Volta Trucks, a pioneer in commercial electric vehicles and the company responsible for a massive contract with Hull-based Paneltex, has received approval from European regulators to deliver its new model on a large scale.
The European Whole Vehicle Type Approval certification has been granted to the Volta Zero, making it the world’s first purpose-built all-electric 16-ton vehicle when released later this year.
Business Live reports that the procedure had to guarantee that all vehicles satisfy the strict and appropriate environmental, safety, and security standards facilitated by it and that the organization can manufacture and sell in volume.
240 job employment opportunity
Paneltex will supply the cargo box for the trucks manufactured in Austria. The company is outfitting a vast new factory in East Yorkshire to accommodate the increased production.
As a result of the expansion to a site that is 140,000 square feet in size at the Dianthus Business Park in Newport, it is anticipated that 240 new jobs will be created there.
“Receiving the European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval is a huge milestone for Volta Trucks and our mission to make city center streets safer and more sustainable for all. We’ve developed a completely new vehicle from the ground up, and it’s a testament to our engineering and development teams that Volta Zero has passed these stringent and demanding tests so quickly.
We are now all set for the start of series production at our manufacturing facility in Steyr, Austria, to put trucks into the hands of our customers and start the work of delivering on our mission.”
Essa Al-Saleh, chief executive at Volta Trucks
Volta trucks to begin production in a few months
As part of a test fleet of vehicles, “production verification” prototypes of the second generation will soon be supplied to consumers in different countries across Europe.
Customers will be able to borrow these for extended periods, allowing fleet operators to understand how the fully electric medium-duty truck will fit into their operations.
The Swedish company anticipates beginning proper production within the next few months. The company has founded a maintenance and service hub in London and locations in France, Germany, and Spain.
Paneltex is the company that is responsible for the installation of specialized equipment in refrigerated supermarket delivery vehicles all over the United Kingdom and North America.
Paneltex has experienced significant expansion due to the meteoric rise of online shopping.
Paneltex and Volta’s partnership
The Newport base was established after the company expanded its operations in Hull. It also comes on record performance and achieves a further 40 percent uplift with the record-breaking agreement.
“We are delighted that the Volta Zero has achieved the European Whole Vehicle Approval accreditation, necessary to allow it to enter service in volume as a fully type approved vehicle.
We have been working closely with Volta Trucks to ensure that Paneltex can also offer our own Whole Vehicle Approvals for second stage upfit, which enables further development of specialized cargo bodies to add to the standard products.”
Construction of the production verification fleet has been ongoing both at Steyr in Austria and at Paneltex in Hull, and we are ready to begin supply of production cargo bodies from Hull on time.
Equipping our new factory at Dianthus Park remains on track, although still subject to receiving planning consent for the change of use for the building. We are intending that this plant will begin operation this summer to support the rapid ramp-up of truck production in Austria from that point. This is a significant and exciting development for Paneltex and we are proud to be supporting the design and manufacture of such an innovative zero-emissions truck product. The whole truck has been re-imagined from the ground up to suit 21st-century urban logistics, and we believe that it will have global appeal.”
Chis Berridge, managing director
See Also:
- Volta Trucks and Cake collaborate for an electric mobile micro hub for last-mile delivery
- Volta Trucks and Siemens partners to accelerate commercial fleet electrification
- Volta Trucks & DB Schenker complete 1st on-road test phase of Volta Zero
- Auto component industry prepares for significant shift to electric vehicles
- Explaining EV transition and charging infrastructure
