Electric Vans Powering Change At The 2025 CV Show

This year’s Commercial Vehicle Show (CV Show) saw the event return to form with key launches of brand-new vehicles from major manufacturers Kia, Renault and Isuzu, and from new faces Farizon and Flexis. We’ve rounded up all the highlights from each launch into one article for your reading convenience.

If the post-show buzz is any indication, the UK debut of the Kia PV5 was one of the biggest draws to this year’s CV Show. Apart from being a new electric van from a new entrant into the light commercial vehicle market, the PV5 van comes from good stock through Kia’s formidable success with electric cars, and its pricing has everyone talking.
The entry-level Cargo model in ‘Essential’ trim starts at just £27,645 + VAT, but comes down to just £22,645 + VAT when the full plug-in van grant (PIVG) is taken into account. Kia has said several times that the PV5 is designed to compete against other electric small vans and undercuts the pricing on most of them, including those available from the Stellantis brands and the Renault Kangoo E-Tech, for example. Even the largest version of the Cargo version with the long-range battery and top ‘Plus’ trim level will start at £31,410 + VAT will come down to £26,410 + VAT. It’s a huge shake-up at the smaller end of the electric van market. Pre-orders began on the 1st of May 2025, with the first UK customer deliveries beginning in late 2025. Keeping it simple, Kia is offering the PV5 in two simple trims, ‘Essential’ and ‘Plus’, with the choice of battery size offering greater payload or range. The standard range 51.5kWh battery pack will provide a greater payload due to being lighter and around 180 miles of range, while the long range 71.2kWh battery pack increases the range to over 240 miles at the expense of payload. The other PV5 Cargo variants (including the PV5 Crew and Chassis Cab versions) will have their pricing and specifications confirmed later this year. It’s safe to say that these specifications alone are reason to be excited, and to find out more about this new electric van, read our full article about the Kia PV5’s UK pricing and specification, it’s packed with all the information.

Yes, you read that headline right, the Isuzu D-Max EV made its world debut at the CV Show, offering a 1-tonne payload, 3,500kg towing capability, 160 miles of range, and four-wheel drive.
We are still waiting for more concrete details on specifications and trim, but can confirm two trim levels, 11kW charging, the inclusion of the new infotainment and Rough Terrain systems we covered in the review of latest update to the D-Max - read about those in our Isuzu D-Max Pick-up Truck review - and all the safety systems you’d expect. The physical vehicles will arrive in the UK in 2026 and pre-sales open in the second half of 2025. We’ll reveal more as the details emerge, but it was great to see the vehicle in the flesh at the show.

Renault Reveals Three New Electric Vans

Although still in the pre-launch phase, Renault debuted its three future electric van models at the CV Show’s first press conference on the first day. Having found significant success with the electric versions of the Kangoo small van and Master large van, Renault is looking to strengthen its market lead with a new generation of disruptive electric LCVs.
All three models - Trafic, Goelette and Estafette - were developed by Flexis (more on them later in this article) and are the first Renault models to receive the Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) architecture and operating system created by Ampere. Each vehicle uses the same new all-electric skateboard platform that can be adapted to a variety of body styles. Each van will feature 800V technology allowing for charges of 15 to 80 per cent to be achieved in just under 20 minutes for a potential range of up to 280 miles (although this range is not yet official). Starting with the new Trafic E-Tech, this van in L1 format will have a load capacity of 5.1 cubic metres, a length of 4.87m and a width of 1.92m (identical on all three vehicles). The L2 van will provide a load capacity of 5.8 cubic metres for a length of 5.27m, with a wheelbase 40cm longer. Vehicle height is also lower at just 1.90m allowing access to underground car parks. It also looks great, with futuristic styling and a striking interior. Goelette will share the same platform and cab as the Trafic E-Tech and be capable of carrying loads of up to 1.4 tonnes, enabling it to be customised in any way Renault decides. The skateboard platform will allow for stock versions like a chassis cab, a high-volume box or extended cab versions to be mass produced, with the large-volume box offering a load volume of over 10 cubic metres or the crew cab providing space for up to six passengers. And finally, the Estafette is a very tall van standing at 2.60m high and featuring a walk-through design from cabin to load space allowing a driver who’s 1.9m tall to stand upright inside the vehicle. It shares the same platform as the other vehicles and will be available in one length at 5.27m long and a load volume of 9.2 cubic metres. The sliding doors and rear roller shutter are interesting design choices, definitely practical for the use cases of delivery, and definitely make the vehicle stand out.

With the L1H1 and L2H2 versions already revealed, Farizon used the CV Show to debut the L3H3 version and a refrigerated conversion. You can find out more about the vehicle in this article about our first drive and launch specifications of the Farizon SV.
Having already revealed the van earlier this year, Farizon took the opportunity to show off two key conversions and a bit more detail on the partners they’re working with - the aforementioned refrigerated van converted by Paneltex and another converted by Motexion with all of its cargo-carrying protection solutions included. The refrigerated SV can maintain temperatures of 0°C through a GAH refrigeration unit driven by the SV’s own high voltage electrical architecture. It also holds a bit of curio status for being the world’s first refrigerated van conversion featuring a sliding door without a B-pillar in the way. Prices start at £45,000 OTR + VAT with first deliveries scheduled for the second quarter of 2025. At the larger end of the electric van market, that’s a decent price and the products on show seemed to generate interest. I heard from a Farizon team member that they were having a lot of very positive conversations throughout the show with potential partners, so we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for news on how those conversations turn out.

Flexis is another new face in electric vans that made its debut at this year’s CV Show. As mentioned in the section on Renault’s new electric vans, it probably comes as no surprise that Renault and Volvo Trucks are Flexis’ parent companies with Flexis playing a huge part in creating Renault’s three new electric vans. So, that means that the vans will also sell from 2026 under the Flexis name, although it’s apparent that Flexis will sell to fleets, while Renault uses the dealerships.
On the stand was a bare version of the skateboard platform and the large Step-In van (the one that Renault will call Estafette), which really brought home just how versatile the design of these vehicles really is. The company also shed more light on the data and logistical support Flexis will offer companies that take on a fleet of vehicles - this will include vehicle health monitoring, proactive maintenance scheduling and other solutions geared towards maximising up-time and work-based charging infrastructure. No prices are confirmed as yet - from Flexis or Renault - but I’ve heard from Flexis themselves that pay-as-you-go is a distinctly possible payment model. More to be revealed soon, we hope!

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