Listening to Luca de Meo, the general director of Renault, the van model that will succeed the Trafic will not resemble “nothing that we know”. This vehicle, suitable for last mile delivery, in zero-emission zones created by large cities, will have the size of a small Renault Kangoo, the loading capacity (in height) of a Trafic, and the turning radius of ‘a Clio type car. When he arrived at Renault, while visiting the Technocentre, he saw a strange vehicle, the EZ-Flex, designed for La Poste. He asked his teams to take inspiration from this to create a pure electric product, and not a vehicle that could operate with different types of engines, as Renault or Stellantis have done until now. It will above all be designed around central software, promises the boss, as “a utility Tesla”and on a skateboard-shaped base, that is to say a flat body close to the ground, on which equipment can be adapted “like Lego bricks”.
To finance this project, Renault brought two allies on board: the Swedish truck manufacturer Volvo Trucks (owners of Renault Trucks trucks, but not Volvo cars owned by the Chinese Geely) and the shipowner CMA CGM. “You must be wondering what a shipowner is doing at the press conference of two car manufacturers? », launched Rodolphe Saadé, CEO of CMA CGM, before explaining that the juicy profits from maritime transport during and after the Covid-19 pandemic allowed him to create the Pulse fund, endowed with 1.5 billion euros , to invest in projects accelerating the decarbonization of the economy. Pulse will bring 120 million euros to Flexis, a joint entity, with Renault and Volvo Trucks providing 300 million euros each.
Rodolphe Saadé will disburse this money “by 2026”, specifies the press release. This famously demanding boss is keen on this European project but puts it under pressure. He insists on meeting deadlines “ facing pressing Asian competition,” and on the need to arrive “at the right price”And this “from the first days of 2026”. This logistics giant will test 1,500 vehicles. ” The earliest would be best “, he insists, assuming “to play the role of the bad guy” in the trio.
Initiatives ruled out
Martin Lundstedt, the Swedish general manager of Volvo Trucks, already involved in the electric truck adventure, hopes to attract his customers with a high level of service, and help them retain delivery drivers “who change jobs after twelve to twenty months”. Luca de Meo assures that this van, which will be produced in Sandouville, in Seine-Maritime (where 550 people will be hired in four years), has no equivalent, ruling out the initiatives of the American start-up Rivian, which has yet developed a model for Amazon, the Koreans Kia and Hyundai (with the British Arrival), the Chinese Geely, ready to arrive in Europe with its Farizon brand, or the world number one in electric, BYD.
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