Volvo charges into the future

WHILE MOST BRANDS HAD AN ELECTRIC STORY TO TELL AT the Brisbane Truck Show, it’s Volvo that has the most advanced plans for electric trucking in Australia.

Alongside the largest range of electric models (six globally) and firm targets for EV sales and emissions reductions, Volvo has also confirmed its intention and timeframe for building both FM Electric and FH Electric models at its Wacol plant in Queensland.

The day before the truck show opened in Brisbane, Volvo Group Australia invited the media to the introduction of the FH Electric and hear details of the EV strategy. The following day an FM Electric was unveiled on the show stand and Volvo says its five-strong FE, FL, FMX, FM, and FH Electric model range is available to order in Australia. The bonneted FNR Electric remains dedicated to North America.

Possibly the biggest signal of Volvo’s intentions was the attendance of Volvo Trucks President Roger Alm at the Brisbane show.

Speaking at Volvo’s pre-show Sustainability Summit, Alm outlined the change ahead for the transport industry; “is actually the biggest transformation since we gave up horses and wagons over a hundred years ago.”

Alm says Volvo is leading the development of production of electric trucks and will also pursuing other energy technologies, including hydrogen.

“Volvo Trucks is the first mover into this transformation because we decided very early that electrification was the best way to reach zero transport [emissions] for our customers,” says Alm.

“In 2019 we started series production of our first electrical trucks for city distribution and refuse handling. In September last year we started production of our heavy-duty electrical trucks. We are still the only global truck manufacturer with serial production of heavy duty electrical trucks.

“Today we have six electric trucks in serial production covering the majority of the customer needs. Everything from city distribution to regional haul and construction transport. This is by far the widest offering in the industry of electrical trucks.”

Alm says that in the first quarter of 2023, Volvo enjoyed close to 50% market share of electric truck sales in both Europe and North America.

“The numbers compared to diesel are still small. But it is growing at a fast speed. So far, we have sold more than 5000 trucks into 40 countries.”

Alm outlined Volvo’s targets for emissions reductions.

“By 2030 our ambition is that 50% of the global volume we will sell will be battery electric or fuel cell electric. And by 2040 all trucks we sell will be net-zero emission trucks. The entire running production of trucks we have will be net-zero by 2050.

“This is a very ambitious target. We are very determined to continue to lead the transformation and are investing more than ever to lead the transformation.”

Hydrogen technologies as well as net-zero biofuels and similar will also play a role in Volvo’s strategy.

“We are talking about different technological solutions, but we strongly believe that battery electric trucks will in the huge majority towards reaching our target of selling 100% fossil-free vehicles by 2040,’ Alm says.

“We need to work with more than one solution depending on the availability of green energy, infrastructure, applications and certain conditions in different markets.”

The combustion engine will continue to be a solution but will have renewable fuels. Fuel cell electric research is also well underway with Volvo joining with Daimler Truck as joint partners in the cellcentric venture.

“We team up with Daimler [on fuel cells] because this is very costly. We develop the base technology together with them, but then we will implement it in our trucks according to our way of developing trucks,” Alm says.

“A couple of years from now we will do real customer tests. We foresee this technology will be mature in the second half of this decade.”

The aim is to develop trucks with about 1000km of range and a similar refuel time to a diesel truck.

Alm says Volvo’s capabilities to lead the electric transformation are also based on its global network of about 2300 service locations and the production systems employed in its 13 factories around the world which allow diesel, natural gas and electric trucks to be built on the same production line.

Among those production facilities is the Wacol plant which has operated for 50 years and recently built is 75,000th truck.

The Wacol plant is expected to begin building FM and FH electric trucks in 2027. Some Australian regulations will need to change to make this possible.

Australia currently has a maximum vehicle width of 2500mm, and the large Volvo models are built to the common European width of 2550mm. The front axle ratings will need to increase by 1000kg to 7.5-tonne. The process is underway in Australia to allow both changes.

The American side of the Volvo Group effort at the Brisbane Truck Show was also an important one as Mack Trucks celebrates six decades of Australian manufacturing.

It marked the milestone with the unveiling of two impressive prime movers – a Super-Liner nicknamed “Big Bunk” featuring a new fully integrated walk-through 70-inch sleeper, and an optimised spec Mack Anthem 36-inch fully integrated sleeper model in 34-Pallet B-Double configuration.

`Big Bunk’ previews a new walk-through sleeper available in a variety of configurations as an option for the heavy haul-oriented Super-Liner.

“The addition of a 70-inch integrated sleeper really bolsters the Super-Liner’s credentials as a heavy haulage and road train hauler,” says Tom Chapman, Vice President Mack Trucks Australia.

The first 70-inch sleeper equipped vehicles are expected to be delivered to customers from Q4 2024. T&D