Volta Trucks has been granted European Whole Vehicle Type Approval for its 16-tonne all-electric Volta Zero vehicle.

The certification of the all-electric Volta Zero comes as the second-generation ‘Production Verification’ prototypes are soon to be delivered to customers across Europe as part of a pilot fleet of vehicles.

These vehicles will be loaned to customers for extended periods of time, allowing fleet operators to fully understand how the all-electric medium duty truck will integrate into their operations.

Customer’s own series production Volta Zeros are due to start rolling off the line of the company’s contract manufacturing facility in Steyr, Austria, in early Q2 2023.

Essa Al-Saleh, chief executive officer of Volta Trucks, said: “Receiving the European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval is a huge milestone for Volta Trucks, and our mission to make city centre streets safer and more sustainable for all.

“We’ve developed a completely new vehicle from the ground up, and it’s a testament to our engineering and developments teams that the Volta Zero has passed these stringent and demanding tests so quickly.

“We are now all set for the start of Series Production at our manufacturing facility in Steyr, Austria, to put trucks into the hands of our customers, and start the work of delivering on our mission.”

The purpose-built all-electric 16-tonne vehicle is designed for urban logistics, reducing the environmental impact of freight deliveries in city centres.

It has an operating pure-electric range of 150-200 kms (95-125 miles), the Volta Zero will eliminate an estimated 1.9M tonnes of CO2 by 2026.