Potential production of Volta Zero in Barcelona
According to its press release, Volta Trucks is considering that it possibly opens its facility in Barcelona, Spain. Volta Trucks is the leading full-electric commercial vehicle manufacturer and is investigating the manufacture of the Volta Zero in Spain. Furthermore, the company formally expressed an interest in the Decarbonisation Hub project in the former Nissan manufacturing facilities in Barcelona.
In fact, the company is thinking of several manufacturing options and Barcelona is one of them. Also, other potential sites are in the UK and Europe. Volta Trucks’ Chief Technology Officer, Kjell Waloen, said
“The company has been investigating and evaluating a number of European manufacturing partners and facilities for many months. Now, it is narrowing down the field to a small group of finalists.”
“Assembling the Volta Zero in Spain could be of interest. This is because the company can serve southern European cities and decarbonization of commercial vehicles is an ever-stronger priority now. Even though it will conclude investigations shortly, an option to manufacture the Volta Zero in Barcelona could be interesting.”
Who is Volta Trucks?
Volta Trucks is a Swedish start-up and a full-electric goods vehicle manufacturer and services company. Volta Trucks has offices in Sweden, France and the UK now. In addition, it is partnering with a number of global leaders in the supply chain for the development and production of the Volta Zero.
What is Volta Zero?
The Volta Zero is the world’s first purpose-built full-electric 16-tonne vehicle. The vehicle works for inner-city freight deliveries, and reduces the environmental impact of freight deliveries in city centers. Thanks to its design, the Volta Zero will be able to eliminate an estimated 180,000 tons of CO2 by 2025.
Furthermore, safety is at the heart of Volta Trucks since it aims to be the safest large commercial vehicle manufacturer. For example, the company is designing a step-change in vehicle, driver and pedestrian safety from the beginning.
Without the internal combustion engine, the operator of a Volta Zero can sit in a central driving position. As a result, she or he can enjoy a much lower seat height than a conventional truck. Furthermore, a glass house-style cab design gives the driver a wide 220-degrees of visibility to minimize dangerous blind spots. The first Volta Zeros will be operating with customers in late 2021.
In the other article, we discussed with the history of Nissan’s Barcelona plants. The rumor also states that they will be possibly converted into battery productions. This is because we experience the urgency to combat climate change and strong demand of electric vehicles. However, the cost of batteries still accounts for large part of EVs. In addition, companies in eastern Asian countries have strong presence in battery production.
As a result, the European Union and each country in Europe try to increase battery production there. To realize this transformation, Spanish government might make use of former Nissan’s plants in Barcelona, for example.
However, full-electric commercial vehicle manufacturer, Volta Trucks, is also considering that it will manufacture Volta Zeros in Barcelona. Of course, this is not the final decision, but company’s official statement should be relating to some grounds to take some actions. Whether it is either batteries or EVs, it seems that Nissan’s Barcelona plants will be the place to accelerate electrification.
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