Called FlexEvan, it promises to be “quite revolutionary in a sector where there has not been a big big bang for several decades”. Luca de Meo, the general director of Renault, announced on Friday the manufacture by 2026 of a new 100% electric utility vehicle, from the Sandouville factory (Seine-Maritime), where he was traveling with the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire and the mayor of Le Havre Edouard Philippe.
For this project, the diamond brand will join forces with the Swedish manufacturer Volvo, in a joint venture called Flexis, based in France and financed equally to the tune of 600 million euros over the next three years. The French maritime transport giant CMA CGM has committed to investing 120 million euros in the joint venture, and to becoming its first customer. These new generation vans must respond in particular to the strategic challenge of city delivery, or the “last mile”.
“Need to reduce the environmental impact of these vehicles in the city”
“E-commerce is exploding and this makes the need to reduce the environmental impact of these vehicles in the city even more essential,” underlined the general director of the French car manufacturer. One in six utility vehicles sold in Europe is manufactured by Renault, he recalled, and 85% of them are manufactured in France, on three sites including Sandouville, where the Renault Trafic is assembled.
The Sandouville factory has 1,850 employees and 600 temporary workers, and assembles 600 vehicles per day. The CGT denounces the reduction in the number of employees on the site which had 2,000 people in 2014, according to the union. The Flexis joint venture should enable some 550 hires in four years on the Sandouville site, indicated Luca de Meo.
The minister, for his part, called for the creation of “new industrial sectors” in batteries but also in artificial intelligence, heat pumps and photovoltaics. The batteries for the FlexEvan will also be supplied by Verkor and its Dunkirk factory, which has a partnership with Renault.