The company behind the Stint is virtually bankrupt, owner Edwin Renzen says in de Volkskrant. The maker of the electric cargo bike has fired all staff and can no longer meet the financial obligations.
Renzen calls it bitter because according to him the successor of the Stint, the BSO Bus, is ready to hit the road. However, Minister Van Nieuwenhuizen surprised him in July with the announcement that she one more additional investigation wants to do to ensure safety.
The entrepreneur believes that the minister “suddenly changes the rules of the game at the end of the game”. According to him, the BSO Bus complies with European guidelines and TNO and the RDW have also given the green light.
Politically sensitive?
Renzen speculates that the minister does not want to take responsibility for the Stint’s return to the road. This is politically sensitive due to the accident in Oss in 2018, in which four children were killed. “I cannot substantiate it, but I get that feeling from the way this procedure went,” he says in the newspaper.
“If you’re going to postpone again at this point in the process, you don’t want the Stint to get back on the road. Renzen has sixty new Stints roadworthy. In total he received 1500 orders from the childcare sector.
In the newspaper, Minister Van Nieuwenhuizen says that she understands the impatience of the manufacturer, but she reiterates that “careful decision-making and road safety take precedence over speed and innovation”.
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