The administrators of Volta Trucks have announced the sale of the business and assets to Volta Commercial Vehicles Limited, owned by Luxor Capital Group.
Commercial electric truck manufacturer Volta Trucks Ltd was the UK subsidiary of Swedish parent company, Volta Trucks AB, which filed for bankruptcy in October 2023.
Andrea Jakes, managing director at administrators Alvarez & Marsal, said, “We’re pleased to have safeguarded the future of Volta Trucks by facilitating its acquisition by Volta Commercial Vehicles Ltd.”
At the time of filing for bankruptcy, Volta Trucks cited challenging market conditions following the bankruptcy of its battery supplier Proterra.
The eye-catching Volta Zero provides an attractive proposition for clean last-mile deliveries, with unique features such as a 220° field of vision around the vehicle thanks to a glasshouse-style cab. Rearview cameras have replaced traditional mirrors and are complemented by a 360° birds-eye camera and blind-spot warning sensors. A central driving position enables the driver to enter and exit the vehicle on either side.
The first Volta Zero ran off the production line in Austria in September 2022. At the start of 2023, Volta Trucks announced that it would produce 300 Volta Zeros this year, bringing in around US$89.5m associated revenue.
In April, the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport in Germany also approved the subsidization of 151 all-electric Volta Zero trucks, providing US$26m support to Volta Trucks’ customers. Companies trialling the Volta Zero included DPD (Geopost), DB Schenker and M&S.
In the initial statement in October, the Volta Trucks board said, “Piloting in five countries in Europe, we received fantastic feedback, which led to a strong pipeline of highly reputed customers who wanted to introduce our Volta Zero trucks into their fleets.
“However, like all scale-ups in the EV manufacturing sector, Volta Trucks has faced challenges along the way. The recent news that our battery supplier (Proterra) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy has had a significant impact on our manufacturing plans, reducing the volume of vehicles that we had forecast to produce.
“The uncertainty with our battery supplier also negatively affected our ability to raise sufficient capital in an already challenging capital-raising environment for electric vehicle players. With deep and sincere regret, the board has therefore taken the difficult decision to take steps to file for bankruptcy.”
Shortly after, Andrea Jakes, Mark Firmin and Jo Hewitt of professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal Europe were appointed joint administrators to Volta Trucks.