The Ethos is Entegra’s entry into the Class B market. Previously they were focused on the Class A and C market.
First, a brief history. The origins of Entegra Coach can be traced to a company called Travel Supreme, which started in Wakarusa, Indiana in 1989. They were a manufacturer of luxury fifth-wheel trailers and Class A diesel pushers. From all reports they had a stellar reputation. In 2008 the company was bought by Jayco and was rebranded as Entegra. Initially, Jayco stated that operations would remain in the 160,000 square-foot facility in Wakarusa, but that promise was short-lived. A few months later Jayco laid off the workers, shuttered the plant, and moved operations to Jayco’s company headquarters. Jayco itself was bought by Thor in 2016 (Thor also owns Aistream, Hymer, and Keystone).
The Entegra Ethos is a clone of the pre-2022 Winnebago Travato 59k and I will use the Travato as a comparison throughout this article. As a disclaimer, I own a 2021 Travato 59k. I will try to be as objective as possible but keep in mind that I likely have an implicit bias.
Entegra Coach bills itself as a luxury builder, but the Ethos is a mixed bag. There are certainly pros to it but in my opinion it doesn’t compare favorably to the Travato. On to the details.
Chassis
The Entegra Ethos is built on the Ram Promaster 3500 Window Van chassis which includes
- front wheel drive
- 280HP 3.6L V6 gas engine
- 258 lbs. feet of torque
- 6 speed automatic transmission 62TE
- 24 gallon fuel tank
- exterior length: 21’11”
- exterior height: 9’3″
To this chassis, Entegra adds Hellwig helper springs and an over-sized rear stabilizer bar. The Hellwig helper springs add another leaf spring underneath the existing leaf springs. The goal of these springs is not to increase carrying capacity–the Ethos and the Travato have exactly the same weight ratings. Rather, the goal is to improve stability and handling. This contrasts with the WInnebago Travato which uses Sumo Springs to improve handling. As far as I can tell, one is not significantly better than the other.
The Promaster is fairly popular a chassis for Class B vans. While Mercedes has recently introduced a gasoline engine as an option for their Sprinter vans, all Class B manufacturers that use a Sprinter are using the diesel version. If you have a strong preference for diesel or gasoline powered, it will help you eliminate a vast swath of Class B models. The Promaster is the most popular gasoline powered van chassis. It is used in Winnebago’s Travato and Solis lines,Thor’s Sequence and Tellaro, and Roadtrek’s Chase, Play, and Zion.
Layout
The Ethos is a rear bath, twin bed configuration. It is nearly identical to the pre-2022 Winnebago Travato 59k. The 2022 Travato has had some significant design changes. Here is the comparison and note the similarity between the Ethos and the older Travato.
For the last several years Thor, Entegra’s parent company have been putting out clones of the Travato 59k and as you can see from the image above, the Ethos has a near identical layout to the Travato. One would hope that they took that proven design and improved upon it. Let’s see if that is the case.
The galley
I apologize for not taking the items out of the sink. Fortunately the sink seems identical to that in the Travato and I can show you pictures of that (2021 Travato 59k pictures):
That should give you a good idea of the size of the sink. It’s adequate but not huge. As you can see the kit consists of a plastic basin, a dish drying rack that hooks to the glass cover of the sink, a plastic drain board, and a cutting board. In practice I carry the basin in my van since we wash dishes frequently outdoors. All the other items we leave behind in our garage. That is just one data point and you might find these items extremely useful.
The cooktop is an attractive Dometic 2-burner LP.
Below the sink is a 3.1 cubic foot AC/DC Norcold refrigerator. In contrast, the refrigerator in the Travato 59k is 4.3 cubic feet. The Travato’s refrigerator is nearly 40% larger—that is significant!
Also like the Travato, the Ethos features a convection microwave (in fact, the identical one):
In this image you also see the list price of $124,050 and the dealer price of just under $90,000. This is in the ballpark of a Travato. The list price of my 2021 Travato was a bit more than that, and I paid a bit less than the discounted price of the Ethos.
As you can see there are two drawers under the microwave. Again, that is a match with the Travato.
One feature not present in the 2021Travato (but present in a different location in the 2022) is this handy popup power tower with both 110 and USB outlets.
The Bathroom
The rear bathroom, as you may be predicting by now is nearly identical to that of the Travato 59K. As common in Class B vans, it is a wet bath meaning that the shower shares the space with the toilet and sink.
To the left of the faucets is the dropdown sink.
The bathroom doors are solid construction. This differs from the Travato 59k which has an aluminum slated doors which are prone to rattles. The bathroom also features a large cabinet and drawers:
You can see the bamboo shower mat. Also in the image, when you open the rear doors you have access to a regular, household style 110 AC outlet, a switch for the water pump, a switch for the rear light, and a quick connect for a cold water hose.
And now for the comparison with the 2021 Travato 59k. The picture above is the Ethos, the picture below is of the Travato.
You’ll notice the same 110 outlet, a 12V outlet, a switch for the rear light, a switch for the water pump, and a quick connect for the hose (the coiled blue hose is the hose for the quick connect). My mess of electrical cords is also visible. (It is also where I store my water hoses.) You’ll see that the Ethos and Travato share the Bamboo floor mat.
