Volvo Trucks in the USA has announced it will start taking orders for its VNR Electric truck for customers commercially in the North America market starting next month (3 December).
The VNR Electric truck will enter production in early 2021 at Volvo’s US manufacturing plant in Virginia.
“Volvo Trucks is committed to lead the commercial transport industry towards more sustainable solutions by advancing electromobility. We will continue to invest in and drive the development of this technology, both globally and right here in North America,” said Peter Voorhoeve, president of Volvo Trucks North America. “We are excited to bring the Volvo VNR Electric to the market in just a few weeks.”
Volvo announced ambitious plans for electric vehicles at its Capital Markets Day, also announcing a full range of electric heavy-duty trucks for the European market in 2021. It said it will begin selling trucks with hydrogen fuel cells in the second half of this decade, and plans to have a fossil-free product range by 2040.
“By rapidly increasing the number of heavy-duty electric trucks, we want to help our customers and transport buyers to achieve their ambitious sustainability goals. We’re determined to continue driving our industry toward a sustainable future,” said Roger Alm, president of Volvo Trucks Corporation.
Volvo Trucks North America credited its LIGHTS project, started in 2019 in Southern California, with validating the viability and reliability of the VNR Electric in real-world operations.
“We are fully confident in bringing this new technology to the commercial market,” Voorhoeve said.
Globally, Volvo plans at least 35 per cent of its vehicle sales will be electric, and at least 50% of group revenues will come from services. Volvo said electrified vehicles provide potential to increase the total vehicle and service revenues y more than 50 per cent over the lifecycle.
“Medium-duty electric trucks for refuse and city distribution are already in serial production and we are pushing ahead with high speed in the commercialization of heavy-duty trucks for regional transport and construction applications. With a complete line-up we can offer our solutions to a broad range of customer segments when market conditions and the total cost of ownership move in favor of electrified solutions. We are doing this to create value for our customers, for society and for our owners,” said Volvo Group president and CEO Martin Lundstedt.
