Electric commercial vehicle manufacturer Volta Tricks has unveiled its forthcoming 7.5- and 12-tonne Volta Zero models – the second product family in its full-electric vehicle range.
The 7.5- and 12-tonne Volta Zeros have been designed by Volta Trucks’ partner Astheimer Design in Warwick, UK alongside Volta Trucks’ own engineering teams.
The new full-electric vehicles bear a close resemblance to the larger 16-tonne vehicle, which is now undergoing engineering development and testing ahead of customer evaluation during 2022.
The 7.5- and 12-tonne vehicles will be visually identical at the front, with the 12-tonne vehicle having a longer chassis and body, and second set of rear wheels and tyres, to accommodate the increased vehicle payload.
According to Volta, the vehicle’s ground-up design, without the traditional internal combustion engine, has enabled designers and engineers to completely rethink truck design in this segment.
The driver of a Volta Zero has a wide 220-degrees of direct vision around the vehicle. This panoramic view of the surroundings through a glasshouse-style cab is designed to deliver a Transport for London five-star Direct Vision Standard rating for optimum visibility and the reduction of blind spots.
Additionally, the protection of vulnerable road users is enhanced by the use of rear-view cameras that replace traditional mirrors, a 360-degree birds-eye camera showing the driver their complete surroundings, and blind-sport warning systems that detect objects down the sides of the vehicle.
Without the legacy internal combustion engine, the driver of a Volta Zero sits far lower than in a conventional truck, with their eye-line at around 1.8 meters. This mirrors the height of pedestrians and other road users nearby for easy visual communication.
Due to the Volta Zero’s central driving position, the driver can enter and exit the vehicle on either side, always onto the pavements for their own safety, and through sliding rather than swinging doors to also ensure the safety of passing cyclists
The new 7.5- and 12-tonne Volta Zero will also work to change the experience and workspace for drivers. A new dashboard and interfaces has been designed to be near-silent operations and minimised cognitive overload, meaning the driving experience is more akin to a premium car than traditional commercial vehicle.
A pilot fleet of vehicles is expected to be launched for customer trials in 2024, with series production due to commence in early 2025. The forthcoming 7.5- and 12-tonne vehicles will make a contribution to the company’s objective to sell over 27,000 per year by 2025.
Essa Al-Saleh, chief executive officer of Volta Trucks, said: “The forthcoming 7.5- and 12-tonne models complete the full-electric Volta Zero product family. They’ll sit alongside our 16-tonne vehicle and the 18-tonne vehicle that will start production in mid-2023.
“Our customers tell us that they really appreciate the safety and zero-emission attributes of the 16-tonne Volta Zero, but also need smaller 7.5- and 12-tonne vehicles in their operations. Our engineering teams are now scaling rapidly to be able to deliver all four vehicles at pace, as our customers ask of us.”
