The Swedish electric car startup Volta Trucks files for bankruptcy

Swedish electric truck startup Volta Trucks is set to file for bankruptcy after problems with its battery supplier, putting 600 British jobs at risk.

The electric vehicle company is filing for bankruptcy in Sweden and said on Tuesday it would “shortly file for bankruptcy in England” after the group was negatively impacted by the bankruptcy of its battery supplier Proterra.

In a statement, the company said Proterra’s bankruptcy “had a significant impact on our production plans and reduced the amount of vehicles we expected to produce.”

Swedish electric truck startup Volta Trucks announced that it is filing for bankruptcy following problems with its battery supplier.

It added: “The group’s main trading company, Volta Trucks Limited, will shortly file for insolvency in England, with the liquidators of Alvarez & Marsal expected to take office.”

“Other companies in the group will also shortly file for insolvency in the relevant jurisdictions.”

Volta Trucks was founded in 2019 by Scandinavian entrepreneurs Carl-Magnus Norden and Kjell Waloen, who managed to develop the world’s first purpose-built fully electric 16-ton truck.

Earlier this month the company announced it had raised over €360m (£312m) in funding.

However, according to the Financial Times, the bankruptcy news could leave 600 jobs at risk.

This is because much of Volta’s engineering and development work is carried out in the UK.

This includes around 600 of the company’s 850 employees, spread across sites near Reading, Nuneaton and Gaydon.

Tuesday was a dark day for UK plc as consulting giants KPMG and Rolls-Royce also announced job cuts.