Volvo Trucks delivers 70 electric units to California, in $21.5m government program

• As part of a decarbonising $21.5 million program called SWITCH-ON, supported by the United States’ Environmental Protection Agency, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District, 70 Volvo Trucks VNR models have been delivered to the state of California.
• The 15 trucks delivered so far will be complemented by an additional 55, which will be upcoming next-generation units, with further range capabilities and faster charging speeds.
• The trucks will join the seven transport fleets currently participating in the SWITCH-ON program, and help provide valuable data on how electric trucks perform in the state.

More fully-electric trucks to reach Californian roads

From the program, data collected will be reviewed on a quarterly basis throughout 2025, collecting important data on how each truck performs – taking into account aspects like routes taken, battery usage, and time spent in areas which already have high levels of pollution. Any positive data published as a result, could encourage more fleets of the benefits of switching to electric trucks.

These new trucks will join the 570 Volvo VNR electric trucks already operating across North America, notably while local California rival, Tesla, is yet to make its Tesla Semi commercially available. Volvo Trucks estimates that these 70 units deployed will, over their lifetimes, significantly reduce emissions compared to an equivalent deployment of diesel units – with reductions of over 152 tonnes of Nitrogen Oxides, and over 53,000 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide, for example.

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Volvo Trucks North America President, Peter Voorhoeve, commented:

“There are challenges on the road to electromobility adoption, but through close collaboration with public entities, utilities, manufacturers and other key industry partners, we can overcome these barriers and achieve our zero-emission goals. We’re pleased to say that with successful collaboration, we’ve together been able to find solutions that are critical for these fleets and have been able to deploy the 70 Volvo VNR Electric trucks. By sharing our experiences and overcoming these challenges, we are paving the way for a broader industry adoption, just as we did with the Volvo LIGHTS project and our participation in the JETSI project.”