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The trucks will have a gross combination weight of up to 44 tonnes, and, depending on the battery configuration, the range could be up to 300 kilometers, Volvo

The trucks will have a gross combination weight of up to 44 tonnes, and, depending on the battery configuration, the range could be up to 300 kilometers, Volvo said. About 180 miles. Useful for some things I suppose. Wonder what the cost will be for a battery that can haul a 44 tonne truck for 180 miles. My point being: Its easy to announce that EV trucks are on the way next year, its much harder to make them economically feasible and manufacture them in large quantities.

DoingIsLearning 6y ago
They don't necessarily need to be economically feasible if they are enforced by regulations. If major city centres start enforcing tighter congestion/pollution bans, such that last mile delivery of goods to city centres can only be achieved with zero emission vehicles, then suddenly logistics businesses are forced to integrate EV or hydrogen into their fleets. I honestly don't think this is that unlikely in many European cities in the next decade.
- codeulike 6y ago
  True, I think there are incentives like that in London
- Someone 6y ago
  I would even say it’s highly likely. For public transport tenders in the richer parts of Europe, emissions are weighted so heavily that many, if not all, winning bids nowadays are for fully electric buses. Older Diesel cars also are banned from quite a few city centers, but I don’t know whether that extends to large trucks.
merpnderp 6y ago
That range is perfect for doing deliveries all day long in a city like Denver. A few short runs on the interstate followed by city streets to deliveries is how most in city trucks get about, and 180 miles of electric sounds perfect. And while I can't imagine the cost being competitive, when you factor in smog reduction it could be.
- ComputerGuru 6y ago
  You can bet your bottom dollar the quoted range is not for start-and-stop trips making deliveries around town.
  - myself248 6y ago
    Disagree, possibly. The EV trucks I've worked on were intended for exactly that usage, and specified accordingly. I can't promise that's how Volvo is rating theirs, but A) their customers aren't stupid, and B) the aerodynamics of a truck can mean it gets better mileage around town anyway. Not so much with diesel because of idling and shifting and things, but an EV with regenerative braking is an entirely different animal.
  - toast0 6y ago
    EV range tends to be best at lower speeds and start/stop (assuming no climate control needs). That's in pretty big contrast to internal combustion where it takes more significantly more fuel to go the same distance if you go too slow.
- jabl 6y ago
  Per-km cost of electrics should be a lot cheaper than ICE. Diesel fuel is AFAIK a big part of the cost for freight operators.
- kungtotte 6y ago
  Here in Europe they're experimenting with using EVs to deliver goods to restaurants and shops at night, since they're so quiet they can operate at night without disturbing anyone. This massively cuts down on the hours needed to get everything out since there's no traffic to worry about, which cuts costs too. It also alleviates traffic during the day by removing those trucks. It would be easy for governments to subsidize parts of this for the good of society.
ogre_codes 6y ago
> About 180 miles. Useful for some things I suppose. My wife drove rural postal delivery for years. The longest routes would be 150 miles, most of the routes were less than 50 miles. This was rural, low density delivery areas. In cities and suburban areas, routes are even smaller, more like 10-20 miles round trip. A contractor might have a job site 20 miles from home and make 3 trips to various suppliers during the day. Seems like that's the sort of service these trucks are targeting and they will have plenty of range for that. Longer haul routes would require a different type of vehicle, but most companies that do both long and short haul have dedicated long haul vehicles regardless. > Wonder what the cost will be for a battery that can haul a 44 tonne truck for 180 miles. Big trucks are expensive to maintain. While the initial expense might be higher, ongoing maintenance is much lower and reliability higher. Not having to deal with vehicle downtime is a big issue when that vehicle brings your profits in.
Rebelgecko 6y ago
In the United States, the majority of cargo that is transported by truck is going less than 100 miles. I bet in Europe that share is even larger.
- fyfy18 6y ago
  Europe is actually a bit backwards here, 75% of goods transported 'inland' is by truck. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Freight_transport_statistics https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php...
  - jabl 6y ago
    Yeah, that's because the various national railway systems are poorly suited for international traffic. There are various EU efforts to improve the situation, but the governments try to protect their national monopolies etc. The end result being that in most cases it's easier to ship international freight by truck.

