Tim & Arne, founders of Outbase

Two childhood friends with a shared dream

“We are Tim & Arne — friends since primary school and the founders of Outbase. Our friendship started with inline skating and hanging out in Bergen op Zoom and grew into a shared mission: to make the best electric campervan there is. This is our story.”

Friendship as a foundation

Tim, trained as an interior designer and graduated in Climate & Management at The Hague University of Applied Sciences, developed a passion for architecture and design early on. At the time, Arne was working in the automotive industry, combining his technical background with sales experience, but he found his work increasingly unfulfilling. When Tim bought a building to convert into apartments — and turn the garage into his own home — he asked Arne to help. What started as a spontaneous project between friends grew into an intensive five-year collaboration. Still, something started to gnaw at Tim: he missed vision and depth in the real estate world. Things had to be different.

The beginning of Outbase

Tim decided to spend some time working from a camper and built his first campervan in the garage of his then in-laws.

“During the five-month trip with my self-converted diesel camper, I thought: this can be done smarter. More beautiful. More sustainable. Why don’t these exist yet?” – Tim

That’s when everything fell into place for Tim: his love for cars and his passion for design. At that moment, he made the decision — he wanted to do something with campers. Something basic, functional and well thought-out. No fuss, not flashy, but pure and focused on the experience. During that same trip, the name was born: Outbase. An international name, deliberately chosen with the idea of one day working beyond the borders. It had to stand for freedom, simplicity and being outdoors. In English, ‘outbase’ refers to a base camp — exactly what he wanted to create: a compact, sustainable base for people who want to explore the world.

Tim didn’t just want to convert campers; he wanted one product, one vehicle, and to use every centimeter to its fullest. Not a standard conversion, but complete custom design as a total package. And who better to ask to join than Arne? His technical knowledge and love for cars complemented Tim’s vision perfectly.

“In 2018, Tim founded Outbase and I soon joined him. In 2019, we were at the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht with two prototypes of the Dacia Dokker.” – Arne

What we do – and why we do it differently

“We don’t do conversions based on what’s already out there. Instead, we create our own design, worked out in detail for one vehicle: the Volkswagen ID.Buzz. That makes our campers unique in terms of space, sustainability and ease of use. We see the world changing. Where people once asked if you could go ‘far enough’ with an electric camper, the question has almost flipped. Customers now ask other brands if there’s also an electric version. We have to explain it less and less. Outbase has paved the way. And we’re proud of that.”

“At first, people thought: electric? You can’t get anywhere with that, right? Now they come to us specifically for our electric campervan.” – Tim

Sustainability has always been an important theme for Tim, although he still finds the word itself tricky. Back when he studied Climate & Management, hardly anyone knew what sustainability really meant — let alone that it was something actively pursued. By the time Outbase was founded, the term had already become more familiar. For Tim, it’s not just about CO₂ emissions, but about the bigger picture: the choice of sustainable materials, a responsible way of working, and the impact you have on your surroundings. Sustainability may be broad and intangible, but for Tim it ultimately comes down to one simple question: how can you, through what you do, make the world a little better?

Two characters, one mission

Tim and Arne are very different, and that’s exactly their strength. Tim is the creative mind: full of ideas, with an eye for design, always focused on improving the product and the experience. Arne is the calm one: careful, accommodating, precise and practical. He makes sure everything runs smoothly — from administration to delivery.

“Tim has a clear vision and wants to move forward. Sometimes a bit too quickly.” – Arne
“Arne is caring and calm. You can trust him.” – Tim

Tim and Arne are still learning every day. About entrepreneurship, about leading people, and about letting go.

“But our collaboration feels natural. We hardly need words. And that really helps, especially now that the company is growing so fast.”

Customer focus above all
“We want to know who you are. What you’re looking for. Why you’re choosing an electric campervan and why you’ve come to us. Every van we build carries the customer’s name, because with us, you’re not an order number. We often stay in touch with our customers — we receive photos, updates, travel stories. We’re proud to see where our campervans have been: from the Italian Dolomites to the Norwegian fjords, pretty much all of Europe has already been travelled.”

“We actually encourage you to check out other providers as well. Does that sound strange? Maybe. But it works. Our package is so complete that customers naturally come back to us. And if one time they don’t, that’s fine too. It just means our product wasn’t the right fit for that particular customer.” – Tim and Arne

And the Future?

When it comes to the future, Tim and Arne are on the same page: stay focused, strengthen the foundation of the company, and grow steadily.
New models? They will come eventually. Maybe bigger, maybe smaller. But they have to fit with Outbase and truly add something compared to the ID.Buzz. Arne envisions a new, purpose-built location surrounded by nature — a place where they can build, deliver, and inspire people all at once.

“We want to become the ‘Westfalia’ of the ID.Buzz. At first, that was a bit of overconfidence and a joke, but now we think: why not?” – Tim

Tim sees Outbase in the future as the go-to brand for electric campervans. With branches or partners in France, Italy, Germany, Scandinavia — and who knows, maybe even worldwide one day.

Want to experience it yourself?

Want to experience what it’s like to hit the road with an Outbase ID.Buzz yourself?
Come by. Look, feel, smell and ask your questions. We’ll be happy to tell you everything.