There’s no doubt Sweden has been at the forefront of many automotive technology developments – think Volvo cars and the seat-belt for example.
But in the electric heavy commercial vehicle space, the Swedes have also been charging ahead (pardon the pun).
Some of the latest developments out of Sweden by compatriot brands, and bitter rivals, Scania and Volvo Trucks are worth a mention.
Volvo Trucks have just announced that they‘re now taking orders in Europe for their new heavy-duty electric models.
Production of the electric-powered prime movers (FH, FM, and FMX) will commence in the coming months.
The heavy-duty Volvo’s join the already in production medium-duty electric Volvo trucks.
While heavy-duty rigid trucks from Volvo with electric powertrains are not too far off from entering production as well.
“There is a lot of interest from customers to place orders for these fantastic trucks. Until now we have mainly offered customers and partners to sign letters of intent to buy, but now we start to sign firm orders, which is a major step forward for electrification.” – President of Volvo Trucks, Roger Alm
Meantime, over at Scania, that brand is celebrating a historic waste collection contract signed by the manufacturer in Singapore.
Sure, supplying waste trucks to a contractor is a fairly mundane type of news story, but what makes this different is that it’s the company’s first sale of battery-electric trucks to the Asian market.
The deal sees fifteen Sweden-built Scania L230 battery-electric trucks get to work in the Woodlands-Yishun sector of the island city-state.
And, lastly, a 19-tonne electric Scania truck (as seen above) has begun to operate regularly on Svalbard, Norway, one of the world’s northernmost inhabited areas.
The Norwegian postal service Posten Norge now distributes all parcels, mail, and freight in Longyearbyen municipality with electric vehicles.
“A lot of environmental work is about breaking barriers. Posten Norge has begun using the world’s northernmost electric truck in its regular operations in Longyearbyen, 78 degrees latitude, to the delight of employees and customers, and I hope it’s an inspiration to others.” – Tone Wille, CEO of Posten Norge.