Here are a few more Travato pictures. The first shows the aluminum slated door I mentioned.
We rarely use this sink since the one in the galley is just steps away, but some might find it handy.
The beds
The driver’s side bed on the Ethos is 74×30 and the passenger bed is 80 x 30. These are nearly the same as those on the 2021 Travato (75×30 driver’s and 80×30 passenger) up until this year. For some reason the 2022 Travato beds are now narrower at 28″.
In contrast to the vinyl covering of the Ethos beds, the Travato has cloth:
Other than the covering, the beds of the Ethos and Travato are identical. Both have the Froli Sleep System (a set of plastic springs under the mattress):
The heads of the beds raise to a lounge position as shown in the Ethos pictures above. Both the Ethos and Travato beds convert to a larger bed by placing filler cushions between the twin beds. In the Ethos picture above you can see two long cushions on top of the bed. These are connected by a vinyl hinge. This probably says more about us then the van, but my wife and I could not figure out their function. Underneath the passenger bed (of course like the Travato) there is a large storage area accessible from above:
Interior Decor and Storage
Both the Ethos and Travato feature Tecnoform cabinetry made in Italy. There is only one decor option in the Ethos which includes high-gloss two tone cabinetry.
The Travato comes in 2 options, a high gloss one shown a few images above, and a more satin finish as shown here:
The available storage is similar to that of the Travato. This includes the overhead bins which are shown in many of the pictures above.
Two drawers under the microwave. This is shown above.There is enough room in these for miscellaneous kitchen supplies (silverware, cooking utensils, camp mugs).
The bathroom closet and drawers. To make the cabinet more useful, many people add a drawer unit, such as the Container Store’s Elfa drawer unit or a less expensive alternative, or shelving. Although not very high, the drawers in the bathroom are useful.
In the following picture you can see a single drawer at floor level, and what is often called ‘the pizza oven’, a storage space over the driver and passenger seats.
The storage bin under the passenger bed. This is fairly large and could hold a few collapsible camp chairs, a folding camp table, a Coleman store, and other outdoor items.
Hardware
Heating and Cooling
Heating is handled by the Truma Combi, that provides heat and hot water. The unit can be powered by the onboard propane or by electric. Truma is a quality brand, and the great thing about the Truma Combi is that it is very quiet. And by now you won’t be surprised to know that the Travato also has the Combi.
The Ethos also has a 13,500 BTU air conditioner.
Electrical
The Ethos comes with 2 Group 31 AGM batteries. It also comes with a 1,000 watt inverter. The van includes a 2800 watt gas Onan generator.
With this setup, which is fairly standard, if you want to run the air conditioner you either need to be plugged into shore power or run the somewhat noisy generator. Being plugged into shore power means that you will need to stay at established campgrounds that offer electrical hookups. If you don’t need to run the air conditioner this system should be adequate to camp and boondock anywhere.
Plumbing
The Ethos has a 27 gallon fresh water tank, a 15 gallon gray tank, and a 13 gallon black tank.
Exterior
Weirdness
One totally odd thing about the Ethos is that there is no fresh water tank fill on the outside of the van. The only way to fill the fresh water tank is to use an inlet that is under the mattress of the passenger side bed. In the following picture you can see the city water connection. When you connect a hose from a water spigot to this inlet, the water bypasses the water tank and provides water directly to the faucets and toilet. Normally, the tank fill would be right next to the city water connection. To the right of the city water connection is the vent for the Truma furnace / water heater.
In the following picture you can see a row of connectors including from left to right, the cable tv hookup (some commercial rv parks offer this), and the input outlet to plug in show power. Next is the black tank flush. For this you hook up a hose (not the hose you use for fresh water) and it enables you to rinse out the black tank. Next are an external 110 outlet and a port to add additional solar panels. Near the tire you see the exhaust for the generator and the pipe to empty your gray and black tanks.
Underneath the van, the yellow cap protects the LP fill and next to it the LP shut off valve. The van includes a 6 gallon non-removable LP tank. Next to that are three chrome valve handles. These enable you to winterize your van. When you are using your van in freezing temperatures, you don’t want water in your pipes, tanks, and other components to freeze. When you winterize your van, you remove all the water from it. To the right of the valves is the standard exhaust pipe for the van’s engine and to the right of that, is the storage for the sewer hose.
Windows
The good thing about the windows is that they are quite large. The view from the inside looking out is expansive. Unfortunately, there are two potentially negative things about them. One is that the part of the window that actually opens is quite small. Here is a view from the side and (sorry for the bad image) a view from the outside.
The entire windows create a nice slick look but only the small squares are the part that opens. Contrast that with the acrylic windows on a van like the Travato.
Vans are metal boxes sitting in the sun and they get hot. I would worry that the Ethos windows would provide adequate ventilation. As you can see from the Travato acrylic window picture above, these are awning style and allow you to open the windows for ventilation even if it is raining. A third plus of acrylics is that they are double paned and provide more insulation and soundproofing than traditional glass.