Maker of electric trucks lands in Riverside

A Sunnyvale company that makes commercial electric trucks is coming to Riverside.

Voltu Motor Inc., whose vehicles are favored by many municipal governments, will establish its global headquarters in the city, according to Riverside and Voltu officials.

The facility is expected to begin producing vehicles during the third quarter of this year. Voltu is looking at two sites but will not discuss either of them until a selection is made, said George Gebhart, the company’s founder and chief executive officer.

“Riverside offers not just a logistics hub, but also an ecosystem aligned with our values of trust, prosperity, and sustainability,” Gebhart said in a statement. “Our journey to Riverside started almost two years ago working with UC Riverside.

“Now working with the city, we’ve seen Riverside’s potential as a green-tech powerhouse.”

Started in Argentina, Voltu is a technology and innovation company that makes medium-duty trucks. Those vehicles are expected to be in great demand nationwide, as more and more municipalities convert to electric vehicles.

Initially, the company will move 20 employees from Argentina to its Riverside operation. More than 400 people are expected to work there in the next four years, with that number expected to rise over time to 700 employees.

Also, the Voltu plant – which will focus on research and manufacturing – is expected to create more than 1,200 indirect jobs in industries that support the making of electric vehicles.

Riverside will be the point of sale, which means that sales tax from the vehicles will go back to the city. That money will be used by Riverside’s utilities, streets and parks departments.

Voltu is predicting $1.6 billion in revenue from the production of more than 14,000 trucks during its first three years of operation. From that, Riverside expects to receive about $120 million in sales tax revenue, said Miranda Evans, deputy director of community and economic development.

Voltu selected Riverside – it considered three other cities, which the company declined to name – because of resources the city had to offer, in particular the research specialists and facilities at UC Riverside, according to Evans.

“We are thrilled to to have them,” Evans said. “It’s a great thing for the city. We’re attracting more green technology, which is what we’ve been trying to do for awhile.”

Riverside will purchase the first 20 Voltu trucks produced by the facility. That will immediately give the city a more reliable truck fleet, reduce air pollution and help Rjverside meet statewide emissions regulations for clean fleet vehicles.

The California Air Resources Board requires cities and counties to add zero-emission vehicles to their fleets whenever they buy vehicles. Today, 50 percent of those purchases must be zero emission, but that number is scheduled to go to 100 percent in 2027.

The Voltu trucks will replace diesel and other older vehicles, according to the statement.

“Voltu is well situated to meet a growing demand for electric trucks that will be required by local governments all over the state in the coming years,” Mayor Pro Tem Jim Perry said in the statement. “This opportunity benefits the city on many levels, from priority access to vehicles, to job creation and sales tax generation.”

Voltu’s move to Riverside got started about two years ago, when the company began working with several research agencies at UC Riverside.

One of those was the Center for Environmental Research and Technology, which was founded in 1992. Known as CE-CERT, the center is the largest research entity on campus, specializing in environmental education.

It partners with government and industrial clients to write better regulations and policies, and to foster a better understanding of the environment, according a statement on UC Riverside’s website.

Riverside, which has made environmental issues a major priority, has been aggressive in pursuing electric vehicles.

Voltu’s decision to set up its corporate headquarters in Riverside happened shortly after the city’s transit agency reached an agreement with Ohmio, which designs and manufactures electric shuttle buses.

That agreement, announced in October, requires the city’s transit agency to test three of those vehicles for two years, vehicle is designed to operate on low-speed roads at a maximum speed of 31 mph.

Ohmio also moved its international headquarters from New Zealand to a building near Riverside Airport. Company officials said they made the move because Riverside is ahead of other cities in embracing clean technology.
“This agreement is a win for everyone,” Perry said when the partnership was announced. “The Riverside Transit Agency gets a new tool in its transit toolbox, Ohmio gets to show off its vehicles on United States soil, and [Riverside] remains a leader in (electric vehicle) innovation).”

In December, Hyundai’s electric vehicle subsidiary bought a 44,600-square-foot warehouse in Riverside.

Hyundai’s Rotem Smart Electric Group paid $15.5 million for the building at 2078 Rustin Ave., where it plans to build high-speed trains, locomotive and trams, according to reports.

The building is expected to be ready later this year.

Riverside is trying to become a “green technology powerhouse” in comparison to other California cities, according to Evans.

“As we welcome Voltu’s global headquarters to Riverside, we are not only celebrating the creation of hundreds of high-quality jobs, we are also taking a step toward building a cleaner, greener future and economy,” Evans said.