Another EV startup has fallen on hard times, as Volta Trucks announced today that it will file for bankruptcy in its home country of Sweden. The company sought to produce all-electric commercial trucks but has struggled to raise capital in recent months.
“With deep and sincere regret, the Board has therefore taken the difficult decision to take steps to file for bankruptcy proceedings in Sweden,” the company wrote in a statement. “The Board has not taken this course easily or lightly and is fully aware of the significant impact this will have on the organization’s dedicated workforce, as well as customers and partners.”
Volta Trucks was founded in 2019, and in 2020, it unveiled the Zero, an all-electric 16-tonne commercial truck with a futuristic design, a central driving position, and a battery pack with up to 225 kWh of capacity. That meant that the vehicle could go up to 125 miles (201 km) on a charge.
Read: Volta Zero Is A 16-Tonne Electric Truck With A Central Driving Position
Working with Steyr, it hoped to produce vehicles at a factory in Austria. Reuters reports that the company had more than 5,000 orders for its trucks on the books, but trouble with investors meant that capital was drying up.
Although it raised around €300 million ($316 million USD at current exchange rates) from investors early on in its life, its fortunes soon turned. Volta’s battery supplier, Proterra, filing for bankruptcy was a major blow to its ability to convince people to buy in.
However, Volta is not the only startup that has struggled with investors. Since the first quarter of 2023, it has been a particularly difficult period for manufacturers attempting to take off. Others, like Lordstown, have also filed for bankruptcy, while several startups struggled with shrinking share prices. Meanwhile, larger truckmakers, like Volvo and Mercedes, have come out with their own electric trucks, making things harder for startups like Volta.
In addition to filing for bankruptcy in Sweden, the startup says its main trading entity, Volta Trucks Limited, will also file for administration in England. Other parts of the Volta group will file their own insolvency proceedings in the near future.
“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,” the company concluded.
