Volta Trucks

Founded in 2019, Volta Trucks is a company that manufactures and provides services for zero tail-pipe -emission electric trucks. The company, focused primarily on operations across all major cities in Europe and the UK, aims to accelerate the transition to all-electric trucks, reducing the effects of climate change and helping make our cities safer, healthier and more sustainable for everyone.

In 2020, Volta Trucks launched the Volta Zero, a purpose-built all-electric 16-tonne vehicle designed for urban logistics, and with the aim of reducing the environmental impact of freight deliveries in city centres. The vehicle is said to have been designed from the ground up with an operating pure-electric range of 150 - 200 kms (95 – 125 miles) . The company estimate that the Volta Zero will eliminate an estimated 1.9M tonnes of CO₂ by 2026.

Volta Trucks is partnering with a number of global leaders in the supply chain for the development and production of the Volta Zero, at pace and scale. In total, Volta Trucks has raised over €360 million in funding February 2023.

The company’s contract manufacturing facility is in Steyr, Austria, where production of customer-specification vehicles is starting in early Q2 2023. The company has also established a network of �
Volta Trucks Hub
�� service and maintenance facilities in its launch markets, with the first two already announced in Bonneuil-sur-Marne, to the south of Paris, and in Tottenham, London.

History

2019

Volta Trucks was founded in 2019 by Scandavian serial entrepreneur Carl-Magnus Norden and co-founder Kjell Waloen. Engineering concepting and product validation took place throughout 2019.

2019 - 2020

Work on the first demonstrator vehicle started in 2019, and was finished in 2020. In June 2020, Volta Trucks confirmed the first pilot fleet trial of the Volta Zero would be undertaken by Bring and Posten, the Nordic distributor of parcels, cargo, and mail.

In December 2020 Volta Trucks announced a strategic partnership with Petit Forestier, and their 1,000-vehicle order of full-electric refrigerated vehicles, believed to be Europe's largest single order of large electric commercial vehicles.

Early 2021

In February 2021 Volta Trucks announced US EV technology solutions company Proterra as the battery supplier for the Volta Zero.

The company also confirmed the appointment of Meritor as the drivetrain component supplier, claiming that the Volta Zero would be Europe's first commercial vehicle to use an innovative eAxle to drive the rear wheels. Partnerships with other global tier 1 suppliers announced include Bridgestone who supply tyres to the Volta Zero launch vehicle and pilot fleet.

In April 2021, Volta Trucks announced the appointment of its new chief executive officer and Executive Chairman, as it prepared to move ahead with the next stage of its corporate development. Essa Al-Saleh, former president and CEO of Agility Logistics, and former chairman of the Board of Directors of Volta Trucks, was appointed as CEO. Concurrently, Carl-Magnus Norden, the company's Founder, was appointed as Executive Chairman of the board of directors.

At the end of June 2021, Volta Trucks confirmed the start of engineering evaluation and development testing of the first prototype Volta Zero at HORIBA MIRA in Nuneaton, UK.

Late 2021

In September 2021, Volta Trucks confirmed that the first Volta Zero vehicles will be manufactured in Steyr, Austria, by Steyr Automotive, formerly MAN Truck and Bus Austria.

The company then announced the successful conclusion of its Series B funding round, with €37 million secured in new capital, in September 2021.

DB Schenker, one of the largest logistics service providers in European land transport, confirmed an order of almost 1,500 Volta Zero's in November 2021.

In December 2021, the first road-going Volta Zero Design Verification prototype was completed, with a fleet of other vehicles already in build.

2022

In May 2022, Volta Trucks confirmed its product, services, and manufacturing roadmap for entry into the North American market as part of the Route to Zero Emissions strategy

In June 2022, Volta Trucks announced the first of it’s Volta Zero Production Verification drove off the line at its contract manufacturing facility in a
Steyr Automotive in Austria
This is the first of a series of second-generation ‘Production Verification’ prototypes which will form part of a ‘Pilot Fleet’ of trucks to be loaned to customers for extended periods in late 2022 and early 2023. The start of series production of customer specification vehicles is due to start in early 2023.

