One of Europe’s largest contract manufacturers with a turnover of over two billion euros will produce the XBUS and Evetta for ElectricBrands in the future. This means that the StartUp has been able to win VDL Nedcar in the Netherlands, an established production partner with extensive experience, for the manufacture of its light electric vehicles.
“We are happy to have found in VDL Nedcar not only a production location, but also a financially stable, healthy and innovative company that will build our vehicles,” Ralf Haller, CEO and founder of ElectricBrands, is pleased to say, “VDL Nedcar will support us in the further development of our fleet competently and with a great deal of experience. This will ultimately benefit our customers who order or have ordered one of our vehicles.“
The Dutch car manufacturer, based in Born, has around 4,000 employees and 1,400 robots producing vehicles or parts for various car manufacturers in Europe. Since mid-2014 more than one million cars rolled off the production line at VDL’s manufacturing plant, in addition to high volumes of car parts.
VDL Nedcar is a family-owned company with its own research and development department with long-term goals in mind. VDL believes that the L7e class of light electric vehicles, which includes the XBUS and Evetta, has great potential for future mobility.
“With the vehicles developed by ElectricBrands, we can jointly contribute to shaping the future of mobility in our Mobility Innovation Centre,” states VDL Nedcar CEO John van Soerland. “A future where we carry out different work for several partners at the same time. The cooperation with ElectricBrands offers perspective, for our employees and for VDL Nedcar.“
Van Soerland underlines, “We have enough capacity to cover the current order volume from ElectricBrands, but also upcoming order peaks and long-term orders.” XBUS and Evetta are produced at the VDL Nedcar plant in Born, the westernmost point of the Netherlands not far from Aachen and Düsseldorf. “The location with good logistical connections in a central position between Germany and the Benelux countries also contributed to the decision to choose VDL Nedcar as production partner,” explains CEO Ralf Haller. The production of the Evetta with the so-called pilot series and the first delivery to the dealers is scheduled for the beginning of 2024, shortly after which the first end customers will be able to take delivery of the vehicle. The XBUS will then follow a year later.