Volvo all-electric trucks for N.America

Volvo Trucks, in conjunction with the California, USA-based air pollution agency South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and industry leaders in transportation and electrical charging infrastructure, will introduce all-electric truck demonstrators in California in 2019 and start selling them in North America from 2020.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has preliminarily awarded $44.8 million (£34.3 m) to SCAQMD for the Volvo Low Impact Green Heavy Transport Solutions (LIGHTS) project. The Volvo LIGHTS project will involve 16 partners and transform freight operations at the facilities of two key trucking fleets in the United States.

Volvo LIGHTS is part of California Climate Investments, a state-wide initiative that puts billions of cap-and-trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy and improving public health and the environment – particularly in disadvantaged communities.

The demonstration units will be based on the technology currently being used in the Volvo FE Electric, which Volvo Trucks presented in May and will begin selling in Europe in 2019.

According to Volvo Trucks, the project will reduce an estimated 3.57 tons of criteria pollutants (defined air pollutants) and 3,020 tons of greenhouse gases annually

A variety of smart technologies will be used including remote diagnostics, geo-fencing, and the company’s web-based service management platform to monitor all truck performance aspects of the project and maximise vehicle uptime.

“This is yet another important step towards our vision of zero emissions. We are convinced that electrified truck transport will be a key driver of sustainable transports and we’re proud to contribute the Volvo Group’s expertise to this innovative public-private partnership,” said Claes Nilsson, president of Volvo Trucks.