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Zuzu the Isuzu Housetruck Is Packed With Surprise Features, Fully Off-Grid

Tiny living might be just a fad for many YouTubers and everyday people hoping to find relief from the stress city life brings about, financial and otherwise, but for Jude, it’s a way of life she couldn’t imagine herself without.
Isuzu housetruck goes by Zuzu, offers all the comforts of home and off-grid capabilities 15 photos
Photo: Jude's Tiny House Truck Travels (Composite)
Isuzu housetruck goes by Zuzu, offers all the comforts of home and off-grid capabilitiesIsuzu housetruck goes by Zuzu, offers all the comforts of home and off-grid capabilitiesIsuzu housetruck goes by Zuzu, offers all the comforts of home and off-grid capabilitiesIsuzu housetruck goes by Zuzu, offers all the comforts of home and off-grid capabilitiesIsuzu housetruck goes by Zuzu, offers all the comforts of home and off-grid capabilitiesIsuzu housetruck goes by Zuzu, offers all the comforts of home and off-grid capabilitiesIsuzu housetruck goes by Zuzu, offers all the comforts of home and off-grid capabilitiesIsuzu housetruck goes by Zuzu, offers all the comforts of home and off-grid capabilitiesIsuzu housetruck goes by Zuzu, offers all the comforts of home and off-grid capabilitiesIsuzu housetruck goes by Zuzu, offers all the comforts of home and off-grid capabilitiesIsuzu housetruck goes by Zuzu, offers all the comforts of home and off-grid capabilitiesIsuzu housetruck goes by Zuzu, offers all the comforts of home and off-grid capabilitiesIsuzu housetruck goes by Zuzu, offers all the comforts of home and off-grid capabilitiesIsuzu housetruck goes by Zuzu, offers all the comforts of home and off-grid capabilities
Jude has been traveling and spending most of the year on the road for more than a decade. She’s what you might call a vanlifer, or at least she got her start as one, until she eventually grew tired of the cramped space available and always being cold because the conversions she had, Nissan Civilians both, weren’t properly insulated. As of 2020, Jude is the owner of a housetruck dubbed by the NZ media the most awesome tiny house on a truck in the country.

The title isn’t an official one, but it’s well-deserved. Zuzu, which is what Jude calls her home, is a housetruck that offers real home-like comforts, an airy interior packed with surprise features and functionality, full off-grid capabilities, and a quality of build that you’d be hard-pressed to find in most tiny homes. Zuzu is a beauty, is what we’re saying, and is well worthy of your time and attention.

Because Jude had already spent so many years on the road, she knew what she wanted from her permanent mobile home when she upgraded from a campervan, and it was not a campervan. After toying with the idea of a tiny house, she decided against it: she had no land to put it on and no desire to do so, and she hated the thought of towing. A truck was much better for her than a trailer, so a housetruck it would have to be.

Isuzu housetruck goes by Zuzu, offers all the comforts of home and off\-grid capabilities
Photo: Bryce Langston / Living Big in a Tiny House
That was the easiest part, as Jude finds out later. Zuzu wouldn’t be completed for another 2+ years, during which time she worked with Francois Guittenit of Le Workshop, who adapted the Takaka tiny house model to sit on a truck instead of on a trailer. It was the first time he ever did something like this, and given how challenging the process was, it will probably be the last as well. A brand new Isuzu NPR 450L was chosen as the basis, so Jude wouldn’t have to worry about breaking down on the side of the road or having to pay for repairs.

Getting the tiny house mounted onto the truck wasn’t difficult, but designing it to Jude’s exact specifications and then getting it certified was. For one, Jude had asked for dual sleeping berths and there were certain things she had decided she wouldn’t give up on. Secondly, to register Zuzu as a campervan, it had to fit certain dimensions, which the final build exceeded by a hair.

In the end, after a lot of back and forth and alterations, Zuzu was completed. And what a spectacular build it turned out to be: if you’re looking for your one-a-day tiny house inspirational story, let it be this one. Using the boxy interior to the maximum, Guittenit turned it into a very comfortable and beautiful home, with a full-size kitchen and bathroom, plenty of space bathed in natural light, plenty of storage, and the ability to go off-grid for extended periods.

Isuzu housetruck goes by Zuzu, offers all the comforts of home and off\-grid capabilities
Photo: Bryce Langston / Living Big in a Tiny House
The highlights of Zuzu include the rear picture window and the narrow bench by it, which serves as Jude’s reading spot, and the pulley bed over it, integrated into the ceiling. At night, when she has guests, Jude can lower the bed over the foot of her queen-size bed, and they all share the space that is the living room by day.

Jude’s bed is hidden under the raised floor, so it’s out of sight during the day. On that elevated platform is the kitchen and the bathroom, both residential in size and finishes, a small nook with a wood-burning stove that heats up the place, and storage. There’s ample storage both in the cupboards and wardrobes, and underneath the floor, though the latter space is mostly taken up by batteries.

Zuzu is fully self-contained, with 800 W of solar panels on the roof, four deep-cycle batteries of 250 Ah each, and a converter that charges the batteries when the engine is running. In the worst-case scenario, Zuzu can also draw power from the mains, through an RV-style hookup. There are three separate water tanks underneath, 200 liters (53 gallons) of freshwater, gray and black, with storage for the gas containers for the stove and oven on the side.

Isuzu housetruck goes by Zuzu, offers all the comforts of home and off\-grid capabilities
Photo: Jude's Tiny House Truck Travels
With a very clean, almost minimalist vibe thanks to the cedar cladding, ash floors and all-wood cabinetry, Zuzu is also very practical. In the video tour below, Jude explains how she wanted every space to have multiple functionality, from the living area that becomes a bedroom, to the passenger seat in the cabin that is also “the shed” for extra stuff and a clothesline, and the scissor steps that double as a stool where she drinks her morning coffee.

Since Zuzu was done on commission as a special project – and a custom one, at it – its price tag is to match, and you must have anticipated this. Jude says she started out with a budget of NZ$100,000 (US$61,700 at the current exchange rate), but the final build was NZ$185,000 (US$114,100), including the NZ$80,000 (US$49,300) she paid for the truck. But the lifestyle she gets to enjoy is worth it, and she wouldn’t change a thing about any of it.

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About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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