DoingIsLearning 6y ago

They don't necessarily need to be economically feasible if they are enforced by regulations. If major city centres start enforcing tighter congestion/pollution bans, such that last mile delivery of goods to city centres can only be achieved with zero emission vehicles, then suddenly logistics businesses are forced to integrate EV or hydrogen into their fleets. I honestly don't think this is that unlikely in many European cities in the next decade.

codeulike 6y ago
True, I think there are incentives like that in London
Someone 6y ago
I would even say it’s highly likely. For public transport tenders in the richer parts of Europe, emissions are weighted so heavily that many, if not all, winning bids nowadays are for fully electric buses. Older Diesel cars also are banned from quite a few city centers, but I don’t know whether that extends to large trucks.

merpnderp 6y ago

That range is perfect for doing deliveries all day long in a city like Denver. A few short runs on the interstate followed by city streets to deliveries is how most in city trucks get about, and 180 miles of electric sounds perfect. And while I can't imagine the cost being competitive, when you factor in smog reduction it could be.

ComputerGuru 6y ago
You can bet your bottom dollar the quoted range is not for start-and-stop trips making deliveries around town.
- myself248 6y ago
  Disagree, possibly. The EV trucks I've worked on were intended for exactly that usage, and specified accordingly. I can't promise that's how Volvo is rating theirs, but A) their customers aren't stupid, and B) the aerodynamics of a truck can mean it gets better mileage around town anyway. Not so much with diesel because of idling and shifting and things, but an EV with regenerative braking is an entirely different animal.
- toast0 6y ago
  EV range tends to be best at lower speeds and start/stop (assuming no climate control needs). That's in pretty big contrast to internal combustion where it takes more significantly more fuel to go the same distance if you go too slow.
jabl 6y ago
Per-km cost of electrics should be a lot cheaper than ICE. Diesel fuel is AFAIK a big part of the cost for freight operators.
kungtotte 6y ago
Here in Europe they're experimenting with using EVs to deliver goods to restaurants and shops at night, since they're so quiet they can operate at night without disturbing anyone. This massively cuts down on the hours needed to get everything out since there's no traffic to worry about, which cuts costs too. It also alleviates traffic during the day by removing those trucks. It would be easy for governments to subsidize parts of this for the good of society.

ogre_codes 6y ago

> About 180 miles. Useful for some things I suppose. My wife drove rural postal delivery for years. The longest routes would be 150 miles, most of the routes were less than 50 miles. This was rural, low density delivery areas. In cities and suburban areas, routes are even smaller, more like 10-20 miles round trip. A contractor might have a job site 20 miles from home and make 3 trips to various suppliers during the day. Seems like that's the sort of service these trucks are targeting and they will have plenty of range for that. Longer haul routes would require a different type of vehicle, but most companies that do both long and short haul have dedicated long haul vehicles regardless. > Wonder what the cost will be for a battery that can haul a 44 tonne truck for 180 miles. Big trucks are expensive to maintain. While the initial expense might be higher, ongoing maintenance is much lower and reliability higher. Not having to deal with vehicle downtime is a big issue when that vehicle brings your profits in.

Rebelgecko 6y ago

In the United States, the majority of cargo that is transported by truck is going less than 100 miles. I bet in Europe that share is even larger.

fyfy18 6y ago
Europe is actually a bit backwards here, 75% of goods transported 'inland' is by truck. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Freight_transport_statistics https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php...
- jabl 6y ago
  Yeah, that's because the various national railway systems are poorly suited for international traffic. There are various EU efforts to improve the situation, but the governments try to protect their national monopolies etc. The end result being that in most cases it's easier to ship international freight by truck.