When you are travelling around the world of Outbound, you will need more than just free will to get around the map. Your trusty van is the lifeblood of the game, and it needs energy to move just as the player needs food to stop the stomach from growling. The van also needs a consistent source of energy to move up and down the road without coming to a halt. Here are all the ways you can power up your Van in Outbound.
Recharging the Van in Outbound
Starting out, you have a very limited number of options to bring energy to your vehicle, early on everything is set to manual, but this guide will discuss the ways to make the energy restoration of the van more automatic than manual.
Option #1: Burning Tree Logs and Fiber
The very first beginner-friendly way to bring energy to the van is by adding Tree Logs and Fiber to restore the energy status of the van. Since you will find the Tree Logs at almost every point in the map, this method is a beginner-friendly method of restoring power to the van. As good as the process is, it gets tedious over time as you will always be walking out of the vehicle, interacting with the hood of the van, and inserting the resources to fill the tank. But when you are starting out, this is the best way to restore the lost energy of the van.
Option #2: Charging Station
Charging Stations are almost always found only in remote locations, but they restore the entire energy bar of the van instantaneously. Just park the van near the station, get off, and interact with the terminal outside to restore all the power. Once the van is completely recharged, the Charging Station goes on a 15-minute break. After 15 minutes, you can come back to the Charging Station for a refill.
Option #3: Building a Solar Panel
Once you are in the desert section of the first map, you will find towers with Solar Energy blueprints. They just cost 5 scrap metals to build, and you will get a solar panel installed on the van. So during the day, you can run around as much as you want in the van without worrying about energy wastage. Since it is a solar panel, if you park the van in a cave or under a tree, the restoration system will not work. It works the same as lighting a bonfire in the rain in the game.
Option #4: Building Wind Energy
Now we switch to a different alternative energy source, the good ol’ wind. By investing 5 Fibers, you can build a Wind Turbine on the van that will obtain energy from the wind. Just like the solar panels, you must interact with the towers to get the blueprint. Once obtained, build it via Workshop, and voila, you will have a natural energy source on top of the trusty van.
Note: Unlock the base building deck blueprint to add a roof to the van, so you can install all the machines to power your van.
I will recommend getting the Wind Turbine instead of the Solar Panel, as the wind blows in the wild both day and night. Compared to solar, which is only fixed to the daytime route. Later on, you will unlock the Efficient Wind Turbine, a much better version compared to the initial turbine.
That’s it. At earlier stages, keep on exploring, and you will find many fun blueprints that will add more value than just a decorative item for your van.
