The 7.5- and 12-tonne variants of Volta Trucks’ Volta Zero commercial vehicles have entered the engineering phase of development, with a single design concept already selected, said the manufacturer of full-electric commercial vehicle.

An announcement from Volta Trucks added that the 7.5t and 12t Volta Zeros have been designed by Volta Trucks’ partner, Astheimer Design in Warwick, UK. The new full-electric vehicles will bear “a close but evolutionary visual relationship” to the larger 16t vehicle launched in September 2020 and debuted in its production-ready design in November 2021, the manufacturer added.

“The smaller models will carry over the principles of the innovative cab and premium working environment for drivers, with its low, central seating position and industry-leading visibility and safety standards,” said the announcement from Volta Trucks, which added that the 7.5t and 12t vehicles will fulfil a different use case as compared to the existing 16t Volta Zero, with the 7.5t vehicle, for example, able to operate on public holidays in a number of European territories where larger vehicles are currently excluded.

“The ground-up development of the 7.5t and 12t vehicles will be undertaken at the same rapid pace that’s become a hallmark of Volta Trucks operations. Engineering of the vehicles has now started, and a Pilot Fleet of vehicles is expected to be launched for customer trials in 2023, with series production due to commence during 2024,” said Volta Trucks’ announcement.

The 7.5t and 12t variants complete the initial Volta Zero product line up, as announced in the company’s Road to Zero Emissions strategy in May 2021. This will see full-electric trucks launched in the initial markets of Paris and London, followed soon afterwards in Milan, Madrid, the Rhine Ruhr region of Germany and Randstad, Netherlands. The forthcoming 7.5t 12t vehicles will also help production to accelerate from 14,000 units in 2024 to over 27,000 by 2025 and increasing in the years beyond.

Ian Collins, chief product officer of Volta Trucks, said: “The full-electric 16-tonne Volta Zero is our first vehicle and the heart of our brand. But when designing that truck, we knew that we’d need to scale the innovative packaging and cab concept to accommodate different size vehicles. Our customers tell us that they appreciate the safety and zero-emission operations offered by the 16-tonne Volta Zero, but also need those positive attributes in smaller 7.5- and 12-tonne vehicles, and they need them quickly. Our creative partners at Astheimer have created an inspiring vehicle design that we’ve now started to engineer and bring to life. We’ve scaled up our Research and Development operations to ensure that we can deliver a portfolio of products to market, starting next year with the 16-tonne Volta Zero.”