Volta Trucks has announced that it now has a running prototype chassis of the Volta Zero, a purpose-built, fully electric 16-ton commercial vehicle designed for inner-city logistics operations.
The company says that the prototype was designed and built in six months using the proposed production-specification frame and drivetrain components of what will become the final truck. This included Proterra’s high-voltage battery and an integrated rear axle, electric motor and transmission unit supplied by Meritor.
The Volta Zero will be tested by the company’s own engineers and evaluated by key customers to gain an insight into how the truck will suit their individual requirements. Full-scale production of customer-specification vehicles is expected to start at the end of 2022.
“The reveal of our first running prototype Volta Zero chassis is a major milestone on our journey to producing the first customer-specification vehicles in around 18 months’ time,” commented Essa Al-Saleh, chief executive officer at Volta Trucks. “The prototype will provide our designers and engineers with feedback and real-world data on the vehicle performance.”
Al-Saleh continued, “The learning from the prototype will also feed into the pilot fleet vehicles that will support our customers’ understanding of the electrification of their fleets. But this is also a great example of the nimble and agile culture and approach we have at Volta Trucks. While traditional vehicle manufacturers take years to undertake market assessments, design processes and vehicle development, at Volta Trucks we work at speed because we know that the world’s climate emergency cannot wait, and our customers need vehicles now. In six months, we have designed and developed a running prototype chassis, and 18 months from now we will be building series production vehicles for our customers. This is what they need, this is the speed they need us to work at, and this is what we’ll deliver.”