Bus body production will be gradually wound down in the first quarter of 2024, and the part of the plant where the bodies are made will be closed down.

Later this year, operators in the U.S. will have the opportunity to test and evaluate a pilot fleet of trucks in their own business operations.

Volvo Trucks announced back in late 2021 that it would acquire JMC Heavy Duty Vehicle Co Ltd and its manufacturing facility in Taiyuan, Shanxi from Jiangling Motors Corporation.

The letter expands on a pre-existing deal to sell MCV-bodied Volvo buses in the UK.

The partnerships were struck with Top Truck and Sapphire Vehicle Services, who will provide vehicle servicing, maintenance and repairs to customers in France, Spain, Italy, and the UK.

The Kässbohrer-bodied truck, with a combination weight reaching up to 42 tons when fully laden with eight cars, is powered by a 230-kWh battery.

Following validation tests, Scania and Northvolt confirmed that the cells have the capacity to propel trucks up to 1.5 million kilometres over their lifetime. 

The company said that the first customer orders will be fulfilled from Q3 2023 onwards. 

Volvo hopes that advances in this new area of digital innovation will make financial and insurance products “more dynamic and easier to access”.

Four prototype trucks were tested for their overall energy management, the cooling and thermal management of the batteries, and the effect of temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius on powertrain components and charging.

The joint venture’s first facility will be located in Uddevalla, Sweden - once fully operational, it will recycle 34,500 tons of used tyres, which is reportedly equal to 40% of Sweden’s annual tyre waste volume.

The Bundesministerium für Digitales und Verkehr (“Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport”, or BMDV) has committed a total of EUR24.6m in subsidies to Volta Trucks’ German customers.