Volvo aims for hydrogen fuel cell trucks within ten years
Volvo is starting sales of heavy-duty electric trucks in Europe from 2021 with production starting in 2022.
The company has been running trial tests of Volvo FH, Volvo FM and Volvo FMX trucks. The trucks gross weight goes up to 44 tonnes, with a range extending up to 300 km. The end use of trucks includes distribution, refuse, regional transport and construction applications.
Volvo Trucks plans to make its entire product range fossil-free by 2040. It aims to start producing heavy long-haul electric vehicles, based on battery and fuel cells—the plan is to sell them in the second half of this decade.
Changing from fossil fuel to fossil less is an essential transmission, though challenging. Most automakers plan to go through this transmission in stages mainly due to lack of the available infrastructure. Therefore, maintain a mix of both fossil-based and electric vehicles.
Volvo Trucks President, Roger Alm said “Our chassis are designed to be independent of the driveline used. Our customers can choose to buy several Volvo trucks of the same model, with the only difference being that some are electric and others are powered by gas or diesel.”