Michael has been in the overlanding market for over 15 years. First building up 4×4 trucks and campervans in Europe and now in the United States. He founded Exmotech and he is passionate about traveling as well as making sure other people can enjoy the great outdoors too.
At Exmotech we combine our extensive experience building vans overseas and adapt our knowledge to the demands and dreams of the local customers. We can create both very simple, practical and utilitarian campervans as well as high-end opulent, lavish land yachts. At the same time simplicity is key so we want to make sure a converted van is not a 1000-piece puzzle for our customer but a reliable and easy to understand machine.
Exmotech covers all the stages of a full van conversion. We start by recognizing our customers’ lifestyle, their indended type of traveling or living in a van. Later we create a list of must-have equipment together with our customers and we also create an overall design or layout. There is a lot of brainstorming going on.
Finally we start the build and always consult all the major stages of the build with our customers in order to make sure we all are in the same boat and on the same page.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
WEIGHT
Each pound adds up and there’s no way around it. Wherever possible we use lightweight materials and equipment. We try not to overload the vans unnecessarily. Yes, modern vans can handle thousands of pounds of payload but the laws of physics always win and a safe vehicle that handles well, brakes well must be lightweight.
COZINESS
Industrial, rugged looks are fashionable, metal looks modern and tough but let’s face the facts: after a hard day on your dirt bike, hiking, taking photos, surfing, climbing mountain peaks you want to return to a space that’s warm, cozy, tender and is a safe haven for you. Fight for survival during the day but relax in the evening. Our interiors are modern and simple but we want to keep that warm, friendly feel instead of a harsh industrial look. This is why we favor wood over metal and bright, warm colors over blacks.
BEAUTY
For us attention to detail is very important. After all you will be spending days, weeks or even months in a small space and every wall, cabinet and piece of equipment will become your close friends, literally.
FUNCTIONALITY
Every person is different and every van should be different. For one person a large bed is the essence of functionality, for another one a place to store bikes is key, for yet another one a well-designed kitchen area is a must. Having all the equipment of the world in your van is not the way to go. You must have the equipment and solutions that work for you in the wild and not only look great in a catalog.
SIMPLICITY
We like simple solutions and minimalism because in a small space we need to fight for every available inch. All the systems in our vans are designed to be reliable and easy to understand because our customers must feel like the owners of their vehicles, who know what’s going on inside them. Modern technology is extremely reliable but in the unlikely event something goes wrong, it must be easy to diagnose and fix by the customer or a typical, average handyman. We can make things as complicated as you like but we prefer the simple stuff.
QUALITY
A good product gives happiness and trust. A quality campervan conversions works for you from day one and also secures a high resale value of you van, in case you want to build another one.
THE TEAM
We are a very small team of 2 persons with the occasional third one during busy periods. It was a deliberate decision to shrink a bit in order to put more attention to detail, to put more emphasis on relations rather than speed, to achieve happiness from the things we do. Our skill sets and backgrounds are broad though: carpentry, electricity, electronics, engineering, welding, 3D design, carbon fiber, painting and many more.
