The Cargo van is depicted in Flexis’ images with a small box on the back, but thanks to the chassis cab design, it should be able to be adapted to many more formats – the company says it’s capable of integrating different widths, heights, beds and other modular solutions.
The Step-in van was likened by de Meo to the Renault Kangoo, and is similar to those you’d expect to see in use by delivery firms such as FedEx and UPS. It features a tall roof, tall front sliding doors, a rear shutter door and a cabin height of 1.9 metres, allowing all but the tallest of drivers to walk upright inside the vehicle.
Flexis says that all three have been designed with passenger car comfort in mind, citing, for example, how seat height has been carefully chosen to reduce the impact on a driver’s knees – important when there is a lot of getting up and down during a day’s deliveries.
All have a low load floor, too, thanks to the low-slung EV platform, maximising cargo space in what are otherwise relatively compact vehicles. The platform allows for a tight turning circle, and features a low, flat battery that can provide up to 280 miles of range. There’s also fast charging that facilitates an 80 per cent top-up in under 20 minutes.
The vans will use a Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) platform based on Google’s Android operating system. “This allows Google to go beyond the screen into the functions of the car,” said de Meo. It will also enable the vans to be connected to the Google Cloud and allow customers who buy large numbers to integrate their own software into the vehicles. Flexis is calling the platform FlexE Connect.
