Gothenburg, Sweden: Volvo has begun selling its electric heavy truck range.
The tractor models of the Volvo FH, Volvo FM and Volvo FMX Electric are released for sale now while rigid versions will be released for sale in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Serial production will start in the autumn and gradually increase, Volvo says. The electric trucks will initially be produced in the CO2 neutral Tuve plant in Gothenburg .
“This is a milestone for Volvo Trucks,” Roger Alm, president, Volvo Trucks says.
“There is a lot of interest from customers to place orders for these fantastic trucks. Until now we have mainly offered customers and partners to sign letters of intent to buy, but now we start to sign firm orders, which is a major step forward for electrification,” he says.
In 2021 Volvo Trucks took orders, including letters of intent to buy, for more than 1,100 electric trucks in over 20 countries.
The electric versions of Volvo’s medium-duty trucks Volvo FE, Volvo FL and Volvo VNR are already in serial production. The largest markets for Volvo’s electric trucks in Europe currently are Norway, Sweden and Germany. Volvo is the market leader in Europe for heavy electric trucks with a market share of 42% in 2021, and also has high sales in North America.
“It’s clearly becoming a competitive advantage to be able to offer silent, zero exhaust emission transport solutions,” Alm says.
Volvo says it has the most complete electric line up in the truck industry, with six electric models in production covering city distribution and refuse handling, urban construction and regional haulage. The company’s target is that half of its total truck sales will be electric by 2030.
