Flexis Promises Electric Van Revolution Starting In 2026

Electrification is mostly moving forward at pace in the European car market. But light commercial vehicles are lagging way behind. In the UK, for example, while BEVs were 19.6% of UK sales in 2024, only 5.8% of LCVs under 3.5 tons were electric. New van company Flexis wants to change that, providing a combination of electric vehicle design innovation and connected services.

There have been several startups in the commercial vehicle space that haven’t fared so well lately. Most high profile was the collapse of Arrival this time last year, and Canoo filed for bankruptcy last month. Further up the scale, Volta Trucks filed for bankruptcy in 2023, although it was quickly purchased by one of its main financers and may still see the light of day.

These three companies were pushing the envelope on design, trying to leverage the advantages that an electric drivetrain has over internal combustion. However, most electric vans so far have been modified versions of internal combustion-powered variants, or shared platforms. The Mercedes eSprinter is a great electric panel van with the L3 version offering up to around 270 miles of range. But it’s not exclusively electric. There’s a diesel alternative, and purchasers will need to consider the culture change of electrification if they go for the EV.

Flexis: Electric From The Ground Up

Flexis is taking a different approach, more like the startups mentioned earlier. The Flexis platform uses a pure electric “skateboard” design, with the motor between the rear wheels and batteries under the floor. This also leaves the front wheels without a motor between them, so they can provide a better turning circle. There will be no internal combustion-powered variants. The batteries are also structural, improving the rigidity of the skateboard chassis, which is particularly useful for one of the body styles being offered.

Flexis is initially producing three van models, two on a shorter wheelbase and one longer. One of the smaller models is a panel van but delivers similar cargo capacity to a vehicle 250mm longer, with a turning circle that Flexis claims is similar to a B-sector car. The “Luton”-style cargo van uses the same platform, and capacity is maximized thanks to the rigidity of the skateboard, meaning there is no need for extra chassis strengthening that cuts into space.

The most interesting member of the range is a step-in van with a longer wheelbase. As the name suggests, the driver can stand up inside this van, so long as they are less than 1.9m tall (6 foot 3 inches). It has sliding side panels and a rolling shutter at the back, rather than doors, to make access as easy as possible in tight spaces. It’s particularly suited to parcel delivery companies such as UPS or FedEx. However, Flexis retains regular mirrors rather than relying on cameras. This is apparently because cameras would be more expensive to replace if damaged.

The Flexis platform has plenty of cutting-edge features, too. It uses an 800V architecture, which means it can take advantage of the fastest chargers and replenish to 80% capacity in just 20 minutes. The vans will offer two different battery capacities. Flexis didn’t give any details about what these were, but did say that they would enable ranges of 320km (200 miles) and 450km (281 miles). The two batteries will use two different battery chemistries. Flexis hasn’t announced these officially either but implied they will probably be NMC and LFP. The latter would be used in the smaller-range option, offering greater resilience when charged to 100% and frequently with DC rapid charging. The batteries will be European sourced for the European market, avoiding any importation tariffs.

Fully Connected Flexis Platform

At the launch, Flexis argued that electrification was only half of the equation for its vans. They will also be connected Software Defined Vehicles. This will mean they can be updated Over The Air, but a lot more besides. This will enable data from the van to be used for more efficient management. Potential features will include planned and predictive maintenance based on usage, breakdown anticipation, and optimized routing for delivery vehicles based on state of charge and driving characteristics for the route. Flexis is providing its own platform for this called FlexE Connect but stressed that the platform is open so can be interlinked with existing fleet management software providers. Commercial fleet telematics giant Geotab wasn’t confirmed as one of these but also wasn’t very strongly denied when suggested at the launch event.

You might be wondering at this stage why Flexis might succeed where Arrival and Canoo have failed. The right technology isn’t enough on its own. Flexis isn’t really an entirely new company, however. It’s a joint venture between Renault Group, Volvo Group and shipping company CMA CGM. Over the next three years, the latter has promised to invest €120 million ($125 million) while Renault and Volvo will provide €300 million ($312 million) each.

Flexis claims it already has all the tooling it needs to start manufacturing. The vans will be produced at Renault’s plant in Sandouville, France, which is currently used to manufacture the Renault Trafic van and Nissan Primastar (which is basically the same van with a Nissan badge). Flexis said that its vans would be manufactured on the same lines as existing Renault models, with factory staff trained to switch between the platforms and use the new tooling for electrification. The line can then vary its balance with demand.

First Flexis Vans In 2026

So far, while order books aren’t open yet, Flexis has letters of intent from ten companies that amount to about 15,000 vehicles. These include France’s Colis Privé, Germany’s DB Schencker and the UK’s Hived. It expects serial production to begin in 2026. Vans will also be sold under Renault brand, and possibly Volvo as well, although that hasn’t been confirmed yet. However, these will be more on a standalone basis rather than fleet packages with management integration. That’s where the Flexis brand comes in.

Initial markets will be UK, Germany and France, before expanding further into Europe. The US is currently not on the roadmap. It’s likely to be a tough market for electrification over the next four years, and delivery distances tend to be much further in the USA than Europe, so even the decent range of the Flexis van sporting a larger battery might not be adequate.

Commercial vehicle cost is about how this is spread across the lifecycle of ownership. No pricing has been announced yet, but the plan is to significantly undercut combustion engines due to reduced energy and maintenance expenditure. All that Flexis would say at the launch was that it would be “competitive. A “pay per use” model was also mentioned, although again not with much detail.

On the one hand, Flexis feels like yet another “disruptive electric van launch” that may or may not succeed. But on the other hand, with the amount of investment and the brands involved, it has more chance of succeeding than most. We could start seeing Flexis vans delivering goods on European streets by the end of next year.