The new Estafette Concept could be delivering your shopping very soon

This is a box with some wheels attached to it. Or so it seems at first glance; it’s dubbed the ‘Estafette’ Concept, and previews what Renault’s future all-electric utility vehicles could look like. And yes, it has snatched the name from its mediaeval ancestor.

It’s been created under the new Flexis group, which is a joint venture between Renault and Volvo (among others), and will be the first vehicle to ride on the French brand’s new ‘FlexEVan’ platform when it enters production in two years' time.

Proportionally it’s similar in length to the Kangoo, though the width and height give it a pretty distinctive look. But in spite of the seemingly awkward setup, the new Estafette boasts a similar load capacity to the much larger Trafic. Intelligent packaging, that.

The design itself is certainly an eyeful: there are circular headlamps to nod back to the original, a sharply descending bonnet line and a big grille perched between the retrofuturistic fog lamps. The taillights also have arrow-like indicators, while the curved windscreen is supported by wafer-thin pillars to improve visibility. Looks alright, innit?

All of this has been done in the name of usability, you see. The sliding doors, for example, come with an easy-to-operate pulley mechanism that’s meant to reduce the strain on your wrists over a day’s labour. Then there’s the rear exit, which has a shutter in place of the door and no tailgate, which makes loading/unloading a bit less onerous too.

It’s much the same philosophy inside, where a single swivel seat looks out onto various screens, including a seven-inch driver display, a 12in infotainment unit and two vertical 10in digitalised wing mirrors. A series of smaller screens displaying widgets are also thrown in to make the driver’s life easier. Or amusing, depending on the widgets.

There are plenty of cubbyholes and storage spaces for used parking tickets and rogue pieces of fruit too, and lots of yellow trim to dampen those rain-soaked delivery days Britain sees far too many of.

And though the rear cargo bay could be confused for that of a constabulary-spec Ford Transit, it’s actually just so you can keep stuff organised back there. Sure the Estafette might have previous as a police van, but this one won't be going there: that pop-top roof would be way too easy to escape from, for a start.

Software plays a key role too: the Estafette will provide real-time updates and something called ‘predictive maintenance’, which, er, presumably doesn't mean it'll heal itself...

Philippe Divry, the CEO of Flexis, said: “We are very excited about helping to bring to life the vision that Renault Group and its partners have come up with to revolutionise urban logistics, to make operations more sustainable, safer, city-friendlier, driver-friendlier and neighbour-friendlier.

"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.”

Reckon this is a fitting reuse of such a historically significant name for Renault?