Rotterdam-based Spijkstaal makes industrial tractors, but is also starting to move into electric urban distribution. And that does fit with the company's SRV past, thinks deputy director Geoffrey Jacobs.
Heerenveen, in the late 1980s. My father drove a Talbot Solara, my mother a Renault 4. Both cars were green, one light, the other dark. We lived in a semi-detached house, within walking distance of the elementary school, opposite a forest, a soccer field and a nursing home. The nearest supermarket was called Centra, but was about to become C1000. "No frills, that makes a difference.
For the weekly groceries, my mother took the Renault, but the milk and yogurt came from the SRV man. I don't remember what the bell of his mobile store sounded like, but I do remember that on certain days there would suddenly be a rack of bottles in front of our door. Glass bottles they were, with those aluminum "hats" on them. Blue for milk, green for yogurt. The SRV cart always jingled as it pulled up: the sound of empty bottles in crates, stacked on a rack at the back. He was a rolling neighborhood center, because inside, not only eggs, cans of soup and gelatin leaves passed over the counter, but also the latest gossip from the street. To my little brother and me, those rumors completely passed us by. We baited only one thing every week: the two soft banana slices that the SRV man sneaked us.
Geoffrey Jacobs has to laugh at the memories. "It's nostalgia," he admits. "A lot of people know it, but I think it kind of stops at my generation, the forties." He gestures to our photographer, who has just passed his twenties. "Your generation doesn't say it as much anymore, probably?" Noel nods drily, "I know the SRV wagon, though." He lives in the far south of the country, where mobile stores still operate even today.
With the rise of the supermarket and the disappearance of the housewife, their numbers have fallen dramatically over the decades, from some two thousand in 1970 to less than a hundred today. In corona times there was a brief revival in their popularity, especially in the village centers of Groningen, Friesland, North Brabant and Limburg, but I'm sure it won't be long before supermarket apps and flash delivery companies kill the concept. "Spijkstaal sold its SRV plant a long time ago to Rengocar in Sint-Oedenrode, which still does maintenance on moving stores," Jacobs says. "Those things can't be broken. That's great for the person who buys such an old Spijkstaal, but for us as a manufacturer it was less so at the time, because we wanted to make numbers. But we owed that solidity to our name. We are called Spijkstaal, not Spijkplastic."
The company, which went bankrupt in 2015 and was acquired by forklift rental company Peinemann, now mainly supplies electric tractors to industry. Jacobs lists, "We sell them to the army, the flower auction, airports, hospitals, KLM, but also to Daf, Scania, Lamborghini, Mercedes, Porsche, Suzuki, Volkswagen and Volvo. You were at Audi in Hungary last week? That's where our tractors are also driving around the factory." Jacobs points to a compact three-wheeler in the assembly hall. "This one can pull eight tons. It has a 10 kW electric motor in the back and is equipped with a lead-acid battery. Why not lithium-ion? Because we need the weight on the rear axle for traction. A lead-acid battery is four times heavier than a lithium-ion battery. Thereby, the charging speed is not so important. With this Spijkstaal 308, you take out the empty battery in a minute and put in a full one."
Jacobs puts his hand on the tractor's black "roll bar. "This one is for Moët & Chandon. Champagne carts are hung behind it. It stands a little higher on its wheels and is equipped with all-terrain tires, otherwise it wouldn't get the bottles up from the cellars. It's very wet and slippery down there. We put this bracket on it for safety, so the driver doesn't get all the bottles in his neck if something happens." Moët & Chandon has ninety Spijkstaal tractors and will soon get fifty more. "Those are relatively small numbers," Jacobs reports. "You have to look at it this way: for every hundred forklifts an industrial customer uses, he has two tractors. At Porsche in the factory, for example, there are only twenty driving around. They have to be simple and reliable, because they are used day in and day out. Such a thing can easily last thirty years." Jacobs laughs. "That's not a good business model, no. That's why we like the fact that more and more customers are saying, 'Can't we rent those tractors from you?' Then we take them back after five years and give them new ones. That way production can continue. The used ones we refurbish and rent or sell, sometimes to countries like Cuba or the Ivory Coast, where they start a second life."
Jacobs notices that our attention is drawn to a large, dark gray hulk, reminiscent of a military vehicle. "With this, we won a tender," he grins. "This electric vehicle is for the Dutch army and can push and pull Leopard tanks. We are going to build thirteen of them. It is based on our aircraft tractors, but twice as long and much heavier: about 20,000 pounds, again for traction. It has four-wheel steering and a cab that can raise a meter and a half, because when you push a tank with this, you have to be able to see over it. The seats and dashboard can be rotated 180 degrees. See, you press this little button and then turn the steering wheel. It also comes with a 100-pound tow bar, which can be put on the rear deck with this crane. Now they still do that in the army with four men. Once someone lost his toe."
In electric city distribution, in which Spijkstaal also operates, not only the competition is fierce, but also the opportunities, Jacobs believes. As of January 1, the bpm exemption for fuel-engined commercial vehicles will expire and fourteen municipalities are introducing zero-emission zones. These are not entirely zero-emission, because for the next two years Euro 5 vans built before 2025 will remain welcome in inner cities. From 2028, the problem for entrepreneurs will become more serious, thinks Roy Driessen of leasing company Ayvens, who joined our conversation at the invitation of Spijkstaal. The former LeasePlan is working with the manufacturer and has included the new Iona XS in its lease offerings. Is it taking it by storm? "The response to light electric commercial vehicles is still hesitant," Driessen has to admit. This is partly because the market is not yet mature, he says, with new suppliers springing up like mushrooms and not all of them having their after-sales in order. Still, the commercial vehicle segment is on the verge of a turnaround. "We are seeing a huge run on diesel vans this year. In December we will probably hit the 100,000 registrations mark, whereas well over 60,000 is normal." That peak will be followed by a trough in 2025, Driessen expects, with a much larger share of electric. "We will be in a situation where the purchase price of an electric bus is equal to that of a comparable diesel model and the total cost of ownership is even lower. In three years, many entrepreneurs will have to, because the number of municipalities with a zero-emission zone will grow from fourteen to twenty-eight. In cities, public space and air quality are becoming increasingly important. Last mile delivery will become even more important than now, with hubs on the edge of the city where goods are taken for distribution with light electric vehicles."
Spijkstaal hopes to cash in on it, including with the Iona XS. The L7E vehicle has a limited top speed of 75 km/h, reaches a maximum of 200 kilometers and is built in China by motorcycle manufacturer Jonway. "An Iona is shipped like an Ikea construction kit," Jacobs says. "We assemble the vehicle here. That takes about a day." He likes to cite the link between the SRV wagon and the Iona XS because they are both a form of electric urban distribution, but business owners only look at the cost: what's in it for me? "A bit of history certainly helps," Jacobs objects, "including with the Plus supermarket chain, to which Spijkstaal has supplied several Iona's. 'Spijkstaal back in the streetscape,' they say themselves." But the connection to the SRV wagon still bothers Jacobs a bit. "If you drop the name Spijkstaal, people immediately think of the old days, when we were visible in almost every street. That has to change. We are a modern company, making modern products. Our history has given us great name recognition. But now we need to link that to our current vehicles. That's my goal."
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