'Hundreds' of local jobs at risk as Volta Trucks electric vehicle firm files for bankruptcy

[dutchman]

Volta Trucks has filed for bankruptcy following a struggle to secure batteries for its lorries



Hundreds of automotive jobs in Coventry and Warwickshire are understood to be at risk following the near-collapse of one of the first electric HGV companies. Volta Trucks has filed for bankruptcy following a struggle to secure batteries for its lorries.

While headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, where the firm has filed for bankruptcy, Volta Trucks has most of its business and engineering operations in the UK. Around 600 of its staff are based at hubs in Coventry, Nuneaton, Ashorne, south of Leamington Spa and its UK main office in Reading.

In a statement released by the Board, the company said its imminent move to file for administration in the UK had been taken with 'deep and sincere regret'. "The Board has not taken this course easily or lightly and is fully aware of the significant impact this will have on the organisation’s dedicated workforce, as well as customers and partners," the statement said.

"We would like to sincerely thank the Volta Trucks team and are incredibly proud of their pioneering work to deliver such an innovative zero emission commercial vehicle." It was only in June this year that the company launched its first ‘service hub’ in Tottenham. London Mayor Sadiq Khan opened the site which was due to service the firm’s electric HGVs.

But the firm has 'faced challenges along the way', with its most recent setback being its battery supplier, Proterra, filing for bankruptcy. Volta Trucks said this has had a 'significant impact on our manufacturing plans, reducing the volume of vehicles that we had forecast to produce'.

It added: "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." Volta Trucks was established in 2019, creating the first purpose-built 16-tonne electric truck on a unique cab. First customer deliveries of its HGVs were expected in Sweden this year.