Electric vans, hydrogen lorries and the Renault 4: the future of commercial transport?

A commercial vehicle show isn’t as glamorous or as big-ticket as a regular car show, but it’s arguably more important – and will affect your daily life more. While flashy concept cars and million-pound supercars look amazing, it’s commercial vehicles that keep modern life ticking over – everything from grocery deliveries to picking up your bins.

I visited the Solutrans expo, a biennial event for ‘road and urban transport professionals’ at Lyon Eurexpo – a vast collection of the latest and greatest commercial vehicle solutions. I was out there to see a couple of new vans being revealed, but took the opportunity to check out the vast halls to see what the trends were elsewhere in the world of working vehicles.

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The future’s electric – except when it’s not

Nobody’s crowing about diesel engines any more. Though it’s still the fuel for the vast majority of commercial road transport, it’s not green or glamorous – so while many of the vehicles on the stands were still diesel-powered, it was alternative fuels that took the spotlight.

For the most part, this meant electric vehicles. I was out at the show to see the reveals of the new Renault Trafic E-Tech and the Kia PV5 Chassis Cab – both mid-sized electric vans aiming right at the big players. But electric power is hugely diverse.

Adjacent to the Renault stand was Mobilize – a Renault sub-brand that’s re-badged the tiny Twizy as a new two-seat ‘mobility solution’. A few stands over, Mercedes was showing off the vast eActros – a long-distance lorry cab with capacity for the full 44-tonne gross vehicle weight of a regular artic.

Yet electric power isn’t suitable for every scenario – just yet. So hydrogen remains a very tempting option, especially for long and repeatable journeys where refuelling stops are guaranteed – a key benefit of hydrogen power being petrol-style fuel stops of just a few minutes, versus long recharging times for big-batteried electric trucks.

Hyundai’s XCient fuel-cell truck was on display, which touts itself as the first truly mass-produced fuel cell vehicle in the world. There were hydrogen displays from other manufacturers, too, showing that while the world of cars has largely abandoned this fuel, it remains a tempting proposition for commercial motoring.

French people love the Renault 4

Renault’s retro renaissance may have hit headlines when the Renault 5 hatchback was launched – but it’s the more practical Renault 4, and the recently revealed van variant that really seemed to have captured the imagination of the French companies exhibiting at Solutrans.

I saw several variants, from standard van configurations to an absolutely fantastic version customised by the French fire service. This van’s predecessors, the Renault Extra and before that the Fourgonette, were both incredibly popular and remain common sights in France, so it’s no surprise that this old-school electric recreation is capturing hearts and minds.

Certainly, for urban deliveries it seems a cracking idea – the drivability of a hatchback, but much more room than you’d get in most car-derived vans thanks to the boxy silhouette and huge tailgate.

I also saw a couple of pucker old models, such as this one converted into a coffee shop. Lovely.

Why should grown-ups have all the fun?

Kids (or very short adults) can live out their trucking dreams with this ride-on Mercedes Actros that I spotted on one of the stands. I managed to resist asking for a go…

Custom-built is key

Several major manufacturers chose Solutrans to show off the flexibility of their vehicles – namely, conversions. ‘One size fits all’ definitely isn’t a mantra that refers to commercial vehicles, where different businesses have vastly different requirements. In the past, what you’d do is buy a bare chassis cab from a vehicle manufacturer, then take it to a third party so that they could fit a tipper, a fridge box, extra racking – whatever your needs demand.

But more and more manufacturers are taking this in-house, to streamline the experience for customers. Renault will offer many of its most popular conversions as direct factory orders, with more bespoke modifications available via its Qstomize service or one of its approved bodybuilders.

The same applies to the new Kia PV5, which falls into the new Kia Business Solutions Ecosystem to support a wide range of professional equipment. Stellantis – the huge conglomerate encompassing Peugeot, Citroen, Vauxhall/Opel and Fiat among others – also unveiled its CustomFit solutions.

All of these aim to streamline things for the customer and bring more parts of the vehicle-buying journey into a singular ecosystem.

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