It’s a name you’ve probably not heard of, but this new van manufacturer is planning on disrupting the European van segment with its new approach to light commercial vehicles.
But is the FLYNT van just another name destined to disappear as quickly as it arrives, or should you start taking this large electric van more seriously.
Let’s take a closer look.
FLYNT is a new electric van start-up looking to bring a fully electric large van to Europe and the UK.
The van first broke cover in January this year with a cryptic teaser picture revealing a large van set to rival the likes of the Ford E-Transit, Mercedes-Benz eSprinter and Maxus eDeliver 9.
Not much was revealed at the time, but since then the images of the real van have been released along with the first details of the new Flynt electric van.
FLYNT was founded in 2024 by a small team of automotive professionals with a background in the industry - more on that in a minute.
FLYNT is headquartered in the Netherlands, where it plans to set up its European wide distribution, however, many of the founders are currently based in Munich.
The van is also produced in China, so like most things in the automotive industry it has a global reach.
Not quite. It’s actually not Chinese, it’s a European business, despite the product coming from China.
Even though the van itself is made in China, FLYNT’s focus is solely on European customers. So there’s collaboration with the Chinese company that builds the van, but there is no domestic market for this van in China, the FLYNT van has been entirely produced to meet the needs of European customers.
It's pretty simple, FLYNT is pronounced like flint - the quartz rock. There's no magic meaning or metaphors, it’s not FLY-NT and the letters don’t represent anything.
According to FLYNT it’s just a “very modern short name” that they say “fits with the electric, digital ecosystems and sustainability” that the brand represents.
Like a flint rock, which creates a spark, the name also represents the spark of doing something new and disruptive.
FLYNT also chose the name because of its global appeal and its usability across multiple languages. With Europe as their target market, where there are more than three dozen very different languages, it has to be a versatile word. The name also has to work with their Chinese partners, and mustn’t have any negative meaning in Chinese.
The owners of FLYNT are the founding team, with an undisclosed level of backing and investment from their Chinese partner.
FLYNT was founded by Daniel Kirchert, and Rogan Liu, with Moritz Klinkisch and Laura Peschke named as co-founders.
Dr. Daniel Kirchert is the founder and CEO. Kirchert is a leading expert in electric vehicles and the man responsible for introducing several automotive brands into China. He has held senior positions at BMW and Nissan, where he largely worked in the Chinese markets on electrification. Kirchert was also the co-founder of BYTON, an innovative electric car startup that failed to get off the ground.
Rogan Liu is COO of FLYNT and has two decades of experience in manufacturing, project management, and strategic product planning in the automotive industry. He too has worked at high levels in the Chinese automotive industry, leading teams to secure patents and implement systematic product innovations.
Moritz Klinkisch, is a co-founder and chief customer officer at FLYNT, having had more than two decades in key automotive roles in Germany as well as assignments in Asia. He was instrumental in building BMW’s electric vehicle business and will manage service and aftersales support for FLYNT.
Laura Peschke, is CMO and co-founder at FLYNT with 15 years of automotive marketing and communications experience. She has worked renowned US and Chinese brands and was part of the BYTON team with Kirchert.
The FLYNT van is made by GAC in China. GAC is one of the top five Chinese automotive manufacturers, with sales of more than 2.5m units per year.
GAC is a joint venture partner for Toyota and Honda in China, and they are themselves something like a Chinese version of Toyota, with a strong reputation for quality and efficiency.
Their expertise in electric vehicles has led to the launch of their own brand of EVs, called Ion, which has been a commercial success in China and is beginning to make inroads into Europe. Domestically it was the third most sold electric brand, after BYD and Tesla.
Designed for the European fleet market from the ground-up, the FLYNT van is set to tackle the last mile delivery sector as well as regional applications.
Its large dimensions means that it has a load volume of up to 16.5m³, with options as small as 8.7m³ and is said to have a payload of up to 1,630kg.
It will be available with multiple drivelines with front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive options.
A large 100kWh battery will top the line-up and give up to 500km of range, while rapid charging of up to 220kW using a DC fast charger will enable a battery top-up from 30% to 80% in just 20 minutes.
There will be a total of three battery packs with the entry-level and mid-sized battery made from Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery packs, while the 100kWh options uses a Nickel Cobalt Manganese (NCM) battery pack.
The battery will also support vehicle-to-grid functionality using an 800V architecture. It will get Level 2 ADAS equipment and is said to be Level 4-ready.
On the inside there’s an 8-inch driver cluster and a 12.8-inch display that has wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It’s also said to have a mobile office-like layout and “smart storage”.
Partnering with GAC – a joint-venture partner of Toyota and Honda in China, who have become a top five domestic vehicle manufacturer.
Although new to the light commercial vehicle sector, GAC, under their operating name of MiraCo Motor have develop an autonomous platform for electric vehicles, and will use the skateboard design for the FLYNT van in their own LCV.
Rather than a commercial vehicle like the FLYNT van, MiraCo will focus on robo last mile delivery for the Chinese market - working with online giants like Alibaba. The size and cost efficiencies of the large van platform will lend itself to the European market.
