Steyr launches series production of the Volta Zero

Volta Trucks has started series production of the all-electric 16-tonne Volta Zero truck at contract manufacturer Steyr Automotive in Steyr, Austria. The Swedes also announce that they are now accepting new orders.

Prototypes of the Volta Zero were already rolling off the production line in 2022 for design verification and production validation. So now production of the customised series models, which are to be delivered from the third quarter of 2023, begins. This had been announced: in mid-March, Volta Trucks received European type-approval for its 16-tonne truck. According to Volta Trucks, the first customer vehicles from series production will be used as part of a practical programme in which customers are given a truck for real-life testing over an extended period of time.

“The first full production Volta Zero going into the production line here at Steyr is the most substantial milestone the company has achieved to date. In just 2.5 years, less than half the time existing truck manufacturers take, we have moved from launching a concept, through the engineering, development and quality phases and now the start of production of the final specification models that will be driven by customers, making our urban environments safer and more sustainable,” recalls Kjell Walöen, co-founder and Chief Manufacturing and Logistics Officer of Volta Trucks. That is half as long as other truck manufacturers need.

Steyr Automotive has reserved a capacity of up to 14,000 vehicles per year for Volta Trucks. The Swedes say they will increase the production volume piecemeal over the next few years in order to utilise the maximum capacity at Steyr. During this time, the production of the Volta Zero will potentially create more than 700 jobs, it said. Another estimated 2,000 jobs will be created within the supply chain, the company says.

For the time being, production will start with moderate quantities. At the end of January, Volta Trucks announced that it had received customer orders for the first 300 production slots of its model. Shortly afterwards it became public that vehicles for DB Schenker would make up half of these. All 300 units are to be produced and delivered to customers in 2023. Volta is also receiving subsidies of 24.6 million euros from the German Federal Ministry of Transport to reduce vehicle costs for 151 examples of its Volta Zero. The first of the subsidised electric trucks are also to be handed over to customers before the end of 2023.

Production at contract manufacturer Steyr Automotive has basically been running since September 2022, but so far only vehicles of the aforementioned second prototype generation have been built for product validation. Since the actual series vehicles are built according to customer specifications, they may differ slightly from the validation vehicles. The largest customers are currently DB Schenker with just under 1,500 units on order and Petit Forestier with over 1,000 Volta Zero vehicles.