Testing continues for Volta Zero
THE FULL-ELECTRIC 16-TONNE VOLTA ZERO HAS completed hot weather testing ahead of its series production debut early next year.
The Vehicle Development team at Volta Trucks completed more than 2,500km of customer-focused driving cycles at motorway, town and city speeds while based at the Nardo Technical Centre in southern Italy for six weeks.
In temperatures of up to 39degc during the day and 28degc at night, the air conditioning system and thermal management of the battery and powertrain of the Volta Zero have been fully evaluated to ensure operational reliability.
Although unlikely to be experienced in its natural urban surroundings, testing has also been completed on dusty road surfaces, pushing the vehicle’s suspension, steering, traction control and braking system beyond the expected limit of normal customer usage.
In addition, dust accumulation was studied for cabin and load box ingress, as well as how it sits on components such as lights, wipers and panels.
“The testing allows our engineers to incorporate their latest findings in the series production of customer specification vehicles, ensuring the Volta Zero will deliver a reliable and durable experience for future customers,” says Ian Collins, Chief Product Officer of Volta Trucks.
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. It is designed with an operating pureelectric range of 150-200km.
The prototype was launched in September 2020, with the first vehicles starting to be evaluated by customers in late-2022. Volta Trucks now has a total order bank of 6,500 vehicles, including orders for 1.470 trucks made by DB Schenker and an order of 1,000 trucks by Petit Forestier.
Volta Trucks is a scale-up full-electric commercial vehicle manufacturer and services company with its Head Office in Stockholm, Sweden. Engineering is led from the UK, and forthcoming manufacturing will take place at Steyr, Austria.
T&D