Flexis: Renault and Volvo team up to tackle the future   

Gathering specialists like infinity stones, Flexis SAS is a new joint venture between Renault, Volvo, and CMA CGM. But can these giants snap together to create a successful electric van fleet?

Renault, Volvo, and CMA CGM recently announced that they have teamed up to create a new company, Flexis SAS. Their aim? To create a fully electric LCV fleet. Dubbed as “champions in their respective fields”, each member of this dream team brings their own skillset to the table. 

Who?

Renault Group, who has a 45% stake in the enterprise, will be leaning on its EV manufacturing and software know-how, as well as the LCV proficiency shown off in the new Renault Master E-Tech.

Volvo Group, who actually has plenty of experience working together with Renault through the Renault Trucks subsidiary (which the Swedish multinational purchased in 2000), also has a 45% stake. Volvo will provide its grasp on transport solutions, and its tailored services savvy to ensure reliability and maximised uptime across the fleet. Can they replicate the bulletproof dependability of the Volvo XC60? Only time will tell.

CMA CGM has the final 10% stake. We’ll forgive you not recognising this bundle of acronyms, this French shipping and logistics company is seen as a spearheading force when it comes to decarbonising supply chains and will be contributing its logistical wisdom to Flexis.

Why?

With 720 million euros set to be invested between these partners over the next 3 years, this doesn’t look like a throwaway venture. This may lead you to question: “what has prompted these companies into action?”

Long story short, the world is changing. With climate concerns leading to increasing sustainability focussed regulations such as Low Emission Zones, electric vans are about to become a whole lot more important in the last-mile delivery segment and beyond. Combine this with the growth in the logistics and e-commerce sectors, and Flexis are looking at the European market for electric vans having an expected average growth of a whopping 40% per year until 2030 — so it's fully steam ahead for these brands to meet consumer demands.

What?

So, what details do we have on the actual fleet? Well, it seems like the Kia PBV concepts may have some competition as Flexis echoes the same key principles. 

The modularity is here, with Flexis building on a new fully-electric LCV skateboard platform. On this flat-floored chassis on which different body modules can be installed, allowing for budget-friendly flexibility.

Kia’s interconnected van ecosystem plans also looks like they will be challenged by Flexis’s new Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) platform. Renault say this system means the fleet will “onboard unprecedented capabilities to monitor users’ delivery activity and business performance, reducing up to 30% the global cost of usage for logistic players”. Simply put: clearer information, increased efficiency, and significantly reduced costs across the fleet — very nice. As is standard with SDVs, this will also futureproof Flexis LCVs with updates across their lifecycle.

You may be on the edge of your seat to hear that there is “high polyvalence for tailor made solutions with different battery capacities” — potential for lots of battery options is our translation for this one. What caught our eye here though was the architecture for the market’s first 800v electrical system for vehicles in this category, allowing for the rapid charging we’re all waiting for.

The line-up

Our first glimpse of the Flexis line-up shows us three vans shrouded in darkness — plenty to speculate about!

First, there is a small van, drawing parallels the Kia PV5 concept, and likely the initial Flexis last-mile delivery candidate. With the success of the award winning Renault Kangoo in the small van space, it will be interesting to see where this fits into the group's plans.

Next up, we have a larger panel van à la the Kia PV7, with an eye-catching extended wheelbase. Again, we’ll be interested to see how this interacts with the new Renault Master E-Tech, as there certainly looks to be some overlap between these forward-thinking models.

Finally, there is a box or Luton van sat front and centre, a rarer sight in the electric van market. We will need to wait for further details on both Kia and Flexis’s plans before we can make a call on this one, but this has potential to break free from the standard EV designs we have become accustomed to.

So, that’s all for now, but we certainly expect Flexis to be a name we hear again in the not-so-distant future. Will you be keeping an eye out as well?

Hero image credit: Renault