By Nick Carey
LONDON (Reuters) - Volta Trucks said on Friday that it had raised 230 million euros ($260 million) in Series C funding round, which will finance it through the launch of series production of its Volta Zero electric truck in late 2022.
Stockholm-based Volta Trucks, which also operates in the UK, said that the funding round was led by hedge fund Luxor Capital, which had previously invested in Volta Trucks.
Initial seed investor Byggmastare Anders J Ahlstrom Holding AB also participated in the funding round, which brings the total Volta Trucks has raised to around 300 million euros.
Protoypes of the Volta Zero, a 16-tonne fully-electric truck, will be delivered to customers in mid-2022, with series production due to start in late 2022.
Startups and traditional automakers are rushing to bring electric models to market as they face looming bans on fossil-fuel vehicles in China and Europe.
The latest funding "gives us the financial runway to be able to deliver on all our goals as we transition from a start-up to a manufacturer of full-electric trucks," Volta Trucks Chief Executive Essa Al-Saleh said in a statement.
The company said its order book now exceeds 5,000 vehicles with a value of 1.2 billion euros.
The funding will also fund the development of 7.5-tonne and 12-tonne electric trucks.
Volta Trucks plans to make 5,000 trucks at its plant in Steyr, Austria, in 2023, and annual production should rise to 27,000 by 2025.