Home ยป
There's a tonne of new vans due out this year, but they're all very much built around a theme.
You guessed it, they're all electric, and most of them are going to be modular with loads of different body dimensions and types.
That alone is a really interesting concept. By making a single platform - we're not being trendy and calling them electric skateboards - as volumes increase, so too do the benefits of the economies of scale. It's like Ford only ever selling one size of Transit van - it's going to make a lot of sense for the costs (even if it doesn't satisfy all the consumers).
Anyway, we'll see plenty of these in the next few years, but there are a couple of quite interestings new models just around the corner. Here's my very quick thoughts on a couple of them.
Who is Flexis, I hear you cry. Well, the Flexis range was unveiled just a few weeks ago, and there's a lot to like about the way they are tackling it. The step-in van is the obvious crowd-pleaser (if you're a DPD or Amazon) but for me it's the panel van that's the most interesting.
That's because this goes back to the economies of scale arguement again. The panel van will be the next Renault Trafic - and the other models in the range will be the new Goelette and Estafette vans to wear a Renault badge.
Renault's range of Flexis-made vans
By having a mass volume model like the Trafic already in your arsenal will make this a serious contender. Renault have produced great electric vans over the years, but the Trafic E-Tech is a little lacklustre (so much so, that we haven't yet got around to reviewing it), and it's not going to be a big seller.
The new Trafic, however, will have fleet buyers (sold through Flexis) and probably a good number of retail customers buying it from Renault as well. That puts it in a really strong positions with volume. Throw in all the conversion units - that's what Renault Trucks hopes to sell - and of course that glorious looking step-in model, called the Estafette when wearing a Renault badge - and that could give Flexis some serious volume, all of which is based on one single chassis. Genius.
That's why I'm excited to drive these Flexis vans. I really want to see how each of these models will work on a single chassis. It'll be fascinating to find out.
Kia threw its hat into the van world in January 2024 with plans for a range of electric vans from small to large.
Again they're talking about a scaleable platform that will be used for everything from a small electric van up to a large electric van.
The first model, the Kia PV5 Cargo, however, will be the make or break model. People might doubt if Kia can really do vans. Sister company Hyundai has dabbled in them in the past and they've got their nose bloodied a bit.
Kia, however, seems to be taking a more pragmatic approach and I've every confidence that these vans will be a success. You only have to spend 10 minutes behind the wheel of one of their cars to realise they aren't messing around when it comes to electric vehicles. The EV9 is right up there in comfort and class with some serious family SUVs, while the EV6 GT is a rocket ship disguised as... well, a rocket ship.
The futuristic design of their cars, and now the vans, is enough to make you think about buying one and that alone is half the battle.
I'm most looking forward to seeing how Kia puts the whole package together. Can a brand with zero commercial vehicle experience hit the ground running with a proper commercial vehicle on their first attempt. Let's hope so.
This is probably the most exciting of the lot, and I say that because of who Farizon are.
A subsidiary of Geely, you can put them in the same camp as Polestar, as a start-up EV enterprise. But there's more to Geely than it's massive Chinese operation. Geely is the owner of Volvo cars, Lotus and taxi makers LEVC. They've got serious abilities in producing cars (and some commercial vehicles, like the LEVC VN5) in serious numbers and with impressive results.
That for me makes them the most exciting model to be coming out this year. The fact that they're getting orders in from Amazon for the Farizon SV large van, makes it all the more enticing.
