Sweden’s Volta Trucks raises €230M to initiate production of 16-tonne electric truck ‘Volta Zero’

Electric cars and bikes may be making the most buzz these days, but electric trucks are not far behind. Sweden-based Volta Trucks, an automotive company offering electric trucks for sustainable cities, announced that it has raised €230M in its Series C round of funding.

The round was led by New York-based hedge fund Luxor Capital, which had previously invested in Volta Trucks. Initial Seed investor Byggmastare Anders J Ahlstrom Holding AB, and Series B investor Agility, also participated in the round. New investor B-FLEXION, formerly Waypoint Capital, also joined the Volta Trucks journey.

In September 2021, Volta Trucks had raised €37M in its Series B round. The current round brings the total funding raised by the company to around €284.33, according to Dealroom.

Capital utilisation

Volta Trucks claims that the funds will help its engineering and business operations until after the start of series production of its 16-tonne full-electric Zero truck at the end of 2022.

This includes the completion of a fleet of Design Verification prototypes for engineering development and testing, as well as a fleet of Product Verification vehicles that will be evaluated by customers in London and Paris in mid-2022. 

The funds will also help the company to develop its recently confirmed 7.5- and 12-tonne full-electric Volta Zero derivatives, as well as prepare the company’s contract manufacturing facility in Steyr, Austria, to start production of customer vehicles by end of 2022.

Essa Al-Saleh, CEO of Volta Trucks, says, “Today’s closing of the Series C funding round, bringing €230M into the company, gives us the financial runway to be able to deliver on all our goals as we transition from a start-up to a manufacturer of full-electric trucks. The confirmation of our order book of over 5,000 vehicles with an order book value exceeding €1.2B, gives us and our investors confidence that our pioneering product and service offering is both wanted and needed by our customers.”

The company mentions in a statement that one of its largest orders of full-electric trucks came from DB Schenker. The land transport company has ordered nearly 1,500 vehicles.

Electric trucks for sustainable cities

Founded in 2019 by Carl-Magnus Norden and Kjell Walöen, and currently led by CEO Essa Al-Saleh, Volta Trucks is a full-electric commercial vehicle manufacturer and services company. It has offices in Sweden, France and the UK, and is partnering with a number of global supply chain leaders for the development and production of its vehicle Volta Zero.

The company’s prototype Volta Zero was launched in September 2020.

What do the trucks offer?

The Volta Zero is a purpose-built full-electric 16-tonne vehicle designed for inner-city logistics and to reduce the environmental impact of freight deliveries in city centres. The truck offers an operating range of 150-200 Kms (95–125 miles) and, as per company claims, will eliminate an estimated 1.2M tonnes of CO2 by 2025.

The Volta Zero is designed to provide the operator with a central driving position with a much lower seat height than a conventional truck. This design, plus a glass house-style cab design, gives the driver a wide 220-degrees of visibility, minimising dangerous blind spots.

For 2023, the company’s first year of series production, Volta Trucks has production plans for 5,000 vehicles, increasing to 14,000 trucks in 2024 and up to 27,000 vehicles in 2025. By this time, Volta Trucks will be operational across Europe as well as the US, with a portfolio of four Volta Zero models in production, including 7.5-, 12-, 16-, and 18-tonne variants.