Volta Trucks has completed its first customer driving evaluation and feedback sessions of the Volta Zero Design Verification prototype. The review gave customers their first experience of the zero-tailpipe emission medium-duty truck designed for urban logistics, providing a real-world understanding of the vehicle’s performance, world-first driver-centric cab and innovative safety features.
The evaluation event, undertaken at UTAC Autodrome de Linas-Montlhery in Paris, is the company’s latest milestone on its accelerated journey to bring zero-tailpipe emission trucks to market at industry-leading pace. The Design Verification prototype vehicles were taking a break from their rigorous testing regime to undertake the evaluation event, with the customer feedback being integrated into the next-generation Production Verification prototype vehicles. The Product Verification build is due to start at the company’s contract manufacturing facility in Steyr, Austria, over the summer.
These Production Verification prototypes will be loaned to customers for extended periods later in 2022, enabling them to understand how full-electric medium-duty trucks will integrate into their operations. Production of the first customer-specification vehicles is still on track to start in early 2023.
At the evaluation event in UTAC, Paris, Chief Executive Officer of Volta Trucks, Essa Al-Saleh, said; “Today is a huge moment for Volta Trucks, our customers, and the decarbonisation and sustainability of our cities. Since the reveal of the Volta Zero in September 2020, we have been working at industry-leading pace to bring the vehicle to market because that is what our customers are demanding. To be able to let them evaluate prototype full-electric trucks less than 2 years since we revealed the demonstrator vehicle, and less than 18 months since the actual engineering project started, is the best example of the speed we are working at. These are very early and relatively immature prototypes, that customers are never normally able to experience, but their feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. This gives us added confidence and validation that we will deliver world-class zero-tailpipe emission commercial vehicles to our customers, at volume, starting early next year.”
Further customer evaluation events and media prototype test drive opportunities are due to be delivered in Volta Trucks’ European launch markets in the Summer / Autumn of 2022.
