatbed router and its dust extraction beside timber benches and a mitre saw, with the Highland Vans logo painted on the white wall

We build with CNC precision — cabinet 150 fits exactly like cabinet one — and we spec onboard technology the same way. Victron power systems with WiFi and Bluetooth let you monitor batteries, solar, and charging from your phone. Lithium battery banks and solar keep you off-grid for days. And roof-mounted Starlink delivers real internet virtually anywhere you can park.

The goal isn’t gadgets — it’s confidence. You should always know exactly how much power and water you have left, and your van should answer that question from the trailhead, not the owner’s manual.

Materials

Material samples on a grey linen ground: a wood-grain plank, a roll of dark woven upholstery fabric, a brushed aluminium extrusion, a white marble-pattern solid surface and a grey cabinet door with a chrome knob

Aluminum furniture framing instead of wood — lighter, stronger, and immune to rot. Premium components over lowest-bidder parts, everywhere the road will find them.

Durability doesn’t mean industrial. Our interiors carry a modern, sophisticated aesthetic — clean lines, natural tones, and four standard color packages to make it yours. See the full breakdown on our Materials and Finishes page.

Systems

The rear of a finished conversion with a cabinet panel removed, showing the electrical bay: blue Victron charger and inverter units, a lithium battery, fused distribution blocks and cooling fans, under a birch ply ceiling with recessed lights

Electrical, plumbing, heating, cooling — the systems are what make a van livable, and they’re where cut corners hide. We use proven, serviceable components from brands with national support networks: Victron and Lithionics power, Webasto heat, Isotherm refrigeration. Everything is installed for access, because a system you can’t reach is a system you can’t fix on the road.

Every system in every model is the same proven package — refined across 150+ builds, documented, and supported by our shop long after delivery.

How It Works

  1. CONSULT

    Start with a call or a shop visit in Elk Grove Village. We’ll talk through how you travel, land on the right layout, and spec your add-ons in a design consultation. No pressure, no deposit — just clarity. (If an in-stock van matches your spec, you can skip the queue and drive it home.)

  2. RESERVE

    Lock in your build slot with a $10,000 deposit and get your delivery window. We’ll confirm your final configuration before the build begins — 70% is due at build start (your deposit counts toward it) and the remaining 30% at delivery. If you’re financing, the deposit is all that’s required out of pocket. And since most bolt-on add-ons can be installed at any time, you’re never locked out of upgrading later.

  3. BUILD

    Your van goes through the full process above — design verification, build, systems installation, and quality control — with progress updates along the way. Typical build time: about three months.

  4. DELIVERY

    Pick up at our shop — 15 minutes from O’Hare — for a full orientation walkthrough of every system. Then drive it home as your first road trip, backed by our 3-year / 36,000-mile warranty.

Step one is a conversation

Everything above is ours to get right. The part that needs you is the first step, and it is a conversation about how you travel and what you want to carry.

Book an on-site visit, or a video call if you are not local.

Let’s Chat