Volta Zero trucks to be manufactured at Steyr Automotive site, in Austria

The Swedish manufacturer Volta Trucks announced that its Volta Zero full-electric trucks will be assembled at Steyr Automotive site, in the homonymous Austrian city. Volta Trucks has reached an agreement with Steyr Automotive, the brand-new company announced only a few days ago following the end of negotiations between MAN Truck&Bus Austria, the former owners of the historical commercial vehicle production site, and WSA Beteiligungs GmbH. MAN Truck & Bus will initially continue to have the MAN TGL and MAN TGM truck series produced in Steyr until May 2023 in order to ensure a smooth transition. Components will also continue to be manufactured and plastic parts painted for the MAN production network.

The Volta Zero to be produced in Steyr

The «extensive experience of commercial vehicle manufacturing», as stated in the official press release, was one of the keys of the agreement signed for the production of the Volta Trucks (here our video interview with Business Development Manager, Carla Detrieux), which is expected to start in late 2022. Currently, the vehicle is being tested on-road in the UK, as proven by this post published last week. According to the forecasts elaborated by Volta Trucks, up to 500 jobs will be created in the region over time, with an estimated 2000 positions within the supply chain.

The Road-to-Zero Emissions strategy issued by Volta Trucks planned to manufacture vehicles close to the markets in which they will be sold, reducing the environmental footprint of vehicle distribution. With London and Paris identified as the initial launch cities, and a Europe-first city-specific roll out strategy, the plant in Austria is perfectly situated close to the initial markets, supporting the accelerated roll-out of full-electric commercial vehicles to customers. In addition, some agreements with component suppliers were announced in the last few months, such as the one with Italian CPC Group for the exterior body panels.

In the heart of the European region

Confirming the announcement, co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Volta Trucks, Kjell Waloen, said: «The partnership with Steyr Automotive marks a significant milestone for Volta Trucks, and one of the important milestones ahead of us starting to build full electric trucks by the end of 2022. The team at Steyr Automotive has demonstrable capability to manufacture the Volta Zero with decades of previous premium truck-building experience. Building our trucks in Austria, in the heart of our European launch region, will accelerate our time to market and minimise the environmental footprint of our operations, supporting our sustainability ambitions – a key factor in our decision-making process. The partnership will now allow Volta Trucks to quickly ramp up our production as we look to meet the demands of our customers who need to replace their fleets with zero emission vehicles as soon as possible».