From Class 8 trucks to off-highway specialty vehicles, Proterra is revolutionizing heavy-duty transportation with advanced battery solutions
Headquartered in Silicon Valley, in Burlingame, California, Proterra is a commercial battery pack manufacturer producing its solutions in Greer, South Carolina. As a trusted electrification partner for heavy-duty transportation and equipment manufacturers, Proterra delivers innovative battery solutions that perform in the most challenging environments. Chris Bailey, Chief Executive Officer, discusses recent developments within the company as well as its newly launched products.
“Our company’s roots trace back to 2004 in Colorado where the original company served as a manufacturer of transit buses. Our technological evolution started with hydrogen fuel cell-based solutions and quickly evolved into fully electric powertrains which utilized batteries with a smaller capacity. At the time, our thesis for electric transit buses relied on the assumption that large-scale charging infrastructure would become readily available, which would allow for the integration of smaller batteries in the buses. As it turned out, it was much harder to install the necessary infrastructure than to directly equip the buses with batteries that would enable the bus to operate an entire day. Therefore, in 2015, Proterra decided to establish its own engineering organization dedicated to advancing battery technology for commercial vehicles. This initiative led to the development of a series of battery technologies that became integral to various generations of its own electric transit buses. These purpose-built batteries were not only applicable for Proterra’s products, but became key enablers in the broader commercial vehicle marketplace, which was simultaneously undergoing its own evolution,” he begins.
Between 2018 and 2019, Proterra expanded its reach by starting to serve customers beyond its own operations and selling its products to leading companies like Van Hool, Alexander Dennis, Daimler Truck North America, and more. Throughout its history, Proterra has cultivated a diverse portfolio of customers and vehicle applications built on purpose-built battery technology and the design principles around safety and performance established in the mid-2010s. As a result, it developed numerous components that are essential for the electrification of commercial vehicles, including a series of advanced charging infrastructure solutions, software for fleet management and battery monitoring, remote diagnostics, and various related services.
However, after a difficult time, the company was sold through a Chapter 11 process. In 2024 the Volvo Group acquired the assets of the battery business unit (Proterra Powered) from the original Proterra. This year, the new Proterra celebrated two years since this acquisition, prompting Chris to reflect on its impacts. “This has been a positive development. One of the most significant changes post-acquisition is that we currently operate as a fully independent and autonomous business within the Volvo Group. This is unique and gives us the ability to operate independently in a way that is quite interesting. Volvo Group has granted us the degrees of freedom and accountability we need to run our business effectively. Our battery technology will be integrated into various Volvo Group applications, both domestically and internationally. Importantly, we are as eager to serve our external customers as we are the Volvo Group, and we have maintained this position from day one. Volvo Group’s ambitions extend beyond its own electrification strategy as it is committed to enabling the world with the technology required to facilitate global electrification.”
Customer-driven innovation
Today, Proterra’s battery solutions span a remarkably wide range of applications that extends well beyond transit buses and on-highway trucks. The company’s technology powers vehicles and equipment across diverse segments including port equipment, off-highway construction and mining machines, and specialty vehicles such as fire and rescue apparatus and defense platforms. This breadth of application is a testament to the versatility and durability of Proterra’s battery architecture, which is engineered to perform reliably across vastly different duty cycles, operating environments, and power demands.
When manufacturing critical products like batteries, having a well-defined product development strategy is essential, as Chris explains. “Our approach always starts with our customers – our partners. We support many commercial vehicle manufacturers and equipment producers, and in some cases, we serve more than one company within the same market. Although there is some common ground and similarities among these different customers, each often requires unique approaches to vehicle integration from electrical, software, or mechanical perspectives.
Before we create a solution for a specific problem or opportunity, we undergo an exhaustive process of collecting the voice of the customer (VOC). One of my favorite sayings is ‘a solution looking for a problem is a problem.’ This is why we want to ensure that we engage with our customers first to gather insights about their applications, ambitions and objectives. Understanding their needs is crucial for integrating key feedback into our product design and development efforts,” he highlights.
This approach led to the development of Proterra’s latest addition to the Onyx Strata series, the H2-23 battery pack, which was designed to meet specific customer needs. While the company had already created a wide range of batteries and demonstrated its ability to support a high level of SKU complexity for its customers, there was no existing solution that fully unlocked potential within the Class 8 and on-highway trucking markets. The Class 8 trucking market is the largest segment in volume for commercial vehicles in the US and holds significant growth potential. However, it also represents one of the highest categories of vehicles contributing to emissions and pollutants. To unlock this potential, Proterra needed to build a solution from the ground up, leading to the creation of the H2-23 battery pack.
“The H2-23 benefits from our modular architecture. We use two different-sized modules and have reconfigured and repackaged an existing module that we have been in production with for several years, allowing us to unlock new advantages. This process has resulted in a battery pack that is optimized in almost every aspect specifically for the Class 8 space, excelling in size, form factor, energy density, and long-range capabilities. None of these features were previously available in the market,” Chris concludes.
Proterra’s journey since 2004 showcases its adaptability and commitment to innovation across the full spectrum of heavy-duty applications. With the recent launch of the H2-23 battery pack, the company addresses the growing demands of the Class 8 trucking market while also reinforcing its role in the broader shift toward sustainable transportation. By integrating customer feedback into its development process and benefiting from support from the Volvo Group, Proterra maintains its advances in electrification and sets a transformative standard for the industry.
