VOLTA TRUCKS PARTNERS WITH ITALY’S CPC GROUP TO DEVELOP
Volta Trucks, a leading and disruptive full electric commercial vehicle manufacturer and services provider, has confirmed the appointment of CPC Group, Europe’s largest composite manufacturing company, to develop and supply the sustainable and recyclable composite exterior body panels for the Volta Zero. The Volta Zero is the world’s first purpose-built full-electric 16-tonne commercial vehicle designed specifically for inner city logistics.
Sustainability is at the heart of the Volta Trucks brand, and this extends well beyond the removal of tailpipe emissions and into the sustainability of the vehicle’s supply chain and material selection. When the Volta Zero was launched in September 2020, it was the first commercial vehicle to use sustainably-sourced flax and biodegradable resin composite panels. The fully natural, lightweight, high-performance fibre material is almost CO2 neutral over its lifecycle, and matches the stiffness and weight of carbon fibre but uses 75% less CO2 to produce.
CPC Group has over 10 year’s composites experience and has grown to become Europe’s largest composites manufacturer, employing over 1,000 experts, with investments of over €300 million, and aims to transform composite vehicle production from niche into volume manufacturing. CPC Group shares clear synergies with Volta Trucks in terms of its technological and commercial ambitions, making it a natural partner.
Volta Trucks will work with CPC Group to develop and industrialise these new and innovative, sustainable and recyclable composite materials to the significant volumes needed to deliver on the company’s long-term sales ambitions. Full-scale production of customer-specification vehicles will commence at the end of 2022 using state-of-the-art composite materials throughout the body & trim of the vehicle. Production will start with the first iteration of composite, with a series of future developments in sustainable composite materials forming part of the company’s long-term road map that’s being developed with its key supply chain and material development partners.
