Quantron: from conversions to all-in-one solutions supplier

In Germany, Quantron AG has revealed further details of its future plans at a press conference marking the end of a four-week practical test of the electric conversion Mercedes Econic-based waste collection vehicle.

The company plans to move beyond being a commercial vehicle conversion company to becoming a full-range supplier of complete electrified solutions and going public.
The resulting entity is to be organised in the business areas Q-Aftersales, Q-as a service, Q-Bank and Q-Insurance. Viewed across all these sectors, Quantron AG expects a turnover of 1.2 billion euros in the next five years. The management board plans to float Quantron AG on the stock market by the end of 2021.

Quantron itself was founded in 2019. The idea for the company was born under the company Haller based in Gesthofen, Germany. Quantron began as an Iveco contract partner and commercial vehicle specialist providing versions of the Iveco Daily converted to hybrid or electric drives. The business soon grew beyond conversions (also of trucks and buses), and as early as November 2019, an exclusive agreement was concluded with the Turkish bus manufacturer Karsan for the distribution of the Jest Electric and Atak Electric buses in Germany. This April, less than 12 months after its foundation, Quantron became the sales and after-sales partner for commercial vehicles and industrial applications for CATL in Europe.

Today, Quantron offers electric commercial vehicles from 3.49 to 44 tonnes, with the aim of providing customers with individual advice before conversion. “Among other things, we analyse in advance exactly what range is really needed in daily use in order to avoid over dimensioning the battery capacity and thus unnecessary costs for the customer,” says Quantron CEO Andreas Haller.

The company is headquartered in Augsburg, in the German state of Bavaria and currently has the capacity to retrofit around 5,000 commercial vehicles per year. The company is now aiming to expand this to 8,000 vehicles, including through its own production facility in Augsburg and the establishment of micro-factories. These are to be set up in the respective country and, according to the Management Board, will enable Quantron to process larger customer orders locally quickly and without transport costs.

Haller justifies the new focus on after-sales and service with the experience gained from e-mobility. “We can’t just put an electric vehicle in front of the customer’s door,” says Haller. “There are a number of things to consider when integrating e-mobility. This is why we offer our customers a fully comprehensive service”. In the future, this should also include the option for customers to obtain not only the vehicle but also the driver via Quantron, for example, to process short-term contracts. “This will make it much easier to get started with e-mobility and to integrate e-vehicles into the company fleet. Billing is then based on the kWh consumed,” explained the Quantron AG board of directors. The company first mentioned its plans for “Quantron as a Service” to electrive when it presented the heavy fuel cell truck in June 2020.

Quantron says it is planning to establish the  Q-Bank and Q-Versicherung divisions and it appears that both companies are already being set up. According to Haller, Quantron not only wants to serve its own customers with special e-vehicle insurance and financing but also “look beyond its own nose and aim to serve all e-mobility customers on the market”. ” “There is no need for an American company to be looking to sell insurance for electric vehicles in Europe,” says Haller.

In addition, Quantron-Elion was presented as a new product for which Quantron AG will be responsible for European sales with immediate effect. Located in the micro class up to 3.5 tons, the Elion manufactured by MUP Technologies is available in two versions: the T series as a transporter and the M series as an equipment carrier. Both vehicles can be equipped with numerous attachments and superstructures.

Otherwise, Quantron’s press conference marked the end of a four-week practical test of the Mercedes Econic-based waste collection vehicle that the company converted for Frankfurter Entsorgungs- und Service GmbH (FES). According to FES, the vehicle is said to have impressed with its “quiet and emission-free operation” – and the high residual charge at the end of a working day, which is said to have been around 50 per cent.

With reporting by Sebastian Schaal, Germany.

Source: Press release via Email