Volta Trucks Begins Engineering Phase On 7- & 12-Tonne Full-Electric Volta Zero Urban Delivery Trucks
EV startup Volta Trucks of Stockholm, Sweden, inventor of the full-electric 16-tonne (17.6-U.S.-ton) Volta Zero urban logistics vehicle, has chosen a design concept for 7.5- and 12-tonne (8.3 and 13.2-U.S.-ton) variations on the zero-emissions delivery truck.
The new smaller variants, designed by Volta Trucks’ partner Astheimer Design in Warwick, UK, will share aesthetic, safety, and comfort features with the 16-t Zero, which is currently undergoing design verification testing. The company says it has entered the engineering phase of the smaller vehicles’ development.
“The full-electric 16-tonne Volta Zero is our first vehicle and the heart of our brand,” says Volta Trucks Chief Product Officer Ian Collins. “But when designing that truck, we knew that we’d need to scale the innovative packaging and cab concept to accommodate different size vehicles. Our customers tell us that they appreciate the safety and zero-emission operations offered by the 16-tonne Volta Zero, but also need those positive attributes in smaller 7.5- and 12-tonne vehicles, and they need them quickly.”
Addressing New Applications
The 7.5- and 12-t Volta Zeros will be able to tap into different use cases to their big brother. For example, Volta says, the 7.5-t model will be allowed to operate on Sundays in areas of Europe where the 16-t version cannot.
The smaller Zeros will also have cabs with similar visibility and safety features as their larger forebear, according to Volta. The 16-tonner’s high-visibility cab has a low, central operator’s seat. Its expansive windscreen and windows afford the operator a 220-degree, 5-star Direct Vision Standard (DVS)-rated view. Among the vehicle’s many safety technologies are interior and side rearview cameras, blind-spot monitoring, and a rear cross-traffic alert system for use when reversing.
“Our creative partners at Astheimer have created an inspiring vehicle design that we’ve now started to engineer and bring to life,” Collins says. “We’ve scaled up our research and development operations to ensure that we can deliver a portfolio of products to market, starting in a year’s time with the 16-t Volta Zero.”
Pilot Plans
Volta expects to deploy a pilot fleet of the 7.5- and 12-t electric vehicles for customer trials in 2023. Series production is currently scheduled for 2024. Volta will initially launch Zero models in Paris and London, to be followed soon after in Milan, Madrid, Germany’s Rhine-Ruhr region, and Randstad in the Netherlands.
The order bank for Volta Zeros currently stands at approximately 4,500 vehicles for customers such as DB Schenker and Petit Forestier, with a total order value of about £85.245 million (€1 billion). Volta Trucks predicts that the upcoming 7.5- and 12-t models will expand its production from 14,000 units in 2024 to more than 27,000 by 2025.
The Volta Zero
Designed specifically to reduce the environmental impact of urban freight deliveries, the Volta Zero has an operating range of 150 to 200 kilometres (95 to 125 miles). The initial 16-t version of the Volta Zero supplies 8,600 kilograms (18,960 pounds) of payload capacity and 37.7 cubic metres (49.3 cubic yards) of loadspace. It has a rear axle capacity of 11 t (12 U.S. t) and a front axle rated at 5 t (5.5 U.S. t). The Zero’s top speed is 90 km/h (56 mph).
Volta Trucks expects the Zero to eliminate approximately 1.2 million t (1.3 million U.S. t) of CO2 emissions by 2025. A new contract manufacturing facility in Steyr, Austria is slated to start producing final 16-tonne prototypes for a Production Verification testing phase in mid-2022, when the first vehicles are expected to be operating with customers.
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Source: Volta Trucks