More than a year after Voltu Motor opened its headquarters in Riverside, the company unveiled its flagship heavy-duty electric truck March 19 to prospective buyers.
“The people from the county, both Riverside and San Diego, that were here today are really excited about this,” said Voltu Motor owner George Gebhart. “Let’s see how it’s rolled out, but everyone wants to jump in once they see the vehicle…can do what it needs [and] what is required.”
The truck, called the Voltu3, starts with the chassis of a Ford F-350. Voltu then installs its technology — battery packs, electrical wiring, motors and other patented components — inside to make the vehicle fully electric. It’s the company’s first launch in the United States with this specific base model, Gebhart said, which he considered the country’s “bread and butter” of pickup trucks.
The company is expected to produce a total of 600 of the trucks by the end of the year, with the first 20 being purchased as fleet vehicles for Riverside Public Utilities (RPU).
The city, in a late-2024 press release, said the company expected to manufacture a total of 14,000 heavy-duty trucks within a three-year period. It added that Voltu planned to hire more than 400 new employees within four years.
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Gebhart said he considered 2026 as the first year of production. He said he was confident Voltu would reach the three-year manufacturing goal by the end of 2028. He said his goal was to produce 3,000 trucks in 2027 with production more than triple that in 2028.
“This year, we’re going to be creating probably 100 jobs,” Gebhart said. “Then the next expansion, that’s going to get us 700 people probably working, is going to happen 2028, and hopefully it’s going to be also here in Riverside.”
David Garcia, general manager for RPU, told The Riverside Record he was at first skeptical the truck would be able to meet his team’s needs. However, he said he was convinced after his team test-drove it.
He added that the state, through the California Air Resources Board, had mandated that local governments transition to zero-emission vehicles by 2027. He said his team was already using smaller electric trucks for certain tasks, but found it difficult to find the heavy-duty electric vehicles his team requires.
“The higher-end diesel larger-engine vehicles, they don’t come in electric versions yet,” Garcia said. “The fact that the city made this connection with Voltu is [the] right place at the right time for us.”
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