Volta Trucks has confirmed that its forthcoming 7.5- and 12-tonne variants have entered the engineering phase of development, with a single design concept already selected. The 7.5- and 12-tonne Volta Zeros have been designed by Volta Trucks’ partner, Astheimer Design in Warwick, UK. The new full-electric vehicles will bear a close but evolutionary visual relationship to the larger 16-tonne vehicle which launched in September 2020 and debuted in its production-ready design in November 2021.
The smaller models will carry over the principles of the cab and working environment for drivers, with its low, central seating position and industry-leading visibility and safety standards. The 7.5- and 12-tonne vehicle will fulfill a different use case to the existing 16-tonne Volta Zero, with the 7.5-tonne vehicle, as an example, able to operate on Sundays in a number of European territories where the 16-tonne vehicle is currently excluded.
Engineering of the vehicles has now started, and a Pilot Fleet of vehicles is expected to be launched for customer trials in 2023, with series production due to commence during 2024.
The 7.5- and 12-tonne vehicles complete the initial Volta Zero product lineup, as announced in the company’s Road to Zero Emissions strategy in May 2021. This will see full-electric trucks launched in the initial markets of Paris and London, followed soon afterwards in Milan, Madrid, the Rhine Ruhr region of Germany, and Randstad, Netherlands. The forthcoming 7.5- and 12-tonne variants will also help production to accelerate from 14,000 units in 2024 to over 27,000 by 2025 and increasing in the years beyond.
