Swedish-based all-electric commercial vehicle manufacturer and services provider Volta Trucks has received European Whole Vehicle Type Approval for its 16-tonne all-electric Volta Zero vehicle, a significant milestone on the firm’s journey to production.
The European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval (ECWVTA) certification allows Volta Trucks to produce and sell the all-electric Volta Zero in volume. It’s the process used to ensure that all vehicles meet the stringent and relevant environmental, safety and security standards.
Pilot fleet
The certification of the all-electric Volta Zero comes as the second-generation “production verification” prototypes are soon to be delivered to customers across Europe as part of a pilot fleet of vehicles, noted Volta.
“These vehicles will be loaned to customers for extended periods of time, allowing fleet operators to fully understand how the all-electric medium duty truck will integrate into their operations,” the firm added.
To achieve the required accreditation, Volta Trucks worked with various approval bodies, which oversaw the testing and reports to secure the certification of the Volta Zero. The vehicle underwent multiple systems and individual component testing on areas such as braking, steering, lighting and glazing, along with the vehicle safety systems.
Series production
Customers’ own series production Volta Zeros are due to start rolling off the line of the company’s contract manufacturing facility in Steyr, Austria, in early Q2 2023. The plant is ready to meet the strong customer demand for the purpose-built, all-electric medium duty urban delivery truck.
“Receiving the European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval is a huge milestone for Volta Trucks, and our mission to make city centre streets safer and more sustainable for all,” said Essa Al-Saleh, CEO of Volta Trucks.
“We’ve developed a completely new vehicle from the ground up, and it’s a testament to our engineering and developments teams that the Volta Zero has passed these stringent and demanding tests so quickly. We are now all set for the start of series production at our manufacturing facility in Steyr, Austria, to put trucks into the hands of our customers, and start the work of delivering on our mission,” added Al-Saleh.
Customer orders
Earlier this year, Volta Trucks confirmed customer production orders for the first 300 manufacturing slots of its full-electric 16-tonne Volta Zero for 2023 production and delivery to customers, with an associated revenue of more than €85 million.
Volta Trucks noted that it will communicate customer specific details later. It also stressed that the orders are solely for the full-electric 16-tonne Volta Zero for 2023 production and delivery. The company has previously communicated pre-orders of 6,500 trucks – these are in relation to all markets and all models, including those in future years.
The Volta Zero
The Volta Zero is an all-electric 16-tonne vehicle designed for urban logistics, reducing the environmental impact of freight deliveries in city centres. Designed from the ground up with an operating pure-electric range of 150-200 km (95-125 miles), the Volta Zero will eliminate an estimated 1.9 million tonnes of CO2 by 2026, according to the company.
Volta Trucks is also innovating with its “Truck as a Service” proposition, which offers fleet managers a single, affordable, monthly fee that provides access to an all-electric Volta Zero, and all its charging infrastructure, servicing, maintenance, insurance, and training requirements, maximising uptime and operational efficiency.
The company has also established a network of “Volta Trucks Hub” service and maintenance facilities in its launch markets, with the first four already announced in Bonneuil-sur-Marne, to the south of Paris, in Tottenham, London, Duisberg, to the west of the Rhine-Ruhr region in Germany, and in Madrid, Spain.
