Renault Estafette revived as city-going electric van concept
Renault made its presence felt at the IAA 2024 show in Hanover - Europe’s biggest commercial vehicle event - as it unveiled the Estafette concept electric van. The former flagship van has been revived almost 65 years after its original launch.
The original Estafette was somewhat revolutionary at the time, setting the standard as a front-engined,front-wheel drive van that was both practical and economical. Its deceptively spacious interior proved popular and useful during its 21 year run before making way for the Trafic in 1980.
Following a similar rebirth as the 5, Renault has brought back its former nameplate. Firstly as a concept, the Estafette is likely to head into production in two years time. Whether the finished article will look the same as the concept remains to be seen, although a larger load space has been made available thanks to the increased roof height, bringing the vehicle up to 2.59m tall, compared with 1.85m for the Trafic. Sitting at just 4.87m long by 1.92 wide, the Estafette can park in a standard spot and has a 10m turning circle, similar to a Clio.
Rather than sliding doors on the side of the vehicle, the Estafette comes with a rear roller shutter, which opens to its full height, and foldout step.
Like the roof, the cockpit interior is overwhelmingly yellow, ‘zesty yellow’ in fact, and spacious enough for people 1.9m or lower in height to stand up with ease. There is a single swivel seat for the driver and a fold up seat next to it '“for training” purposes. he platform under the seat has 7 drawers - 3 on the door side, 4 on the other side.
The dashboard has a 7-inch screen displaying essential information while a 12-inch screen towards the middle faces the driver and features a variety of applications specifically tailored for the trades using the vehicle. Two 10-inch vertical screens at the end of the dashboard display the rear views from the outside cameras. Flat surfaces have been replaced by patterned small squares to add a 3D feel to the cockpit.
The Estafette is the first demonstration of a new FlexEVan platform and will be the Renault Group’s first vehicle built around an SDV (Software-Defined Vehicle) electronic architecture. This enables major updates, upgrades and new content to be implemented into the vehicle during its life cycle, all with the help of Ampere, Renault’s in house team.
Philippe Divry, CEO, Flexis SAS: “Estafette Concept is the first example of what electric utility vehicles will look like tomorrow: purpose-engineered to drive in cities, compact, connected and built for fully sustainable delivery services.”
words: Mike Booth
pictures: Renault