Stockholm, Sweden: Volta Trucks and Petit Forestier are joining forces to make a refrigerated electric truck available for rental from 2022.
The truck is based on the Volta Zero, the first 16- tonne zero-emission truck for urban deliveries.
Petit Forestier will purchase 1,000 Volta Zeros to accelerate its transition towards cleaner energies and represents Volta Trucks’ largest sale to date.
The refrigerated full-electric Volta Zero trucks will join Petit Forestier’s fleet of over 58,500 vehicles and will be equipped by Lecapitaine, Petit Forestier’s subsidiary that designs and makes refrigerated bodywork.
Lecapitaine is working with Volta to integrate of the box body and the refrigeration unit, with the first refrigerated Volta Zero due for user testing in 2021 ahead of the start of production in 2022. This industrial agreement will also cover all refrigerated vehicles sold by Volta Trucks.
In addition to the acquisition of 1,000 vehicles, the partnership also focuses on the co-development of skills, in particular technical expertise in the maintenance of electric vehicles, to offer a full-service solution to end customers and facilitate and simplify the operational deployment of these innovative trucks in Petit Forestier’s 280 branches.
Léonard Forestier, chief executive, Petit Forestier Group, said: “In response to environmental issues and reasonable concerns about accessibility in city centres, greener energies are a promising driver of growth for the Petit Forestier Group and this collaboration with Volta Trucks perfectly illustrates our vision. This partnership embodies our desire to significantly increase our pace in terms of innovation and energy transition of our fleet. We are taking action now to prepare for the future and to provide our customers with the best zero-emission refrigeration solutions, designed for their urban deliveries. We are delighted to work with the teams at Volta Trucks and to jointly help make our cities more pleasant.”
Rob Fowler, chief executive, Volta Trucks, said; “Entering into a strategic long-term partnership to supply 1,000 vehicles to Petit Forestier, the leading refrigerated truck rental company in Europe, and working with Lecapitaine to integrate a refrigerated solution to the Volta Zero, will strengthen Volta Trucks’ position as the leading manufacturer of electric commercial vehicles. When we launched the Volta Zero, we knew that there was a pent-up demand for the electrification of trucks. The unprecedented reaction from our customers, decarbonising their fleets to meet forthcoming legislation, and improving the environment for everyone, has more than validated our expectations.”
The Volta Zero is a purpose-built full-electric 16-tonner for inner-city freight deliveries. It has range of 150 to 200 kms (95 – 125 miles). The driver sits in a central position, with a much lower seat height than a conventional truck and in a glass house-style cab with 220-degrees of visibility that minimises blind spots. The first prototype Volta Zero was launched in September 2020, with the first pre-production vehicles due to start evaluation with customers in 2021 ahead of the start of series production in 2022. Volta Trucks is a start-up full-electric goods vehicle manufacturer and services company. Volta Trucks has offices in Sweden, France and the UK and is partnering with a number of global leaders in the supply chain for the development and production of the Volta Zero.
