Electric vehicle firm joins forces with tech startup in Sweden
Magtec, a Sheffield-based supplier of hybrid and electric drive system, has partnered with a business in Sweden to help develop the first prototype of a fully electric truck.
The Yorkshire company is collaborating with Volta Trucks and will be responsible for designing and manufacturing the drive system of Volta’s prototype, which will be unveiled in the early summer of 2020.
Founded in May 2019 and headquartered in Stockholm, Volta is developing fully electric trucks for commercial use within and around urban areas. These are intended to remove air and sound pollution from city streets.
Volta trucks will be custom-made and will feature a ‘Truck-as-a-Service’ rental model. Street pilots will be carried out in partnership with selected retailers in London and Paris in 2021.
Beyond reducing environmental impacts, the removal of bulky diesel engines has allowed Volta Trucks to radically redesign its vehicles, ensuring increased safety. The driver’s seat is positioned in the centre of the cabin, creating an increased field of direct vision and allowing for entry and exit through sliding doors on both sides of the vehicle, away from passing traffic.
As a result of the safety features, and reduced noise and air pollution of its vehicles, Volta trucks are permitted to operate in the most regulated urban areas, at all hours of the day, including at night.
Andrew Gilligan, UK managing director of Magtec, said: “We are delighted to partner with Volta Trucks on this innovative project to reduce environmental harm and improve road user safety.
“This is a very exciting time for Magtec with our company involved in pioneering work across the world. Public opinion, business requirements and environmental bodies are driving change across all transportation sectors. Magtec is perfectly positioned to meet the needs of these markets by rolling out class-leading technology developed by our team over the past 20 years.”
Carl-Magnus Norden, CEO and Founder of Volta Trucks comments: “Our business is based on co-creation and collaboration with some of the brightest minds of our industry.
“Doing this is essential to succeed with our goal of moving as fast as we can to reduce air and sound pollution on our roads, while increasing the safety of drivers, pedestrians and cyclists alike.
“With Magtec on-board we feel confident that this will help make our trucks road-ready at the pace we see necessary to meet the current, urgent needs of the cities and the people living within them.
Until now, the HGV industry has been dominated by a few major players. With Magtec joining our other partners Prodrive, Conjure and Astheimer we now have a world-class lineup of experts working on this project and together we will be able to deliver on our promise to bring sustainability and safety to cities across Europe and beyond.”
Magtec employs many skilled engineers across its two sites in Sheffield and Rotherham, including a large number of PhD qualified experts and apprentices. Its existing and new electric vehicle programmes in Britain and overseas include: Electric refuse collection vehicles, currently undergoing trials in London and Sheffield, the UK’s first electric 7.5 tonne commercial vehicles for the urban daily deliveries market, the UK rail industry’s first conversion of a diesel multiple unit to hybrid drive and the electric drivetrain for the world’s first autonomous 26 tonne truck.
The first project to launch using Magtec drives was a pioneering electric bus scheme in the USA in 1999. Since then, the company has worked extensively with Tier 1 commercial suppliers across the world on specialist vehicle installations.
