The appointment comes as Volta prepares to move into its next stage of corporate development. He replaces Rob Fowler who has stepped down for personal reasons and remains a shareholder of the company.

Mr Al-Saleh has been Volta’s chairman since September 2020 after joining the company from his previous 13-year role as president and CEO of Agility Logistics.

He transitioned Agility from a one-country operation with 300 employees and $150 million in revenue to a company operating in more than 100 countries with 18,000 employees and $4 billion in revenue.

Concurrently, Carl-Magnus Norden, founder of Volta Trucks, has been appointed as its executive chairman of the board of directors.

Mr Al-Saleh, said: “I’m very happy to be appointed as CEO of Volta Trucks, having been its chairman of the board since September. We are at a pivotal moment of a major transformation in the automotive industry.

“Volta Trucks is at the heart of this transformation, building the first full-electric large commercial vehicles to support the decarbonisation of logistics, improving city centre environments for all.”

Founder and executive chairman of the board of directors Carl-Magnus Norden said: “Volta Trucks continues to grow and scale as we move forwards on our journey, and I am delighted that we have attracted world-class talent to the company to help support our mission, and deliver on our objectives.

“To have a person of Essa Al-Saleh’s caliber already within the company is testament to this. As chairman, he’s brought great benefits to me and the board, and I am very happy that we can now use his experience and ability as CEO as we continue to build on our exciting plans ahead.”

By Neil Dowling