Anna Wrige Berling, Traffic & Product safety director at Volvo Trucks, says electric drive technologies will offer big safety and performance improvements in slippery gravel conditions.
the risk for jack-knifing and oversteering when driving unloaded. “With Active Grip Control we are giving our drivers further improved ability to traverse difficult roads and terrain – even during the most challenging of conditions. This is a unique function that Volvo Group has protected by patents,” Anna Wrige Berling explains. Improvements can also be seen when braking, as the function can be used for controlled regenerative braking without going into ABS. This increases efficiency, since more time is spent in regeneration, allowing for a smoother braking experience. The Active Grip Control feature will be available on the heavy-duty Volvo FH, Volvo FM and Volvo FMX Electric trucks, that are used for regional haul and construction operations. A version of the feature will also be available on trucks with a diesel or LNG driveline. Volvo Trucks already has a range of six all-electric trucks designed to cover a wide variety of different transport assignments. Its FH, FM and FMX Electric models are heavy-duty trucks with a gross combination weight of 44 tonnes. Sales are ongoing in Europe and production will start in the second half of 2022. Serial production in Europe of the Volvo FL and Volvo FE Electric, for city distribution and refuse handling, started in 2019 and sales of the Volvo VNR Electric for North America began in December 2020. The pace of development in the electric truck sector is reflected in the launch of an enhanced VNR Electric Truck & Driver | 89