Steyr Automotive has reserved capacity of 14,000 vehicles per year for Volta Trucks from their total available production. The manufacturing the Volta Zero will create 510 jobs, plus 180 jobs in the building of the cargo boxes, in addition to an estimated 2,000 positions within the supply chain. The manufacturing contract has a value of up to €1 billion over its lifetime.

The Volta Zero

In September 2020, Volta Trucks launched the 16-tonn
Volta Zero
the world's first purpose-built, full electric, large commercial vehicle designed for city-centre deliveries. The driver sits in a central driving position in a lowered cab to mirror the eyeline of other road users and pedestrians. Symmetrical sliding doors allow access in-and-out of either side of the cab. A glasshouse-style cab provides the driver with a 220 degree field of vision and has been designed to exceed the highest Direct Vision Standard rating of 5 stars by Transport for London. The Volta Zero is fitted with 160-200kWh batteries delivering a range of up to 200 km. Volta Trucks claim that the Volta Zero will have a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) that is less than the cost the same as petrol and diesel equivalents.

Volta Trucks launched the 16-tonne Volta Zero in September 2020, and confirmed in the same month that Nobl (formally Drinks Cubed), the London-based sustainable drinks brand, had signed the first multi-million-pound order for the supply of a fleet of Volta Zero vehicles into their distribution operations between 2022 and 2023.

In May 2021, the company announced its ‘Road-to-Zero Emissions strategy’ where it revealed three new variants of the Volta Zero will become available alongside the 16-tonne by 2025. Production of the 16-tonne vehicle will be closely followed by the largest 18-tonne and mid-size 12-tonne variants in 2023. A Pilot Fleet of the smaller 7.5-tonne vehicles is expected to be launched for customer trials in the same year, with production commencing in late 2024.

In April 2022, Volta Trucks revealed the design of the 7.5- and 12-tonne variants, which bear a close but evolutionary visual relationship to the larger 16-tonne vehicle. The 7.5 and 12-tonne variants will be visually identical at the front, with the 12-tonne vehicle having a longer chassis and body, and second set of rear wheels and tyres, to accommodate the increased vehicle payload.

Carrier Transicold and Paneltex were revealed to be the suppliers of the company’s refrigerated and ambient cargo boxes in May 2022.

The first customer evaluation of the 16-tonne Design Verification prototype Volta Zero took place in June 2022 in Paris where customers had their first experience of the zero-tailpipe emission medium-duty truck, providing a real-world understanding of the vehicle’s performance, driver-centric cab, and safety features.

Manufacturing

The first Volta Zeros will be built by Steyr Automotive, Austria, formerly MAN Truck and Bus Austria.  

Volta Trucks have announced they have no plans to build their own factory. They claim there is enough spare capacity in the automotive industry to be able to contract manufacture, rather than build their own production facility, thereby reducing costs, the environmental impact and time to market.

Truck as a Service

Volta Trucks confirmed that alongside the vehicle, they will offer an optional package called “Truck as a Service” (TaaS). For a monthly fee, TaaS provides customers with access to the full-electric Volta Zero, as well as the vehicle's charging infrastructure, servicing, maintenance, financing, insurance, and training.

In April 2022, Volta Trucks revealed its first ‘Volta Trucks Hub’ which will be in Bonneuil-sur-Marne, Paris. The hub will deliver its Truck as a Service customer-focused operations for the routine servicing of vehicles.

In October, it was confirmed that Volta Trucks would also be opening a second ‘Truck as a Service hub’ in Tottenham, London, in 2023. Its vehicle service offering will be rolled out across all launch locations of Paris, London, Madrid, Milan, the Rhine-Ruhr region of Germany, and the Randstad region of the Netherlands.

References

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Swedish companies established in 2017
Battery electric vehicle manufacturers
Car manufacturers of Sweden
Manufacturing companies based in Stockholm
Electric vehicle manufacturers of Sweden