Volta Trucks has announced its Road-to-Zero Emissions strategy as it delivers on its vision of decarbonising the logistics industry.
The full-electric commercial vehicle manufacturer plans to expand its product portfolio with three additional variants within the medium-to-lower end of the Heavy-Duty class.
As we reported, the company is already in the process of manufacturing the Volta Zero 16-tonne, which will have a 160 to 200 kWh battery size and a range of 90 to 125 miles, with a top speed of 56 mph.
The company will now offer a comprehensive range of full-electric commercial vehicles that include 7.5-tonne, 12-tonne, 16-tonne and 19-tonne weight categories.
The 16-tonne Volta Zero will be the first vehicle delivered, with Pilot Fleet trucks built by the end of 2021, and series production starting around 12 months afterwards. In fact, as we reported, the company has secured the battery supplier and the electric drivetrain component supplier for its debut EV.
Production of the 16-tonne vehicle will be closely followed by the largest 19-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. These later vehicles are currently in the early design development phase.
Volta has already scored various deals as the company has announced the sale of 1,000 Volta Zeros to Petit Forestier, Europe’s largest refrigerated commercial rental fleet. The orderbook had swelled to $260M by January 2021 and continues growing on the back of increasing customer interest.
Given the strength of market demand for the 16-tonne Volta Zero, Volta Trucks will accelerate its market entry with a Europe-first strategy, followed by US and Asian cities. The goal of the company is to sell more than 27,000 units per year by the end of 2025, with volumes increasing further in the following years.
Volta Trucks will adopt a network manufacturing strategy with a number of assembly facilities distributed across its key geographies, minimising unnecessary transportation and cost. The company recently announced it has ‘expressed an interest’ in manufacturing vehicles at the Decarbonisation Hub project in the former Nissan manufacturing facilities in Barcelona.
Volta Trucks is confident that the future is very bright for the company as the Zero is proving to be highly popular, according to Chief Executive Officer of Volta Trucks, Essa Al-Saleh.
“We have seen huge success since launching the 16-tonne Volta Zero in September 2020,” he said. “We have significant tail winds with zero emission large commercial vehicles, thanks to forthcoming legislation changes that are driving demand. This has created a very strong order book that encourages us to rapidly accelerate our plans.”