Volta Trucks, the leading and disruptive full-electric commercial vehicle manufacturer and services provider, has confirmed that Paneltex has been appointed as the supplier of ambient cargo boxes for the full-electric Volta Zero. The agreement is for the 16- and 18-tonne Volta Zero variants and was announced today at the CV Show in Birmingham, UK. 

In a move to innovate in the commercial vehicle market, Volta Trucks is seeking to provide better integrated solutions that reduce time to market, improve technological functionality and to optimize payload through better integration of the box and cab / chassis. This approach to vehicle specification helps support the company’s Truck as a Service model, and helps ensure suitable replacement vehicles are always available, supporting customer’s uptime.

Paneltex is no stranger to the green energy market. With thirty years of engineering expertise, Paneltex brings a comprehensive portfolio of manufacturing techniques and top-quality products to the venture. Producing thousands of vehicle bodies, vehicle body kits, and portable cold stores a year out of six specialised factories across the UK, Paneltex’s innovative approaches to design and manufacture are uniquely well suited for this collaboration with Volta Trucks.

Confirming the supply agreement with Paneltex, Ian Collins, Chief Product Officer of Volta Trucks, said; “The innovative and disruptive Volta Trucks model of supplying a complete vehicle rather than a chassis cab means that we need to work with the world’s best suppliers of cargo boxes, and in significant volumes, given our sales aspirations. Announcing our partnership with Paneltex for the supply of cargo boxes is the latest in a long line of agreements with world-class industry-expert suppliers that will support us in our mission to get the full-electric Volta Zero to market as quickly as possible and start dealing with the societal issues of climate change, air quality and safety that the vehicle is designed to address.”

Chris Berridge, Managing Director of Paneltex, added: “Since Paneltex’s founding, we have been at the forefront of all environmentally oriented innovations in our field. We’re delighted to work with Volta Trucks to produce a zero-emission vehicle that is better for everyone, while still maintaining the commitment to payload, durability and excellence that the Paneltex name is known for. We are pleased to be working on such an exciting project and are looking forward to our collaboration with Volta Trucks.”

A Volta Zero ‘Design Verification’ roadgoing prototype will be featured next to the Paneltex booth at the CV Show taking place between 24-26 May 2022 at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, UK.

About the Volta Zero.

The Volta Zero is the world’s first purpose-built full-electric 16-tonne vehicle designed for urban logistics, reducing the environmental impact of freight deliveries in city centres. Designed from the ground up with an operating pure-electric range of 150 – 200 kms (95 – 125 miles), the Volta Zero will eliminate an estimated 1.2M tonnes of CO₂ by 2025.

Safety is also at the heart of Volta Trucks, with its ambition of producing the safest trucks for our cities. The Volta Zero was designed for electric from the outset, which facilitates a step-change in vehicle, driver and pedestrian safety. Thanks to the removal of the internal combustion engine, the operator of a Volta Zero sits in a central driving position, with a much lower seat height than a conventional truck. This combination, plus a glass house-style cab design, gives the driver a wide 220-degrees of visibility, minimising dangerous blind spots. The prototype Volta Zero was launched in September 2020, with the first vehicles expected to be operating with customers in mid-2022. 

In November 2021, Volta Trucks announced Europe’s largest purchase of full-electric trucks with DB Schenker’s order of 1,470 vehicles. This followed Petit Forestier’s order of 1,000 Volta Zeros. Volta Trucks now has a total order bank of around 6,000 vehicles, with an order bank value of circa €1.3 billion. 

About Volta Trucks.

Volta Trucks is a scale-up full-electric commercial vehicle manufacturer and services company. Volta Trucks’ Head Office is in Stockholm, Sweden, with its engineering led from the UK, and forthcoming manufacturing facility in Steyr, Austria. The company also has sales teams across France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, and the UK. Volta Trucks is partnering with a number of global leaders in the supply chain for the development and production of the Volta Zero.