Renault and Volvo team up to build electric delivery vans

Renault and the truck division of Volvo have joined forces in creating a start-up business to build new, highly-modular, electric vans.

Announcing the joint venture this week, the two car makers revealed some shadowy images of the first three such commercial vehicles – due to debut in 2026.

The start-up, Flexis, which was founded last month, is 45 per cent owned by the two car companies – which will invest €300 million ($AU494 million) over the next three years.

Flexis has also worked with logistics companies on the interiors of its vans, with French firm CMA CGM also taking a 10 per cent stake in the business. It plans to invest €120 million ($AU198 million) by 2026.

It was revealed during a press conference that all three vans will be based on a 'skateboard' platform – with a large battery under the vehicle's floor, and wheels at each corner – and produced at Renault's Sandouville plant in France, where 550 people will be recruited over the next four years.

The platform, which will offer high modularity for different body types, will feature new tech to monitor users’ delivery activity and performance – claimed to reduce up to 30 per cent of the global cost of usage for logistics companies.

It is claimed to offer the first 800-volt architecture on the market for vehicles in this category – boosting charging speeds and featuring a choice of two battery pack sizes.

The companies say the European market for electrified vans is expected to grow by 40 per cent annually – on average – until 2030.

Speaking during the reveal event, Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo said the Flexis vans’ interiors have been designed to be user-friendly and save time for their operators.

One of the vans – described as a step-in style vehicle – will be designed to optimise space, and the efficient use of it.

It will have a footprint roughly in line with the existing Renault Kangoo, but with a much taller roofline to give a total cargo capacity matching the Renault Trafic from the segment above, according to the UK's Autocar.

“We were trying to get every second out of interaction between the driver and the van, because every 30 seconds that you save in a delivery we estimate is [worth an extra] 1 per cent profitability for the logistics operator,” Mr de Meo said at the press event.

Mr de Meo said that the Flexis vans will initially be sold under the Renault Trucks moniker, and offered to other car brands as ‘white-label’ products for rebadging.