Volvo Trucks announced a record order for up to 1,000 all-electric trucks in Europe, placed by Switzerland-based Holcim, one of the world’s largest building solution providers.
According to the press release, a letter of intent for 1,000 electric vehicles will span from now through 2030, although the first 130 trucks (Volvo FH Electric and Volvo FM Electric models) will be delivered during the fourth quarter of 2023 and throughout 2024. The plan is to start the deployment with markets such as France, Germany, Switzerland, and the UK.
Volvo Trucks explains that the agreement is a result of a wider partnership between Holcim and Volvo Group (not to be confused with the Volvo Cars company).
Let's recall that the Volvo FH Electric and Volvo FM Electric (along with the FMX Electric model) entered series production in Fall 2022. Those vehicles are rated at up to 44,000 kg of gross combination weight, equipped with 180-540 kWh batteries, and offer a driving range of up to 186-236 miles (300-380 km), depending on the version.
Gallery: Volvo FH, FM and FMX Electric
Martin Lundstedt, President & CEO Volvo Group said:
“Long-term collaboration and a strong commitment to really make a difference are essential for making big CO2 reductions a reality. I’m very proud of the partnership we have developed with Holcim, and the results we are achieving together,”.
Jan Jenisch, Chairman and CEO of Holcim said:
“The net-zero transition requires deep collaboration across value chains. We are excited to be partnering with Volvo to decarbonize our European operations’ logistics with electric fleets, advancing our goal to reach 30% of zero-emission heavy-duty trucks by 2030,”.
In North America, Volvo Trucks offers a different long-range model - the Volvo VNR Electric (the second model iteration).
Volvo Trucks is one of the first established truck manufacturers that decided to gradually electrify its lineup - initially the smaller, short-range vehicles, and later the long-range semi trucks or even construction vehicles.
Currently, it's one of the largest players in Europe - certainly in Europe - especially since the group controls a few other brands too, like Renault Trucks and Mack.
