Volvo Trucks North America, during a press conference this week at its Volvo Trucks Customer Center, Dublin, Virginia, gave the media an exclusive look at its prototype for the upcoming VNL Electric Class 8 Tractor.
Volvo Trucks did not provide many details about the battery electric truck, but said that sales would begin in late 2019. The tractor will replace Volvo Trucks Class 8 battery-electric vehicles platform VNR Electric. The new truck is likely to share the same vehicle platform as Volvo Trucks’ new conventional VNL.
Volvo Trucks has been promoting the VNR Electric for nearly six years. Fleet customers Dependable Highway express and NFI have also been using them in drayage operations at the ports of California for five years.
Volvo Trucks, led by the VNR electric, is the market leader in North America for Class 8 electric trucks with a market share of 43.8%.
Magnus Koeck is the vice president of marketing for Volvo Trucks North America.
Volvo Trucks has 62 EV certified dealers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Another 40 are on the way to certification. Koeck said that Volvo Trucks does not allow customers to order EV trucks unless their dealers are fully certified and capable of taking care of them. “You have to be able charge it, and you have to have dealers who can support it.”
[ Related to According to Volvo Trucks Vice President, BEV development has outpaced the deployment of charging infrastructure.
In North America, the market for Class 8 electric trucks is still small. Only 1,400 units are expected to be sold by 2024. Koeck warned, “but make no mistake, we are investing heavily in this for the future.”
Volvo Trucks purchased battery producer Proterra in the fall of last year to ensure its battery sourcing in North America. Volvo Trucks has sold more than 3,500 electric vehicles to customers in 45 different countries. Volvo Trucks has sold almost 1,000 battery-electric trucks in North America.