While Elon Musk and Tesla receive much of the press coverage when it comes to electric vehicles, they aren’t the only company out there working in this space. One particular segment that is seeing growth is in commercial vehicles.
This segment can benefit the most from electrification as it pertains to the environmental impact. But it takes people who have knowledge and experience in both electrification and commercial fleets to make a product a reality.
Patrick Collignon, former chief operating officer at Volvo Trucks North and South America is launching a new company called Trova Commercial Vehicles. TrovaCV is bringing customized engineering and manufacturing experience to fully electric pickup trucks.
TrovaCV will build a fully electric vehicle, but also plans on offering its industrial model and manufacturing capability to other commercial vehicle OEMs.
“This is an exciting time as the electric commercial vehicle market is being reshaped,” says Collignon, founder and CEO. “While technology and innovation have made it possible to convert fuel-powered commercial vehicles into electric vehicles, we haven’t seen a production model capable of producing the required volume of fully electric commercial vehicles to meet the demand.”
Born out of an incubator in Fairlawn, VA, TrovaCV will operate its new facilities in Pulaski County, taking advantage of the highly skilled workforce in the region.
“We are excited that Trova Commercial Vehicles will launch its innovative start-up in Pulaski County,” said Brian Ball, Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade. “This new company will be a strong addition to the booming automotive cluster in the New River Valley, bringing automotive expertise to the niche market of electric commercial truck design and manufacturing.”
TrovaCV is obviously in the early startup stage, but Collignon and company have appeared to put a lot of thought into their eventual profit model. While offering a commercial electric vehicle will draw attention to the company, providing their expertise and resources to other companies looking to electrify could be a better long-term play.
