Anyone looking for a used EV will soon find that the range leaves something to be desired. There is salvation. At Muxsan on the Teslaweg (really!) In Delft it is not only possible to have the battery replaced by a stronger one, but also to have an extra battery installed. We took a look at the garage of the future. There is plenty to tinker with electric cars.
In the company of Emile Nijssen (33), Muxsan, you do not hear the classic garage sounds and there are no dirty hands. Here they build batteries and work on electric cars. Since mid-2018, Nijssen has started supplying Nissans, increasing the range by replacing the existing battery with ones that can deliver up to 62 kWh. “With the help of a little bit of software magic, we make it work for the Nissan.” For those who are not enough, there is the possibility to place an extra battery in the bottom of the trunk that supplies a maximum of 50 kWh. “Then there is a maximum total capacity of 100 kWh.
A Nissan NV200 delivery van then has a range of 450 kilometers. A Leaf even goes over six hundred kilometers. We can make that adjustment on all Leafs, because technically all generations are the same. But in practice, people don’t make it that far and they opt for a range of between 350 and 400 kilometers. You don’t need more in practice. We also often advise people to leave it at that. Otherwise it is a waste of money. ” The costs for such an operation start at around € 4,000. “The maximum you can spend with us is € 26,000.”
In the beginning Muxsan used refurbished batteries. “They came, for example, from EVs that received a completely new battery pack during recalls. Then something would have gone wrong with the production. A supplier assessed those batteries, repaired the ones that could still be saved and the rest went away. We are now a year later in which we have been looking for higher energy density and better capacity. In this way we have developed our own battery and reconditioned batteries are therefore no longer necessary. ”
Sustainability idea
The company is now running smoothly. In 2019, fifteen more cars were converted. In 2020 there were already a hundred. The batteries that Muxsan has developed and builds itself are now also supplied to two installers in Great Britain and one in Ireland. “The first customers came for a conversion because they didn’t want to get rid of their car. They thought the Leaf was a nice car and did not know what they would get if they would buy a new EV. You also saw a sustainability idea: they didn’t want to just throw away their car and replace it with a new one. This idealism is less prevalent among our modern customers. ” It is no coincidence that Emile started with Nissan technology. “I had a Leaf myself, so it makes sense that you start with that. But now we are also looking at other cars. We will soon be starting with a Renault Kangoo and a Mitsubishi Outlander to see what is possible with that. ” What Nissan thinks of Muxsan’s practices? “We have not officially received a response from them. So I’m not making any statements about that ”, it sounds mysterious.
Emile takes us for a tour of the company. No tool carts and large bridges, but mostly many parts for batteries. “I have already had a number of companies in the past. But at a certain point you have to make compromises. I have built Muxsan entirely according to my own preferences. There is a strong sustainability idea behind it and I like good employee conditions and diversity. ”
Muxsan’s neighbors are converting classic cars into EVs. If necessary, a bridge is borrowed there for tinkering. When we walk in, we are working on a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. The six-quarter liter V8 is on the floor. Emile Doesn’t do much with it. “The paragon of inefficient”, he calls the historical source of power. He just doesn’t turn his nose up at it. But he is not radically against the combustion engine either. “I understand that some people want to ride a classic for sentimental reasons; then you buy, for example, the same DKW as your father had. But what does surprise me is that the car enthusiast still buys a car with an internal combustion engine. At the moment everything in the field of performance and aesthetics only happens with EVs. ”
If someone rarely drives a somewhat older car, the question is whether it will turn out dirtier than an electric car, according to Emile Nijssen. “That also has to do with where the power for the EV comes from. If it is generated with a coal-fired power station, the tipping point is further away. But for the regular commuter, an electric car is of course the most efficient; and the plug-in hybrid also has a good chance. ”
‘Of course it would be great if we could grow into a company that can put all the shiny new gadgets into an old car so that you never really need a new one again’
Long-term
The garage as we know it today will be in dire straits according to Emile. “An electric car does have mechanical wear parts that need to be replaced every now and then, but garages live on periodic maintenance and overhauls. For the most part, they will disappear. I just think that maintenance on a regular car will become a lot more expensive in the long term so that garages can keep afloat. And think of the petrol stations: if they lose ten to twenty percent of the clientele, the profit already disappears. Some garage owners already feel the downpour and come here to inquire whether they can become a reseller of our goods. ”
According to Emile Nijssen, the future of Muxsan lies in continued growth, offering adaptations for various cars, techniques for setting up batteries and charging systems. “I wouldn’t mind if this company is temporary. It would of course be great if we could grow into a company that can put all the shiny new gadgets into an old car so that you never really need a new one again. But if it turns out that the Dutch are mainly interested in new cars, which it somewhat resembles, then this company has no right to exist in the long term. It now seems like a good idea to focus on countries where they are a bit behind us. A country like Slovenia is about five years behind the Netherlands when it comes to electric driving. That would be a great market for us. ”