He was previously a consultant to the EV industry and before that, was vice-president and global head of PR and communications for Volvo’s EV brand Polestar. He has also worked for BMW Group, Volvo Cars in Gothenburg and McLaren Automotive.

Volta last month said it had sold 1000 Volta Zero vehicles to Petit Forestier, believed to be Europe’s biggest single purchase of large electric commercial vehicles.

The company, which has offices in Sweden, France and the UK, last week also announced a successful funding round to bring $US20 million ($A25.9m) into the company and confirming the value of its $US260m ($A336.7m) order book.

Volta Trucks CEO Rob Fowler said: “I’m delighted to welcome Duncan to Volta Trucks. He has played a significant role in the company as a consultant over the past year, including the launch of the Volta Zero and as we have developed our presence in the marketplace.

“Duncan’s appointment is a great example of how we are now scaling and growing the company and bringing in experts in their respective fields as we proceed towards the production of the first Volta Zero vehicles later in 2021.”

Volta Truck’s Zero is the world’s first purpose-built full-electric 16-tonne vehicle designed for inner-city freight deliveries, reducing the environmental impact of freight deliveries in city centres. It is a purpose-built EV with an operating range of 150-200 km.

The prototype Volta Zero was launched in September 2020, with the first vehicles expected to be operating with customers in late 2021.

Duncan Forrester

By Neil Dowling