Not so long ago, Fully Charged Show, clean energy & electric vehicle channel, came up with an episode of one of the first electric delivery trucks. Besides the review of the vehicle itself, they met with the CCO of the company, Duncan, who talked more about the mission of the company.
We’re talking about Volta company, located in Stockholm, Sweden. Volta will start building running prototypes in December this year and deliver customer specification vehicles by December 2022.
All the information can be found on their website, but we will highlight some of the stuff mentioned. Dimensions of the EV delivery truck will be as follows:
ZERO is a 16-ton vehicle, with the capability of carrying up to 8 tons of freight. It is built mainly for in-a-city and last-mile logistics, and not for city to city, highway transport, as it may seem. This is why the company focused on the functionality a little more than it did on the range. ZERO will come in two options:
- Standard Range Battery: 150kWh – 93 miles (150km)
- Extended Range Battery: 225kWh – 124 miles (200km)
These batteries will be developed by Proterra, a California-based public company manufacturing electric transit buses and electric charging systems. Dustin from Volta said that this range should be sufficient, as most of the trucks operating for this kind of work are stationary most of the time. One of the most interesting things about this vehicle is the driver’s position. The driver is in the center, with a passenger seat on his left and right. Passenger seats are elevated, compared to the driver’s seat. Also, the eyesight of the driver is about 1.8 meters, which is almost in line with that of a passenger. This allows the driver a better clear-sightedness, and a safer drive.
ZERO will come with a lot of safety features as a standard, featuring:
- Rear view cameras (interior and side)
- Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM)
- Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC)
- Rear Cross Traffic Alert
- 360° camera
- Traffic Sign Recognition (TSR)
Volta is developing a branch that they call “Truck as a Service”. This is what they said on their website about that:
We offer a frictionless and hassle-free way to migrate fleets of all sizes to electric, maximising their uptime and operational efficiency. For a single monthly fee, customers will have access to the vehicle, charging infrastructure, and all of its servicing, maintenance, insurance and training requirements.
We like the technologies Volta is employing, and it seems as if they will set some standards for other companies to match. Either way, we’re eager to see this vehicle in full production and on the road.
