By Stephen Nakrosis

Volvo Trucks North America said it received a $21.7 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other parties to deploy electric trucks in Southern California.

The company said the grant from the EPA and the South Coast Air Quality Management District will see Volvo deliver VNR Electric trucks to fleet operators in Southern California, beginning next year. Volvo Trucks said it will have an official commercial launch of its VNR Electric truck model later this year.

Combined with 25 other deployments through its Low Impact Green Heavy Transport Solutions, or Lights, program, Volvo Trucks has committed to deliver almost 100 VNR Electric trucks to the region, the company said.

The company also said deployment data will allow it to refine calculations on the total cost of ownership and "will allow Volvo Trucks to fine-tune the production at its New River Valley plant in Virginia, enabling seamless integration of the of the VNR Electric truck model into its manufacturing process for optimized, quality production."

Peter Voorhoeve, president of Volvo Trucks North America, said, "This grant provides Volvo Trucks with an excellent opportunity to further expedite the success of the ecosystem designed through the Volvo Lights project to support the wide-scale deployment of battery-electric heavy-duty trucks."

--Write to Stephen Nakrosis at stephen.nakrosis@wsj.com

Corrections and Amplifications

This article was corrected at 12:41 p.m. ET because it misstated that Volvo Trucks North America said the grant from the EPA and the South Coast Air Quality Management District will see Volvo deliver VNR Electric trucks to fleet operators in Southern California, beginning in the third quarter of next year. It will deliver trucks beginning next year.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-19-20 1153ET