Volvo Trucks North America will begin selling the Volvo VNR Electric truck model on Dec. 3, 2020.
Leading the deployment of Class 8 zero-emission vehicles in the North American trucking industry, Volvo Trucks will begin producing the Volvo VNR Electric model at its New River Valley manufacturing plant in early 2021.
"Volvo Trucks is committed to lead the commercial transport industry towards more sustainable solutions by advancing electromobility. We will continue to invest in and drive the development of this technology, both globally and right here in North America," said Peter Voorhoeve, president of Volvo Trucks North America. "We are excited to bring the Volvo VNR Electric to the market in just a few weeks."
Volvo Trucks, as a global organization, will offer a complete range of electric heavy-duty trucks in Europe in 2021, which will be followed by the development of electric vehicles for heavy long-haul operations, including battery-electric and fuel-cell electric trucks with a longer range. Volvo Trucks plans to start selling electric trucks powered by hydrogen fuel cells in the second half of this decade, and the objective is to have a fossil-free product range by 2040.
"By rapidly increasing the number of heavy-duty electric trucks, we want to help our customers and transport buyers to achieve their ambitious sustainability goals. We're determined to continue driving our industry toward a sustainable future," said Roger Alm, president of Volvo Trucks Corporation.
From Volvo Trucks' perspective, the transition to more sustainable transport is largely about making the shift as smooth as possible for fleet operators, so that they can begin to adjust. The solutions offered must be fossil-free and allow fleets to achieve the necessary levels of profitability and productivity.
"As part of the very successful Volvo LIGHTS project, which we started in 2019 in Southern California in collaboration with fourteen other pioneering organizations, we validated the viability and reliability of the Volvo VNR Electric in real-world operations and proved what it takes to create a holistic, end-to-end electromobility solution to drive true sustainability in the trucking industry," said Voorhoeve. "We are fully confident in bringing this new technology to the commercial market."
