Swedish electric truck to use EV drive system made in Sheffield

This follows the Swedish electric vehicle company onboarding other industry partners including motorsport and advanced technology consultancy, Prodrive, transportation design agency, Astheimer and technology and design studio, Conjure.

Working in close collaboration with Volta Trucks, Magtec will be responsible for designing and manufacturing of the drive system of Volta’s prototype truck, which will be unveiled early summer 2020.

Magtec, which is based in Sheffield, brings specialist experience in delivering drive systems for world-class electric vehicles. The first project to launch using Magtec drives was a electric bus scheme in the USA in 1999. Since then, the company has worked extensively with OEM, Tier 1 commercial suppliers across the world on specialist vehicle installations.

Headquartered in Stockholm, Volta is developing fully electric trucks for commercial use within and around urban areas: ensuring safety by design, while removing air and sound pollution from city streets.

Volta trucks will be custom-made according to order requirements and feature a ‘Truck-as-a-Service’ rental model. Street pilots will be carried out in partnership with selected retailers in London and Paris in 2021.

Through electrification, Volta vehicles make 50% less noise and produce zero tailpipe emissions.

Beyond reducing environmental impacts, the removal of bulky diesel engines has allowed Volta Trucks to radically redesign its vehicles, ensuring increased safety.

The driver’s seat is positioned in the centre of the cabin, creating an increased field of direct vision and allowing for entry and exit through sliding doors on both sides of the vehicle, away from passing traffic.

With the cabin positioned at 'True Floor Height' (street level) this also works to improve the vision of the driver, protecting cyclists and pedestrians, while preventing injuries caused from jumping out and climbing back into the truck.

As a result of the safety features, and reduced noise and air pollution of its vehicles, Volta trucks are permitted to operate in the most regulated urban areas, at all hours of the day, including nighttime. This allows for optimised delivery time and the reduction of traffic in congested areas.

Carl-Magnus Norden, CEO and founder of Volta Trucks, commented: “Our business is based on co-creation and collaboration with some of the brightest minds of our industry. Doing this is essential to succeed with our goal of moving as fast as we can to reduce air and sound pollution on our roads, while increasing the safety of drivers, pedestrians and cyclists alike.

With Magtec onboard we feel confident that this will help make our trucks road-ready at the pace we see necessary to meet the current, urgent needs of the cities and the people living within them. Until now, the HGV industry has been dominated by a few major players. With Magtec joining our other partners Prodrive, Conjure and Astheimer we now have a world-class lineup of experts working on this project and together we will be able to deliver on our promise to bring sustainability and safety to cities across Europe and beyond.”

Andrew Gilligan, UK managing director of Magtec, added: “We are delighted to partner with Volta Trucks on this innovative project to reduce environmental harm and improve road user safety. This is a very exciting time for Magtec with our company involved in pioneering work across the world.

"Public opinion, business requirements and environmental bodies are driving change across all transportation sectors. Magtec is perfectly positioned to meet the needs of these markets by rolling out class-leading technology developed by our team over the past 20 years.”

Volta Trucks www.voltatrucks.com

Magnec www.magtec.co.uk