00:00The powerhouse startup Flexis are bringing three brand new vehicles bristling with innovation.
00:09Join me as I consider the first of these and get insights from the people responsible for
00:15bringing them to market. So the first van that we're going to consider is the step-in van,
00:23which is an L2 version. L2 meaning that it's 3.55 meters between the wheel arches and 5.27 meters long.
00:31What does that give you in practical terms? Well, in the load area there you get nine of your cubic meters,
00:39plenty of room to stand up just under two meters in the back there, which means that you can jump in
00:45and jump out very effectively. In terms of weight in carrying capacity, you've got 1100 kilos. So
00:53is this meeting a need for you? Well, the urban logistics environment, I think, is crying out
00:59for this smaller but spacious van. But is this something that can meet a need in your business?
01:06For me, the ease of access, the in and out, which we'll test over in the Mule, as they call it,
01:12because we can't get into this one. We'll show you how that all works. It does make a lot of sense.
01:19There are a lot of vehicles that have tried this kind of solution, but have yet to really be able
01:25to make their mark in the market. From an electric credentials point of view,
01:31this has a charging speed of 240 kilowatts. That's blooming quick. How quick? It's 15 to 80 percent
01:41in just 20 minutes. That is exceptional. Now, this is the first van that I'm aware of.
01:49Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's the first one that is utilizing the 800-volt architecture.
01:55Paul, what does that matter? Well, it means that you can get energy into the vehicle quicker.
02:01This is what other brands have been using to give us these really fast charging speeds in the car
02:07world. Haven't yet got into the van world, but now we're beginning to see it. And this makes sense,
02:13because of course, urban logistics, you need to be able to stop, quick charge and crack on with your
02:19day. So what about the range, Paul? Well, let me tell you about the range. The range is 350 kilometers.
02:27Well, we are in France after all. But let me tell you, it's around about 217 miles.
02:34So 217 miles. If you're in urban logistics, you're not charging that every day. Let's be honest.
02:40But when you do need to charge, if you get caught short, you're out on the hoof,
02:44if you find the right charger, you're charging extremely quickly and cracking on with your day.
02:50The charging port is here and the front offside, which means you can pull in and then hopefully
02:56there will be cameras fitted, which I think are standard when the vehicle comes to market. So
03:02that as you're reversing out, you'll still have a clear picture, which is really important.
03:07You might be able to see a steering wheel there through the window, but there's little else in
03:11that it's a model. So why don't we go and have a little look about what it might look inside.
03:18Now, while this is just a mock up, it is very lifelike, I'm assured. And if you're the driver
03:26here, I think you're getting a reasonably good experience. I'm expecting that we'll see an arm rest
03:33on the driver's seat. The steering wheel seems and feels very nice. And you've got all the controls
03:41that you would expect on the dashboard. There are places to fix equipment so that you can have your
03:47PDA. And I'm sure with the connected services that Flexis promised to come with, this nice screen here
03:55is going to be able to access all of your parcel deliveries and all of that good stuff.
03:59The idea initially, and the idea is to, the motto that we have is to reduce the mental load and the
04:07physical load of the drivers. We know that a typical driver, he can afford 80, 100 deliveries a day.
04:16That means 80, 100 stops a day. A stop is a stress. What do I need to do? You have probably a lot of
04:25actions to do to realize. So we help them not to care about driving, to care about only their job,
04:33and not to care about some other aspects of the vehicle. So we help them to do their job to execute
04:38in a very safer environment. Safe and simple, it seems. I mean, the button is a great thing.
04:46What I loved about what Seb was saying was that reducing the mental load and you're reducing the
04:53physical load. Talk to me about their mental load, especially in context with this lovely little
04:59button here. Tell me about that. Yeah, so we've incorporated what we call a delivery button into
05:03the vehicle. And the delivery button is designed to be fully configurable. So it goes back to the
05:08whole point about a software-defined vehicle and the advantages that you get from that. You know,
05:13it would be really easy to design a button that we call a delivery button and say, well,
05:17it does X, Y, and Z. But actually what we've done is kind of flipped that on its head and gone,
05:22we've designed a delivery button, Mr. Customer. What would you like it to do? And there's a whole
05:27range of things that we can configure that button to do that sit in line with the values and the
05:32requirements of the fleet that's going to be operating the vehicle. So it could be things like
05:36putting hazard lights on, putting the parking brake on, opening the bulkhead door, locking the exterior
05:41doors, and a whole range of other things. Interior lighting is an example. And that button can really
05:47do whatever the customer wants to do. So back to the project sales approach, part of what we want
05:52to do is work with our customers, really kind of shadow drivers and understand what the challenges
05:57they have in their day-to-day operations. And then we can take that back to the fleet and say,
06:02if you were to do this with the delivery button, actually we can save your drivers 15 seconds per drop.
06:08If you can save that 15 seconds by 100 deliveries per day and take away all of that mental fatigue for
06:15the driver, the benefits are huge. This is going to be built around the driver and that is going to be
06:21making it a very comfortable place to be. For me, the fact that you've got this nice free and easy
06:29exit and entrance at the side and also at the back with a sliding partition which comes as standard with
06:36the vehicle and then it all configured to your needs with regard to your parcel delivery function,
06:43whether it be large parcels, small parcels or even some different form of delivery. Everything is going
06:49to be catered for. So easy access in and out with nine cubic meters and 1100 kilos. This is looking like
06:59a pretty solid option for those urban logistic environments. When I first saw this vehicle at the
07:04IAA, it wasn't actually this vehicle, but a version of it. I like the looks of it. It's quite striking and
07:13they've toned it down a bit. There was a lot of yellow everywhere. This is more industrial and that's
07:19where it should be. But certainly it is immediately identifiable as a particularly interesting looking
07:27brand. And these headlights, if they come and make it to market, could look really kind of funky.
07:33I'm imagining a digital signature across the front there. You will know when this vehicle is coming.
07:39One of the other things that flex its price is a 10.3 meter curb to curb turning ability,
07:47turning circle, you might call it. That is across the L1 version of all of these versions and just
07:5311.4 for the longer wheelbase. Now that's pretty impressive and compares with like a Clio car,
08:01for goodness sake, or a Caddy van is less, much less than the Caddy van. So this is going to be
08:09perfectly suited for the environment for which it's been designed. This is our halo. This is the vehicle
08:14that's really been designed specifically for that urban logistics driver to maximize time saving,
08:21to maximize efficiency, to minimize kind of downtime in the day-to-day operation. But also to really put
08:29the driver at front of mind because it's so important that those drivers are able to stay healthy. They're
08:34able to stay motivated and they're able to stay comfortable because this is their office that they're
08:39working about working in it day in day out. So if you want to see more of this vehicle and get under
08:45the skin of it, get yourself along to the CV show on the 29th and 30th of April and the 1st of May.
08:51And you too can have an up close and personal experience with the new Flexus step-in van.
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