Volta Trucks secures €230m investment to put electric commercial vehicle into production

Volta Trucks has secured €230 million (£192m) of investment in its Series C funding round, which will allow its engineering and business operation to continue after production begins later this year.

The start-up electric vehicle maker is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, but has its engineering base in the UK.

Its sole vehicle is the Zero, a purpose-built, fully electric, 16-tonne commercial vehicle designed for operations in urban areas. It has a range of up to 125 miles and has a central driving position with a lot of glass surrounding the cabin to give better visibility, improving safety.

The first prototype was launched in September 2020 and the first production models are expected to be with customers in mid-2022. A sale of almost 1,500 vehicles from logistics firm DB Schenker pushed orders for the model to around 5,000 vehicles.

The new funding round will help with engineering and business operation costs throughout the year and includes the completion of a fleet of prototypes for the development and testing, as well as a separate prototype fleet for prospective customers to try in London and Paris.

This also helps with the cost of developing new 7.5- and 12-tonne versions of the Zero, as well as preparing the firm’s production facility in Steyr, Austria.

Volta says it wants to build 5,000 vehicles in 2023, 14,000 in 2024 and 27,000 by 2025.

Essa Al-Saleh, chief executive officer of Volta Trucks, said; “As an innovator and disruptor in commercial vehicles, we are working at an industry-leading pace and have significant ambitions.

“The confirmation of our orderbook of over 5,000 vehicles witha value exceeding €1.2 billion (£1bn), gives us and our investors, confidence that our pioneering product and service offering is both wanted and needed by our customers.”