In 2022, the number of heavy electric trucks on the roads in Europe and the United States grew faster than ever before. One of the leaders in the electric heavy truck industry is Volvo Trucks. Volvo Trucks has now sold more than 4,300 electric trucks globally in more than 38 countries since 2019, when production of these units commenced.
In some super awesome news, Volvo Trucks recently announced that it will start delivering heavy electric trucks to its customers in South Africa from May of 2023. In South Africa, these heavy electric trucks fall within the extra heavy commercial vehicle segment. This classification comprises trucks with gross vehicle weight ratings (GVM) exceeding 16.5 tonnes.
“Although we are in the early stages of our electric truck journey here in South Africa, our staff and dealers are fully trained and prepared for this new technology, to enable us to fully support our customers as more and more fleets move to sustainable transport solutions,” says Waldemar Christensen, MD of Volvo Trucks South Africa. “There are of course some infrastructural and legislative obstacles to overcome, but together with our customers and other stakeholders, we are working hard to ensure the success and longevity of heavy electric trucks in South Africa.”
Volvo Trucks say it is the market leader in Europe with a 32% share of the market for heavy electric trucks, and in North America, nearly half of all heavy electric trucks registered in 2022 were Volvo trucks. In 2022, the market for heavy (≥16 tonnes) electric trucks in Europe grew by 200% to 1,041 trucks, and Volvo Trucks holds the highest share of this market. The trucking industry plays a major role in the world’s economy. The trucking industry is also one of the major contributors of emissions in the road transportation sector. Electrifying this sector is therefore critical.
“We are determined to lead the electric truck transformation and our market leading position in 2022, not only in Europe, but also in North America and other markets, is proof that we are doing just that. Although the market for electric trucks is still small, the trend is clear: many of our customers are now starting their shift to electric. We intend to be the catalyst for this transition and aim for 50% of our global sales of new trucks to be electric in 2030,” says Roger Alm, President of Volvo Trucks.
Volvo Trucks says it offers the industry’s broadest product line-up with six product ranges in series production, catering to a wide variety of transports in and between cities.
“We now have a product portfolio that can cover most types of transportation for all kinds of customers. Looking at the goods flow patterns, it’s possible to electrify nearly half of all transports with our line-up of electric trucks,” comments Roger Alm. “We see it as our mission to support our customers in making that happen.”
As Volvo Trucks South Africa builds up to the start of customer deliveries in South Africa, it recently received one of these electric trucks and shared some images of the all-electric truck. This is Volvo Trucks’ first extra-heavy electric truck to come to South Africa. I am really looking forward to seeing the first customer deliveries which are not far away now, scheduled for May this year.
Images courtesy of Volvo Trucks
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