One of the country’s biggest truck fleets has has started its first trial of a Volvo electric truck, with Australia Post taking delivery of a Volvo FL Electric as part of its drive to sustainability.
The parcel logistics giant added the Volvo as part of a six-month trial based at Australia Post’s Redbank Plains Distribution Centre on the outskirts of Brisbane
The Volvo Electric FL uses a four battery 265 kWh power pack which give it a range of up to 300 kilometres, depending on application and the payload, with the truck having a load capacity of up to 5.5 tonne.
Volvo says the electric driveline boasts 425Nm of torque, delivered to the rear wheels via a two-speed automated transmission.
“It’s very rewarding seeing these vehicles go into service after so much hard work ensuring they are the right fit for both our market and the applications they are being put into,” said Volvo Group Australia’s E-mobility manager, Tim Camilleri.
“These vehicles are proving themselves day in and day out around the globe,” Camilleri said.
“We don’t experiment on our customers; we work with them to deliver the right zero emissions outcome for their business and that means advising on utilisation and charging as well,” he said.
“In this case the FL Electric is an excellent fit for Australia Post,” he added.
Australia Post’s divisional general manager south, James Dixon said the trial demonstrates Australia Post’s commitment to innovation and sustainability.
“We have worked hard to help reduce our carbon emissions over the last decade, including by adopting low and zero emission vehicles where possible with the largest fleet of electric delivery vehicles in Australia,” Dixon said.
“The truck has been in service for a couple of months now and is performing well,” Dixon continued.
“We will continue to push electric vehicles into our fleet where we can to help reduce emissions wherever we can,” he added.
Volvo has had medium duty battery electric trucks operating in Australia since mid- 2021 and says that with the assistance of the NHVR and Transport and Main Roads Queensland, it was recently given the green light to begin local validation of heavy-duty electric trucks on Queensland roads running at of up to 42.5 tonnes
Volvo says these vehicles will have the latest heavy vehicle safety features such as lane keeping assist, blind spot detection, passenger corner camera, dynamic steering with stability assist, underrun protection, collision warning with emergency brake and electronically controlled brake systems.
