A VAN FOR AVANTIS
[BIZ: Avantis, April 27] The proposal is for a small-scale plant, representing an investment of EUR 20m, and employing 120, to produce 5,000 vehicles annually. The van will cost between EUR 16,000 and EUR 20,000 and will be suitable for downtown deliveries. Prototypes are already in existence and the design comes from the Schmuhl Company in Austria. EUR 23m has already been invested in the project and DuraCar has made an advance sale of 4,000 vehicles to a German leasing company, according to the report. Innovan is one of a series of ideas, deriving from the ‘Energy Hill’ project which covers a number of sustainable energy proposals, scheduled for Avantis. The next issue is funding; and, mention has been made of a public-private construction. The new coalition in the Limburg (NL) Provincial Government is working on a special development fund, according to the report. This fund is also set to profit from an EUR 92m pay-out from the energy company, Essent.
Peter Kamps writes in ‘Dagblad de Limburger’ that the Lanaken-based, Dutch investor, Paul Hamm, a former DSM executive, and Peter Haane, the recently retired General Manager of the South Limburg Chamber of Commerce, are planning to set up a plant to manufacture environment-friendly, electric delivery vans at Avantis, the cross-border Science and Business Park between Heerlen and Aachen.
The project is scheduled to come on line within two years. The idea comes from The DuraCar Holding Company, a joint undertaking of E-concern, The Belgian Investment Company OAK and Paul Hamm himself [Incidentally, DuraCar and Innovan are names that come up in China and Australia respectively. Ed.]
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