Volta Trucks, a leading and disruptive all-electric commercial vehicle manufacturer and services provider, is collaborating with CPC Group. The Group are Europe’s largest composite manufacturing company and together they will develop sustainable and recyclable composite exterior body panels for the Volta Zero.
The Volta Zero is the world’s first purpose-built full-electric 16-tonne commercial vehicle designed specifically for inner-city logistics. Sustainability is at the heart of the Volta Trucks brand, and this extends well beyond the removal of tailpipe emissions and into the sustainability of the vehicle’s supply chain and material selection.
When the Volta Zero was launched in September 2020, it was the first commercial vehicle to use sustainably-sourced flax and biodegradable resin composite panels. The fully natural, lightweight, high-performance fibre material is almost CO2 neutral over its lifecycle, and matches the stiffness and weight of carbon fibre but uses 75 percent less CO2 to produce.
CPC Group has over 10 years of experience with composites and has grown to become Europe’s largest composites manufacturer. The company shares clear synergies with Volta Trucks in terms of its technological and commercial ambitions, making it a natural partner.
Volta Trucks will work with CPC Group to develop and industrialise these new and innovative, sustainable and recyclable composite materials. Full-scale production of customer-specification vehicles will commence at the end of 2022 using state-of-the-art composite materials throughout the body and trim of the vehicle.
Carl-Magnus Norden, Volta Trucks founder and executive chairman, said: “Sustainability is a cornerstone of our company’s purpose because saving the planet cannot wait. It must happen now, and Volta Trucks wants to spearhead the rapid change in large commercial vehicles.
Our innovative full-electric powertrain will remove harmful exhaust emissions, reducing climate change and improving inner-city air quality. But for Volta Trucks, sustainability is much more than just tailpipe emissions. We take an environmental-first approach to all material sourcing to deliver on our mission of becoming the world’s most sustainable commercial vehicle manufacturer.”
Franco Lorio, CPC CEO, said: “Volta Trucks will change the mobility of vehicles within the world and I am personally glad to dedicate a considerable share of our new company capacity for this project.”
