Volvo Trucks will offer fully electric versions of heavy trucks in Europe from 2021. Volvo Trucks' massive move towards electrification marks a significant step forward towards fossil-fuel-free transport.
Volvo Trucks is currently testing the heavy-duty electric trucks Volvo FH, Volvo FM, and Volvo FMX, used for regional transportation and urban construction in Europe. These trucks will have a gross combination weight of up to 44 tons. Depending on the battery's capacity, the Volvo electric car range can be up to 180 miles (300 km). Sales will begin next year, and mass production will start in 2022. At the same time, starting in 2021, Volvo Trucks in Europe will offer a full range of electric trucks for transporting goods in cities, garbage collection, regional transport, and urban construction work.
"By rapidly expanding the number of heavy electric trucks, we want to help our customers, and vehicle buyers achieve their ambitious sustainability goals. We are determined to continue moving our industry towards a sustainable future," says Roger Alm, President, Volvo Trucks.
Volvo Trucks has already started producing and selling FL Electric electric trucks for urban transport and FE Electric waste collection, aimed at European customers. In North America, sales of the Volvo VNR Electric, an electric regional transport truck, will begin on December 3, 2020.
This decade will see the introduction of electric vehicles for complex and heavy long-distance transport. These will be battery and fuel cell electric trucks with a more extended range. Volvo Trucks expects to begin selling hydrogen fuel cell trucks in the second half of this decade. Volvo Trucks' goal is to renew the entire model range without fossil fuels by 2040.
Many people know Volvo as a strong player in the vehicle market. After all, they let you swap the car after only four months.
"By rapidly increasing the number of heavy-duty electric trucks, we want to help our customers and transport buyers to achieve their ambitious sustainability goals. We're determined to continue driving our industry towards a sustainable future," explains Roger Alm.
For this reason, most transport companies will move to electric transport in stages. Many of them will have a mixed fleet of trucks running on different fuels during the transition period in practice.
"Our chassis is designed to be independent of the transmission used. Our customers can buy several Volvo trucks of the same model, with the only difference that some are electric, while others are gasoline or diesel. In terms of product features such as driver conditions, reliability, and safety, all of our vehicles meet the same high standards. Drivers must be familiar with their vehicles and be able to drive safely and efficiently regardless of the fuel used," adds Roger Alm.