Volvo Trucks South Africa is currently busy with the homologation of its first extra-heavy electric truck units locally. Plans are to present the first of these vehicles to a local customer, KDG Logistics, within the next two months, once all statutory procedures have been adhered to.
Eric Parry, Volvo Trucks SA’s sustainable solutions manager, took the Volvo FM 4x2 truck-tractor through its paces on a trip from the company’s dealer in Durban to its facilities in Johannesburg – a 600km journey, with only one stop for charging.
“We aimed to prove that an extra heavy electric truck like this, can drive long distances. Even though we didn’t carry any payload, it still gave us a good indication of just what this truck is capable of,” said Parry. “Generally, battery electric trucks are used in regional distribution, operating in and around cities, running from distribution centres to stores, etc. But with proper planning, customers will be able to do so much more.”
Volvo Trucks South Africa is bringing in its complete extra-heavy electric truck range, which includes FH, FM and FMX models in truck-tractor and rigid configurations. Axle combinations will also include 4x2 through to 8x4 models. The full load on the first FM units will be 44 tonnes GCM (Gross Combination Mass). With a drive line that has 490kW of power and 2400Nm of torque, it will definitely not struggle to get the job done...read more here
