Volta Trucks and METRO Germany seal cooperation with ceremonial contract signing
All-electric Volta Zero will start operating at METRO in Neuss
Further METRO delivery locations in Essen, Munich and Berlin will also be equipped with Volta Zero vehicles in Q4 2023.
Volta Trucks, the all-electric commercial vehicle manufacturer and services provider has announced a cooperation with METRO Germany, a leading international food wholesaler that operates 102 wholesale stores and 11 delivery depots in Germany. The 16-tonne all-electric Volta Zero will be initially deployed for METRO in North Rhine-Westphalia and will expand to Bavaria and Berlin when further vehicles join the fleet as METRO Germany plans to sustainably expand its delivery fleet.
Volta Trucks executives were guests at METRO Germany in Düsseldorf for the signing of the contract.
“Volta Trucks is the ideal partner to start a more sustainable truck fleet, which METRO Germany is aiming for in the long term. By using the Volta Zero, which is specially designed for an urban environment, we are making a further contribution to environmentally conscious mobility and lower emissions”
explained Martin Schumacher, Chief Executive Officer of METRO Germany, at the contract signing ceremony at the METRO Campus in Düsseldorf.
Essa Al-Saleh, Chief Executive Officer of Volta Trucks, said:
“I’m delighted that METRO Germany has selected Volta Trucks to implement the all-electric Volta Zero onto their urban delivery fleet and join us on the decarbonization journey. They will experience the many safety and environmental advantages that the zero-tailpipe emission Volta Zero will bring to their urban logistics, making our cities safer and more sustainable.”
The first 16-tonne Volta Zero will be deployed at the METRO depot in Neuss in August. “By Q4, five vehicles will be in use for METRO Germany,” says Frank Jäniche, Managing Director Sales at METRO Germany. “With a two-chamber refrigerated system, the Volta Zero trucks ensure strict cooling of the products and also offer a manoeuvrable and safe driving experience, especially in inner-city traffic. The large loading area makes it easier for us to deliver to our major customers in the food service industry.”
With the Volta Zero, Volta Trucks is pursuing the goal of revolutionising urban delivery traffic. The all-electric truck features a unique design that prioritises the safety of pedestrians and cyclists. The ground-up design features a low cabin, which provides the driver with 220 degrees of direct vision, with all-around visibility possible thanks to additional camera technology, putting the driver at eye-level with pedestrians and cyclists, helping to reduce the risk of collisions.
Ends.
Notes to Editor
The Volta Zero is the world’s first purpose-built all-electric 16-tonne vehicle designed for urban logistics, reducing the environmental impact of freight deliveries in city centres. The Volta Zero is designed from the ground up with an operating pure-electric range of 150 – 200 kms (95 – 125 miles).
Safety is also at the heart of Volta Trucks, with the ambition to produce the safest trucks for our cities. The Volta Zero was designed for electric from the outset, which facilitates a step-change in vehicle, driver 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.
Volta Trucks is also innovating with its Truck as a Service proposition that has revolutionised the financing and servicing of commercial vehicle fleets. Truck as a Service offers fleet managers a frictionless and hassle-free way to electrify their fleet by offering an all-inclusive service for a single, affordable, monthly fee. It provides access to an all-electric Volta Zero, with its charging infrastructure needs provided by world-leader Siemens, insurance through Europe’s premier insurtech broker, Qover, and servicing, maintenance, and training requirements, maximising the uptime and operational efficiency of the vehicle.
About Volta Trucks
Volta Trucks was founded in 2019 in Sweden by co-founders Carl-Magnus Norden and Kjell Waloen. The company, focused primarily on operations across all major cities in Europe and the UK, is accelerating the transition to all-electric trucks, reducing the effects of climate change and helping make our cities safer, healthier and more sustainable for everyone. Volta Trucks has partnered with a number of global leaders in the supply chain for the development and production of the Volta Zero, at pace and scale. In total, Volta Trucks has raised over €360 million funding to date.
The company’s contract manufacturing facility is in Steyr, Austria, where the production of customer-specification vehicles began in April 2023. The company has also established a network of ‘Volta Trucks Hub’ service and maintenance facilities in its launch markets, with the first four already announced in Bonneuil-sur-Marne, to the south of Paris, in Tottenham, London, Duisburg, to the west of the Rhine-Ruhr region in Germany, and in Madrid, Spain.
About METRO Germany
METRO Deutschland GmbH operates 102 wholesale stores and 11 delivery depots in Germany with around 13,000 employees. Around three million customers place their trust in the company’s assortment and services. METRO sees itself as a partner to independent entrepreneurs and sets the standards of tomorrow with its wholesale stores, delivery services, networked customer management and digital solutions. METRO Germany is part of METRO, a leading international food wholesaler specializing in the needs of hotels, restaurants and caterers (HoReCa) as well as independent retailers (Trader). METRO’s more than 17 million customers worldwide benefit from the wholesaler’s unique multichannel mix: customers can procure their goods both in one of the large-area stores on site and by delivery (Food Service Distribution, FSD) – all digitally supported and networked. In parallel, METRO MARKETS is an international online marketplace for the needs of professional customers that has been growing and expanding continuously since 2019. “Acting sustainably” is one of the company’s principles, METRO has been listed for many years in the sustainability indices and rankings FTSE4Good, MSCI, CDP and Dow Jones Sustainability Index, among others. METRO is active in over 30 countries and employs more than 95,000 people worldwide. In fiscal year 2021/22, METRO generated sales of €29.8 billion. More information at www.metroag.de and about METRO Germany at www.metro.de
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