Photo: Reuters
Commercial electric vehicle (EV) startup Volta Trucks unveiled two smaller zero-emission truck models on Tuesday. The models will start production in 2025 and are expected to open options for urban deliveries and in EU markets with restrictions for Sunday operations.
The company said that a fleet of test vehicles of the Stockholm-based Volta Trucks’ 7.5-tonne and 12-tonne trucks will be launched for customers in 2024.
The new models are the latest in Volta Trucks’ electric trucks, following the 16-tonne fully-electric truck Volta Zero, set for series production this year, and an 18-tonne model in 2023.
In February, Volta Trucks said that to fund the launch of the series production of the Volta Zero in late 2022, it had raised 230 million euros ($247 million).
Some European Union countries have bans on trucks over 7.5 tonnes operating on Sundays or holidays, and cities like Amsterdam do not allow trucks over that weight to secure the city’s old streets and bridges.
While some European cities like Paris also plan restrictions on commercial diesel vehicles and many manufacturers are testing prototypes, there are virtually no electric trucks in these weight segments available today. Volta Trucks will be among the first.
“Our customers tell us that they really appreciate the safety and zero-emission attributes of the 16-tonne Volta Zero, but also need smaller 7.5- and 12-tonne vehicles in their operations,” Volta Trucks’ Chief Executive Essa Al-Saleh said in a statement.
Volta Trucks currently has around 6,000 orders for electric trucks, including 1,500 orders by Deutsche Bahn’s logistics unit Schenker.
Volta Trucks aims to make 5,000 trucks in 2023. Its annual production is expected to rise to 27,000 by 2025.
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