Once upon a time…
In 2016, CityFreighter founder Michael Schoening — originally from Heinsberg, Germany, now based in Santa Barbara, California — bought his first Tesla and became convinced the future of transportation would be electric. What followed was almost a decade of prototypes, setbacks and persistence.
- 2016
The idea takes shape after a first drive in an electric car — and a conviction that specialty-vehicle makers need a purpose-built EV platform.
- 2018
The first CityFreighter prototype is completed — built to learn, and to test the architecture.
- 2021
The CF1 — a fully electric delivery van and CityFreighter's first tangible product — brings over 20 m³ of cargo volume to roughly the footprint of a Mercedes eSprinter.
- 2020–2022
COVID stalls international suppliers and travel; the timeline stretches, but the conviction doesn't change.
- Early 2026
Design and build begin simultaneously with Vöhringer, Ross Design and Motive Development — an unconventional way to build a vehicle.
- Aug 2026
World premiere at CARAVAN SALON, Düsseldorf (Hall 13 / A95) — built on the EVOLVE platform, the latest chapter of the story, not the end of it.
The CityFreighter story is really a story about persistence. Two actual vehicles were built along the way — a first prototype in 2018 and, in 2021, the CF1 electric delivery van — neither of them show cars, both built to prove that the architecture could work. At nearly the external footprint of a Mercedes eSprinter, the CF1's over 20 m³ of cargo volume outdid it by roughly 50%, and beat even the purpose-built Rivian Amazon delivery van on space efficiency.
Years of conversations with people across the industry — from BYD's Stella Li to former BMW i3 leader Uli Kranz — sharpened the thinking. A trip through China's truck manufacturing plants delivered a simple realisation: building a commercial vehicle isn't "Mars technology." It's engineering, supply chain, manufacturing and experience.
"Everybody tells me you will never get beyond a real-world range of 270 or 280 kilometres. Technically impossible." — A skeptical RV-industry executive, before a real-world test proved otherwise
That challenge became a test: load a demonstrator to its full 4.25-tonne gross vehicle weight, and drive it — Autobahn, country roads, mountains. The result was more than 400 kilometres, in a demonstrator, not a record-tuned production vehicle.
The push to finally build a physical demo came from Euramax CEO Harmen Kruit, who put it simply: "You need to show them something they can touch and feel." That became this vehicle — designed and built at the same time, with partners across the industry contributing their own networks and latest innovations along the way.