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Specifically designed to meet the needs of inner city parcel and freight carriers, the 16-tonne electric truck has a limited top speed of 90 km/h (56 mph) and a 160-200-kWh battery pack for up to 200 km (125 mi) of per charge range. It offers package and freight movers 37.3 cubic meters (1,317 ft3) of space in back (enough to accommodate 16 Euro pallets), for a payload capacity of 8.6 tonnes (9.6 tons).
The driver is seated in the middle of the cabin on a swivel chair, and lower than conventional trucks at around 1.8 m (6 ft), which is said to enable easier visual communication between the driver and those around the truck. There's a central display inside with touch screens to the side for controlling lights, navigation, route planning, aircon, comms and entertainment, and the driver is treated to a 220-degree view through the large windows designed for optimum visibility and blindspot reduction, and to achieve a Transport for London five-start "Direct Vision Standard" rating.
Rear-view cameras are used in place of traditional side mirrors, a 360-degree camera also gives the driver an all-around perspective, and there's an object detection system employed to the sides of the vehicle to let the driver know when another vehicle, pedestrian or other road user might be hiding in a blindspot. Sliding doors on either side of the cabin cater for quick ingress and egress on busy or narrow streets.
Volta is promising the latest driver assistance systems will be installed, such as road sign recognition, a reversing camera, lane change assist and lane departure warning, as well as active steering. And fleet operators will also be able to tap into an AI-assisted monitoring system to help keep the vehicles on the road for longer.