Volta Trucks to appoint new Chairman and Board Member to accelerate the company’s momentum

By Volta Trucks

  • Essa Al-Saleh (pictured) to be appointed as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Volta Trucks.
  • Peter Bardenfleth-Hansen to join the Board with 10 years of experience with Tesla.

 

Following the recent launch of the Volta Zero, the first purpose-built full-electric large commercial vehicle, Volta Trucks will announce the appointment of a new Chairman of the Board of Directors plus a new Board Member, strengthening the company’s position as a world leading manufacturer of electric commercial vehicles and services provider.

Mr. Essa Al-Saleh will be appointed as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors of Volta Trucks, having recently stepped down after 22 years with Agility, having spent the last 13 years as President and Chief Executive Officer, Global Integrated Logistics for Agility. In his tenure, Mr Al-Saleh led the development of Agility GIL from 300 to 18,000 employees and from $150m to $4bn of revenues, with operations in over 100 countries. Essa Al-Saleh brings his experience in scaling businesses across the globe, supporting teams to grow with a view to drive new innovation in the supply chain including a clear focus on sustainability and the decarbonisation of the logistics industry. Essa Al-Saleh holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University and an MBA from Boston College.

Concurrently, Peter Bardenfleth-Hansen is to join the Volta Trucks’ Board of Directors. Mr Bardenfleth-Hansen brings 10 years of commercial experience of scaling Tesla in the Nordics, EMEA and Japan, culminating as Director of EMEA Business Development. He introduced Tesla into the key Norwegian market and helped establish the sales organisation throughout northern Europe. He also oversaw business expansion in Europe, Middle East and Asia, including responsibility for the region’s P+L, market entry and more than 50 store openings. Most recently, he’s been Chief Growth Officer for StreetScooter GmbH, a DPDHL subsidiary that manufacturers a two-seat, last-mile and inner-city logistics vehicle, where he is responsible for international sales and after-sales, marketing and product.

Both announcements will follow the appointment of Dr. Seshu Bhagavathula who joined the Volta Trucks’ Board of Directors in August 2020.

Co-Founder of Volta Trucks, Carl-Magnus Norden, said;

“I’m delighted to be welcoming Essa Al-Saleh as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors of Volta Trucks. His extensive understanding of the global logistics industry, as well as his clear experience of growing fledgling organisations into globally successful businesses, will bring great benefits to the start-up Volta Trucks company. With Essa, Peter and Dr. Seshu Bhagavathula, the Board of Directors of Volta Trucks has extensive global knowledge and experience of the automotive and commercial vehicle industry, as well as the needs and expectations of our logistics operator customers.”

The current acting chairman, representing seed investor Byggmästare Anders J Ahlström, Mr Tomas Bergström said;

“I’m very pleased to hand the Chair to Essa and to also see Peter join the Board of Volta Trucks. Their backgrounds in highly relevant areas speak for themselves and will certainly help to accelerate the Volta Trucks’ journey.”

Byggmästare Anders J Ahlström and Carl-Magnus Norden, together representing more than 50% of the shares and votes of Volta Trucks, intend to vote in favour of the nominations at an EGM that will be held soon.

Ends.

Editor’s notes.

About the Volta Zero.

The Volta Zero is the world’s first purpose-built full-electric 16-tonne vehicle designed for inner-city freight deliveries, reducing the environmental impact of freight deliveries in city centres. Designed from the ground up with an operating pure-electric range of 150 – 200 kms (95 – 125 miles), the Volta Zero will eliminate an estimated 180,000 tonnes of CO 2 by 2025.

Safety is also at the heart of Volta Trucks, with its ambition of being the safest large commercial vehicle manufacturer. The Volta Zero was designed for electric from the outset, which facilitates a step-change in vehicle and pedestrian safety. Thanks to the removal of the internal combustion engine, the operator of a Volta Zero sits in a central driving position, with a much lower seat height than a conventional truck. This combination, plus a glass house-style cab design, gives the driver a wide 220-degrees of visibility, minimising dangerous blind spots.

The first prototype Volta Zero was launched in September 2020, with the first pilot test vehicles due to start evaluation with customers in Q3-2021.

About Volta Trucks.

Volta Trucks is a start-up full-electric goods vehicle manufacturer and services company. Volta Trucks has offices in the UK and Sweden and has partnered with a number of industry- leading design and engineering companies to develop the Zero, including Prodrive, Astheimer and Magtec.

For further information, please contact:

Duncan Forrester
Public Relations and Communications consultant
T: 00 44 7768 877877

Ade Thomas
Social Media and Sustainability Communications consultant
T: 00 44 7802 875710
E: press@voltatrucks.com

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