Do you still make New Year’s resolutions? We did this year and one of our resolutions was to finally write a post about our new Plateau XLTS. This post will be more interesting to those who are curious about the technical aspects of RV travel. You may want to read our Needs, Wants and Budget post before delving into this.

After we left the Pleasure-Way Rally in Branson, MO in October, we spent a month traveling in our new rig. We visited Cape May, NJ in late October and then traveled south to Congaree National Park in South Carolina in mid-November. We visit Cape May every year, sometimes twice a year, and this was our second visit to Congaree NP.

We noticed that even though we were traveling in a new RV, we felt right at home in the Plateau. The basic layout of the Plateau XLTS is very similar to our Ontour 2.2. Pleasure-Way has a design aesthetic that is consistent across all its touring vans, regardless of the chassis (Ford Transit or Mercedes Benz Sprinter).  Pleasure-Way vans have a large rear sofa at the back of the vehicle and when seated on the sofa the occupant has large windows on both sides and behind that provide an 180 degree view of camping location. This design brings lots of light into the rig and makes the inside bright. Bathroom and Kitchen layouts are also similar. Control panel locations and operation are the same across all models.

Feature Comparison

	Ontour 2.2	Plateau XLTS
Length	21″10″	22’9″
Width	7’5″	7″11″
Height	10′	10’7″
Chassis	Ford Transite 350 HD	Mercedes Benz 3500 cut away
Fresh water	28 gal	28 gal
Gray water	15 gal	20.4 gal
Black Water	11 gal	17.4 gal
Battery	200 Amp Hours	600 Amp Hours
Solar	300 Watt	500 Watt
Inverter	2000 Watt	3000 Watt
Air Conditioner	Domestic Penguin	Truma Avanta
Touch Screen Controls	7 inch Spider	10 Inch Spider

While the inside layout is mostly the same as our Ontour, there are lots of small improvements. Our Plateau XLTS is 11 inches wider than the Ontour. This little change allows two people to easily pass each other when moving from front to back. In the Ontour, we had to squeeze past each other in the kitchen area (this move is known as the Galley Shuffle). 

The extra cabin width also provides a 7-inch wider rear sofa as you can see in the photos below.

When extended, we have a king sized bed.

Increased interior storage space is one of the areas where the Plateau XLTS greatly surpasses the Ontour. Overhead cabinets are much deeper in the Plateau because the body of the RV is wider. The Plateau also has four drawers and four additional cabinets that were not present in our Ontour. All this additional storage allows us to put things away and minimizes clutter in the living area. Less clutter in the living area results in less stress during long trips.

We also have three exterior bays located on the exterior of the Plateau. The Ontour had no exterior storage bays as is typical with Class B RVs built on a van chassis.

One of the benefits of a slightly larger RV is that there is enough room for a dedicated shower. In our Ontour the shower and toilet were in the same space. No need to move items before taking a shower, or take our chances at a sketchy campground shower.

RV technology continues to improve and Pleasure-Way made four big changes to all of its 2024 RVs.

The additional of the Truma Aventa Eco air conditioner, which is whisper-quite compared to the standard Dometic Air conditioner in our Ontour, was a super important change. The Dometic air conditioner was loud even at its low fan speed setting. It was difficult to talk and since the air conditioner is just a few feet from our heads it was unpleasant to be in the van with the AC running. The Truma Aventa air conditioner is extremely quiet when running on medium and low speeds.

We generally don’t drive into the woods and sit inside our RV with the AC running, but there are times when we can’t avoid high heat and some cooling in mid-day is needed. Crowded campsites with lots of smoldering campfires is another reason we close our windows at night and turn on the AC. We don’t like smelling like smoke in the morning. So, having a quiet air conditioner makes a big improvement in our comfort and ability to sleep.

Because we now have a 3000 Watt inverter, the Aventa eco air conditioner will run off the lithium batteries for three to five hours. This gives us the option to turn the AC on and keep the RV cool while we are parked in a supermarket parking lot or dining in a restaurant. No more returning to a sweltering RV.

Much like the air conditioner, the generator installed our Plateau XLTS is a much quieter. The Onan 2.5 KW microlite propane generator is half as loud as the generator on our Ontour. We avoided using the generator our Ontour because of the noise. 

The entire electrical system for all of Pleasure-Ways RVs was upgraded in 2024. The 600 amp-hours lithium batteries and 3000 Watt inverter are the largest provided as standard equipment in any Class B or C RV. The batteries allow us to park anywhere and have lights, heat, hot water and use of the microwave and induction cooktop for multiple days. 

The touch screen control panels are also improved. They are now larger with battery monitoring system which can estimate how long the batteries will last under current usage. In the photo below you can see that under the current 9 amp draw the batteries should last 2 day 2 hours (upper left of display panel). In our Ontour we could only read the battery voltage and make rough estimates on how long the battery would last. We actually ran out of battery power one cold evening in Pinchot State Park when we camped in a site without an electric hookup. I thought we had enough power for the night, and didn’t want to start our noisy generator, so I didn’t top off the batteries with our generator. No battery power means no heat. It wasn’t a pleasant night.

So are we happy that we upgraded to a new RV? The answer is, absolutely! We traveled 5 months last year and we would have traveled more but a couple medical issues and Joe’s father death kept us close to home. An RV is an expensive purchase but we feel that, since we travel almost half of the year, the improvements moving from the Ontour 2.2 to the Plateau XLTS are well worth it as our new rig greatly increases our comfort and use-ability.

In case you are wondering there were two downsides to changing rigs. The cup holders in the console of the Sprinter Chassis are a combination of large and small holders. We had to purchase new water bottles with narrow bases so we could store both our hot drink cups AND water bottles in the console. In addition, the Sprinter only has USB C connections in the dash so we needed to purchase new cables for our phones.

We are hoping to take two major trips in 2024. The first is to a Pleasure Way Rally on Prince Edward Island, Canada. We plan to tour through New Brunswick and around PEI for a few months in late spring, and then head west in late summer/fall.

Now that Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s have passed, we will catch you up on some interesting places we didn’t have time to write about in the fall.

Thanks for stopping by.