The electrified future is here. At least Volvo’s version of it, anyway.
Volvo Trucks North America (VTNA) on Thursday said it was kicking off commercial sales of its zero tailpipe emission, battery-electric VNR in the North American market, with production scheduled to start in February. The truck will be built from the company’s New River Valley plant in Dublin, Virginia.
Brett Pope, VTNA director of electric vehicles, noted growing urbanization and evolving consumer buying habits have changed transportation needs, prompting a greater need for electric solutions that bring along environmental benefits that include quieter cities and better air quality.
VTNA Vice President of Strategy, Marketing and Brand Management Magnus Koeck said the company is working individually with its customers to define their needs, their routes, their applications “and not the least how to handle charging, infrastructure for charging and power supply as well as secure dealers readiness,” he said. “At this point of time we expect a greater interest from markets like California and New York as they have incentives available, but this will of course change over time.”
Beginning with buses, Volvo has been working on electromobility for more than a decade and has more than 5,000 of the battery-powered units in operation worldwide. The VNR Electric platform is mostly based on the European Volvo FE Electric trucks, but fine tuned for the North American market.
The VNR Electric – a truck VTNA President Peter Voorhoeve called “the safest and cleanest truck on the road” – is designed for local and regional distribution applications like including food and beverage and pick-up and delivery routes, and can be spec’d as a single axle straight truck (GVWR of 33,200 lbs.), a 4×2 (66,000-lb. GCWR) or 6×2 tractor (up-to 82,000-lb. GCWR).
The VNR Electric is about 4,000 pounds heavier than its diesel sibling due to the onboard batteries.
