Tevva, a British electric truck company, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $57 million in a fresh round of funding to help it ramp up production at its new London plant and deliver its first vehicles to customers by the end of 2022.
Tevva has now raised over $90 million in funding.
Customers will be able to choose between two zero-emission 7.5 tonnes (7,500 kg) models: a battery-electric model with a range of 160 miles (257 km) and an electric truck with a tiny reserve hydrogen fuel cell that can extend the range to 310 miles if necessary.
According to Reuters, Tevva Chief Executive Asher Bennett said the backup hydrogen fuel cell would provide clients more options if any of their trucks needed to travel longer.
Tevva can deliver hydrogen fuel as a service to consumers because hydrogen fuelling infrastructure is still in its infancy. Bennett told Reuters that most buyers would choose the reserve hydrogen fuel cell because they were concerned about the pure electric model’s restricted range.
“We understand how the truck world operates and the huge risk of that range limit is too difficult for a lot of companies to overcome,” he said.
Facing looming fossil-fuel vehicle bans, truck fleets are looking for viable zero-emission options to deliver goods to businesses and consumers.
UPSÂ (UPS.N), the world’s largest package delivery company, is currently using 15 test model trucks from Tevva.
Tevva intends to produce several hundred trucks by the end of 2022 and targets production of 3,000 trucks annually by 2023. Bennett stated that the company intended to build trucks in a series of tiny plants near clients. Tevva would search for additional sites in North America and the European Union once its London factory is operational at scale, he said.
