This 3D printed delivery van is the first of a full range of Helixx commercial vehicles

Brit company Helixx has released pictures of its first demonstrator vehicle – an all-electric van that aims to "support sustainable economic development in emerging megacities". Of course.

Why are we telling you this? Because it’s a single-seater vehicle with a central driving position which means it’s basically a McLaren F1. Oh, and we’re told that Helixx is planning a full range of cute-looking commercial vehicles after this van. There’ll be a pickup truck, a closed-body taxi with seats in the back and an open-bodied rickshaw type thing that passengers could hop in and out of.

Anyway, back to the thing we’re actually here to talk about. Known simply as the Helixx commercial delivery van, it’s pretty teeny at 3.2m long and 1.5m wide, but there’s 2,100 litres of space in the back and a 500kg payload. The rear door is 110cm wide and the load bay is 140cm long to enable a shipping pallet to fit neatly inside.

The single-seat configuration means there’s more load space up front too, plus it means no changes need to be made for sales in left-hand drive markets. There’s no word on any powertrain details just yet though, so we don’t know what motors or battery Helixx will use.

Helixx’s plan is to have this thing built in flat pack ‘Mobility Hubs’ in local markets around the world. It’ll be able to do that because the van itself uses 3D printing for all of its structural and cosmetic body parts, with the actual body consisting of just five key parts that ‘click and bond’ together without any need for welding. Nice. Helixx reckons the whole system simplifies the manufacturing process by up to 50 per cent.

Apparently, the plan is for production to start in 2024 with a run of 100 vehicles built in the UK.