Chris Klok
IDE-alumnus and co-founder of Squad Mobility
Robert Hoevers
IDE-alumnus and co-founder of Squad Mobility
Text: Dayinta Perrier
© Marcel Krijger
Robert Hoevers and Chris Klok met at the coffee machine at Lightyear. The discovery that they had both studied in Delft and the experience they brought with them to the young company brought them closer together. The mutual click appeared stronger than the click they had with Lightyear. They left the company and started their own business in small cars with solar panels.
A solar-powered car. That’s what attracted alumnus Robert Hoevers in the initial years of Lightyear, the auspicious Eindhoven company that works on solar-powered electric cars. “I was impressed by what you can achieve with solar technology on a car and how much interest there is in it”, says Hoevers. “Such a wild plan requires inexperience to start it, as well as experience to turn it into a success. I wanted to be part of this.” And so Hoevers began in 2018 as Sales & Business Development Manager. In that same year, Chris Klok started at Lightyear too: “I love impossible tasks.” And so he became Head of the Engineering Department, a role in which he was responsible for the car prototype. Hoevers and Klok met each other during a break. “We struck up a conversation at the coffee machine. We soon found out that we had both studied Industrial Design Engineering in Delft”, says Hoevers. “That, combined with our experience in mobility, established a bond straight away.” In that time, the company underwent tremendous growth. “When I started, we were thirty people, and at the end of the journey, we were more than a hundred”, says Klok. “Standing at the helm of such growth is unforgettable.” But both noticed that the company made choices that were different to what they had intended. “For a product to be successful, it is essential that all departments give input and collaborate in all aspects”, says Klok. A philosophy that Hoevers and Klok shared.
‘We both understand that a car is more than just technology’
‘We think the same, but we are very different – making us the perfect team’
Squad Mobility
Hoevers left Lightyear after about a year, but the idea of solar technology on wheels endured. “There was so much potential in that idea”, says Hoevers. “Only, at the time, I didn’t know what it should be: a bicycle or something for two people?” And with that idea, Hoevers had found his new challenge. Meanwhile, Lightyear’s prototype took over Klok’s life: “During the four months that we built the prototype, my days consisted of working, eating and sleeping. It was a bizarre time. Most team members had never built a car and here we were making a complete prototype. In the end, we finished the car three days before the deadline. Everyone was exhausted. I had helped the company to build a prototype, but I didn’t support the result.” After this hectic time, Klok and Lightyear parted ways. But sitting still and doing nothing wasn’t an option for him, so during his holiday, Klok contacted Hoevers: “Robert had an idea for small solar-powered city cars. I was sold on the idea right away.” So together they started a new business called Squad Mobility. They started on the design for small, electric two-person cars with solar cells on the roof. This allows them to drive further and they don’t have to charge as frequently as other small electric city cars.
Emotion
Squad Mobility now consists of Hoevers, Klok and a small team of four people. “We think the same, but we are very different – making us the perfect team”, says Hoevers. They share the same vision about mobility. “We understand that a car is more than just technology”, says Klok. “A car is technology completely mixed with emotion. Cars make people feel something – they even give it a name. Putting those two aspects into a mode of transport is the challenge. So we put the two seats next to each other rather than behind each other. Mobility is a social activity, maybe a one-on-one moment with your child. You want to be able to talk to each other. That is something that a user feels right away.”