This tiny electric delivery van concept could solve a puzzle for urban businesses

Today’s scooter-strewn and lorry-laden streetscapes are a taste of things to come. The city of the future might be not abuzz with flying cars, but it’ll certainly be awash in micro-delivery vehicles. Japanese manufacturer HW Electro thinks it can step up to the challenge and become a major player in this new market. This is its Puzzle concept, first shown at Japan Mobility 2023, a proposal for an ultra-compact urban cargo carrier. 

HW Electro Puzzle, a tiny electric delivery van

HW Electro has crammed every conceivable extra into the Puzzle, playing up the sliding block metaphor with a multifunctional interior with a passenger seat that folds into a desk, plug sockets galore inside and out, a capacious load bay, an emergency first aid kit that’s accessible from outside the van and even a public Wi-Fi hotspot.

At under 3.4m in length and less than 1.5m wide, the Puzzle could probably perch in the bed of Tesla’s Cybertruck (and would be a far more sensible proposition for around town deliveries). Expected range is around 100-150 miles – a DHL van does around 100 miles on a typical UK daily route. The cargo bay has a capacity of 350kg and is designed with 90-degree angles all round to maximise every last bit of space.

As well as interior and exterior design that’s intended to be as flexible as possible, the van has flat panelled bodywork that’s just begging for signage (as well as being easy to repair) and even a clever pegboard-style covering on the doors and dash that allows different add-ons and function to be added. Up front, there’s a friendly pair of round LED headlights that give the Puzzle a welcoming retro feel.

Whilst the Puzzle conforms to Japan’s kei car regulations in terms of size, the company seems keen to make the Puzzle a more global product. First deliveries wouldn’t be until 2025, by which time many more companies will be looking to replace existing diesel-powered fleets with more energy-efficient machines. It might not be able to shift a sofa, but this kind of electric light commercial vehicle is the future of internet-driven urban commerce. 

HW Electro Puzzle Concept, HWE-cars.jp