Renault produced an eye-catching vehicle at the 2024 IAA van show in the form of the Renault Estafette electric van concept.
The Estafette is more than just an illustration of where Renault thinks urban delivery could be heading, though – a version is destined to make production in as few as two years, and it looks set to replace the popular Renault Trafic, although only the electric version to start off with.
It isn’t a new Trafic, though, as it is all electric and a concept that is geared towards being an urban delivery vehicle rather than an all-round mid-size van. The Estafette concept is short, at just under 5m in length, and has the same footprint as the long-wheelbase Renault Kangoo. It’s narrow, too, with a turning circle that compares to the Clio supermini.
The extra space comes up top, as it is 2.59m tall and offers enough room inside for a 1.8m driver to be able to walk around the loading bay without stooping. This makes it just over 60cm taller than most medium vans on the road, including the Trafic. While this will be really handy for getting in loads more deliveries, but it might cause issues with the urban height restrictions that tend to top out at 2m high.
What about the inside?
There are plenty of clever features in the Estafette. For a start, there shouldn’t be any need for the driver to get out the side door, walk around and unload deliveries from the rear of the vehicle.
There is a sliding door in the bulkhead that means you can get straight into the rear from the cabin. Because there is no passenger seat, the driver can then get out directly onto the pavement via the nearside sliding door. Perfect for small parcels, perhaps less so for flat packs.
If you do need to get things in and out of the back then the door is a roller shutter rather than a pair of side-hinged doors or a tailgate. This means it can be backed right up close to a loading dock.
Up front the cabin is one that you probably won’t see heading into production unchanged. At least as far as the colour is concerned anyway. The bright yellow hue is one that would be a challenge early of a morning, but it matches the top-part of the exterior, which helps the Estafette look less top-heavy and boxy.
There is a single swivelling seat, with a second fold-down space that is designed for training. The huge three-paned windscreen gives a huge view out and floods the interior with light, while looking behind you is taken care of courtesy of rear-facing cameras and screens.
What is underneath the Estafette?
The Renault Estafette sits on a new FlexEVan platform, which has been produced by a partnership between Renault, Volvo (the umbrella company that also features the trucks part of the business rather than the bit that makes SUVs and the like) and logistics company CMA-CGM.
So far very little has been said about the power, performance or driving range etc – that is all due to come closer to the point that this van becomes closer to reality.
When can I buy one?
The Estafette is very much a concept at this stage – look at that interior as proof of that if nothing else – but it is heading towards production. At which point Renault reckons that there is no point in having two competing medium electric vans, which means the end of the road for the Trafic E-Tech electric.
Renault’s vice president for global sales and marketing commercial vehicles Zak Zeghari explained: ‘It doesn’t make sense to keep an electric medium van offer like Trafic electric, for example. So, when we bring the Estafette project then that will be our solution for the medium van segment.’
As the diesel version won’t be offered once internal combustion engines are no longer available in the UK, that means that there is likely to be no more Trafic on these shores once the Estafette arrives. However, that won’t be until 2030, and the production Estafette won’t be here any earlier than 2026, so there is life in the Trafic yet.
