Volta Trucks raises $260 million to fund electric vehicle launch (updated)

Byggmastare Anders J Ahlstrom Holding AB (publ)

18/02/2022 15:22

(Adds details, background, company comment)
    By Nick Carey
    LONDON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Volta Trucks said on Friday that
it had raised 230 million euros ($260 million) in Series C
funding round, which will finance it through the launch of
series production of its Volta Zero electric truck in late 2022.
    Stockholm-based Volta Trucks, which also operates in the UK,
said that the funding round was led by hedge fund Luxor Capital,
which had previously invested in Volta Trucks. 
    Initial seed investor Byggmastare Anders J Ahlstrom Holding
AB  AJAb.ST  also participated in the funding round, which
brings the total Volta Trucks has raised to around 300 million
euros.
    Protoypes of the Volta Zero, a 16-tonne fully-electric
truck, will be delivered to customers in mid-2022, with series
production due to start in late 2022.
    Startups and traditional automakers are rushing to bring
electric models to market as they face looming bans on
fossil-fuel vehicles in China and Europe.
    The latest funding "gives us the financial runway to be able
to deliver on all our goals as we transition from a start-up to
a manufacturer of full-electric trucks," Volta Trucks Chief
Executive Essa Al-Saleh said in a statement. 
    The company said its order book now exceeds 5,000 vehicles
with a value of 1.2 billion euros.
    The funding will also fund the development of 7.5-tonne and
12-tonne electric trucks. 
    Volta Trucks plans to make 5,000 trucks at its plant in
Steyr, Austria, in 2023, and annual production should rise to
27,000 by 2025.
    

 (Reporting by Nick Carey; Editing by Susan Fenton)
 ((nick.carey@thomsonreuters.com; +44 7385 414 954;))