Volta Trucks, the leading and disruptive all-electric commercial vehicle manufacturer and services provider, has confirmed that the European Investment Bank (EIB) is engaging with the company for €40 million venture debt financing.
The funding from the EIB would support the roll out of Volta Trucks’ Truck as a Service (TaaS) infrastructure over the period 2023-2026.
The aim of the European Investment Bank’s funding support for Volta Trucks is to contribute to the electrification of the road transport sector, by facilitating electric trucks deployment. The project is in line with the European Commission’s comprehensive framework of policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy (December 2020) and the EU Green Deal (November 2021). Additionally, the project contributes to the EIB’s objective for Sustainable Transport and Climate Action hence is in line with the Bank’s lending objectives and Transport Lending Policy.
Commenting on the EIB’s venture debt funding proposal, Chief Executive Officer of Volta Trucks, Essa Al-Saleh, said; “To receive the validation and support from the European Investment Bank is a huge validation of our ambitious goal to become a European champion of fleet electrification. We are confident that our Truck as a Service proposition, which the EIB is supporting, offers fleet managers a frictionless and hassle-free way to electrify their fleet, and the EIB loan will accelerate this considerably.”
About the Volta Zero
The Volta Zero is the world’s first purpose-built all-electric 16-tonne vehicle designed for urban logistics, reducing the environmental impact of freight deliveries in city centres. The Volta Zero is designed from the ground up with an operating pure-electric range of 150 – 200 kms (95 – 125 miles).
Safety is also at the heart of Volta Trucks, with the ambition to produce the safest trucks for our cities. The Volta Zero was designed for electric from the outset, which facilitates a step-change in vehicle, driver and pedestrian safety. Thanks to the removal of the internal combustion engine, the operator of a Volta Zero sits in a central driving position, with a much lower seat height than a conventional truck. This combination, plus a glass house-style cab design, gives the driver a wide 220-degrees of visibility, minimising dangerous blind spots.
Volta Trucks is also innovating with its Truck as a Service proposition that is revolutionising the financing and servicing of commercial vehicle fleets. Truck as a Service offers fleet managers a frictionless and hassle-free way to electrify their fleet and helps them with every step by offering a single, affordable, monthly fee that provides access to an all-electric Volta Zero, and all its charging infrastructure, servicing, maintenance, insurance, and training requirements, maximising uptime and operational efficiency.
About Volta Trucks
Volta Trucks was founded in 2019 in Sweden by co-founders Carl-Magnus Norden and Kjell Waloen. The company, focused primarily on operations across all major cities in Europe and the UK, will accelerate the transition to all-electric trucks, reducing the effects of climate change and helping make our cities safer, healthier and more sustainable for everyone. Volta Trucks has partnered with a number of global leaders in the supply chain for the development and production of the Volta Zero, at pace and scale. In total, Volta Trucks has raised over €360 million funding to date.
The company’s contract manufacturing facility is in Steyr, Austria, where production of customer specification vehicles is starting in early Q2 2023. The company has also established a network of ‘Volta Trucks Hub’ service and maintenance facilities in its launch markets, with the first four already announced in Bonneuil-sur-Marne, to the south of Paris, in Tottenham, London, Duisberg, to the west of the Rhine-Ruhr region in Germany, and in Madrid, Spain.
