Cyrille Bonjean and Christian Drenthen in the cab of the Volta Zero Truck. © DB Schenker

DB Schenker and Volta Trucks, a manufacturer and service provider of all-electric commercial vehicles, have confirmed a close partnership and the pre-order of almost 1,500 all-electric Volta Zero vehicles - the most significant order for large zero-emission trucks in Europe to date.

Cyrille Bonjean, Executive Vice President Land Transport at DB Schenker in Europe, said: "We have many challenges to overcome on the road to climate neutrality. The large-scale partnership with Volta Trucks will allow us to accelerate the electrification of our fleet and invest in sustainable, greener transportation solutions, bringing us much closer to our goal of climate-neutral logistics."

Essa Al-Saleh, Chief Executive Officer of Volta Trucks, confirmed the agreement with DB Schenker: "I am delighted to welcome DB Schenker as a customer of Volta Trucks. Working with DB Schenker on Europe's largest order for all-electric trucks shows that major logistics companies trust us to deliver a world-class zero-emission vehicle on time and with the highest possible quality."

As part of the partnership, DB Schenker will deploy the first prototypes of Volta Zero Trucks to customers under real distribution conditions in spring and summer 2022. The findings from these tests will be incorporated into the series production of 1,470 vehicles, which will be built in Volta Trucks' new contract manufacturing facility in Steyr, Austria.

The all-electric 16-ton Volta Zero will be used in the Ruhr region and other DB Schenker terminals in Europe to transport goods from distribution centers to city centers and urban areas. This is where the innovative design of the vehicle, the safety-oriented driver's cab to protect vulnerable road users and the zero-emission drive are of the greatest benefit. DB Schenker and Volta Trucks will jointly examine the potential applications of the technology with a view to potentially expanding the range. The roll-out will start at 10 locations in 5 countries.

As part of the partnership, the specifications of the previously announced 12-tonne version of the Volta-Zero will also be jointly developed. In addition, more drivers will be trained and site trials will be conducted to accelerate the deployment of the vehicles.