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If that’s the case, they’ll make a single 300 km trip or day. I doubt that the business case for that is strong. With autonomous Semis on the horizon, the poten

If that’s the case, they’ll make a single 300 km trip or day. I doubt that the business case for that is strong. With autonomous Semis on the horizon, the potential reduction in costs with the scaling of hauling in km / day will drive costs down. 300 km a day won’t be competitive in that space. For a buyer of semis, the cost of running one is arguably the most important factor. Producers need to focus on $ / km and there range is quite important (as well as charging infrastructure)

bayindirh 6y ago
> If that’s the case, they’ll make a single 300 km trip or day. I doubt that the business case for that is strong. Europe is much denser when comapared to US. You can do a lot within 300KM in Europe. Volvo openly states that the trucks are "to be used for regional transport and urban construction operations in Europe". The trucks in question and the possible range is very well suited to this kind of operation. Also, there's another important factor: Noise. Some European countries are more sensitive to noise than others. The Netherlands and Sweden comes to my mind. These trucks will be a huge win on that front because a 44 tonne truck is not exactly silent, especially under load.
- stoddur 6y ago
  I live in Norway and I can tell you, 300 km will not suffice. The thing is, when you have other trucks on the market with more range (e.g. Tesla-Semi), and likely, much better charging infrastructure, why would you go with Volvo? Volvo has a way to go if they want to compete in this market. Noise wont have any effect as it is not government regulated. A buyer of Semis wont think twice about noice if $ / km is lower.
ogre_codes 6y ago
> If that’s the case, they’ll make a single 300 km trip or day. I doubt that the business case for that is strong. You might have heard of UPS? FedEx? Amazon? Maybe you've had a contractor work on your home or business? All of these businesses operate on less than 180 miles round trips per day typically inside the US. In Europe distances tend to be even shorter. Semis are by nature long haul. It's rare to see semis pulling 40 foot trailers through urban areas even in the US. Semis are usually limited to long haul or short haul freight from industrial or agricultural areas. The Volvo trucks are designed to operate locally and it's a huge market. > For a buyer of semis, the cost of running one is arguably the most important factor. There is definitely a market for semis—particularly in the US—but it's a vastly different market than what this targets.
- nomad543 6y ago
  > All of these businesses operate on less than 180 miles round trips per day typically inside the US. In Europe distances tend to be even shorter. Yes but you are referring to the small urban trucks used in last mile deliveries. The article mentions heavy duty trucks. Even in the last mile delivery case, a limited 300km range is a problem because that means the same truck cannot be shared by workers in following shifts. Or maybe operate autonomously 24/7.
  - ogre_codes 6y ago
    > Yes but you are referring to the small urban trucks used in last mile deliveries. The article mentions heavy duty trucks. We don't have to guess. If you go to Volvo's site, you can see exactly what sort of trucks they are talking about. We're talking about: => "A two-axle truck with a gross vehicle weight up to 16 tonnes and an excellent working environment for the driver. Volvo Trucks can deliver complete vehicles for urban transport like deliveries." AND => "A three-axle truck with a gross vehicle weight up to 27 tonnes and a comfortable working environment for the driver. Volvo Trucks can deliver complete vehicles for demanding types of urban transport like waste collection, light construction transports and deliveries." https://www.volvotrucks.com/en-en/trucks/alternative-fuels/electric-trucks.html https://www.volvotrucks.com/en-en/trucks/alternative-fuels/e... > Even in the last mile delivery case, a limited 300km range is a problem because that means the same truck cannot be shared by workers in following shifts. Pretty much all delivery companies have sub 12 hour routes which run during business hours and into the evening. There is very little demand for package delivery at 2am. Likewise, construction is a 9-5 sort of job. Garbage collection (which is specifically mentioned) is almost always a once/ per day route. I'm sure there is demand for autonomous 24/7 vehicles out there, but there are also plenty of commercial vehicles which are parked over night as well.
    - gsnedders 6y ago
      FWIW: > => "A two-axle truck with a gross vehicle weight up to 16 tonnes and an excellent working environment for the driver. Volvo Trucks can deliver complete vehicles for urban transport like deliveries." This is still significantly heavier than what most courier companies like FedEx and DHL use; within Europe most use Ford Transits and similar, which have a maximum gross weight of 3.5t (this is partly due to licensing; these vehicles can be driven on a normal "car" driving license).

bayindirh 6y ago

> If that’s the case, they’ll make a single 300 km trip or day. I doubt that the business case for that is strong. Europe is much denser when comapared to US. You can do a lot within 300KM in Europe. Volvo openly states that the trucks are "to be used for regional transport and urban construction operations in Europe". The trucks in question and the possible range is very well suited to this kind of operation. Also, there's another important factor: Noise. Some European countries are more sensitive to noise than others. The Netherlands and Sweden comes to my mind. These trucks will be a huge win on that front because a 44 tonne truck is not exactly silent, especially under load.

stoddur 6y ago
I live in Norway and I can tell you, 300 km will not suffice. The thing is, when you have other trucks on the market with more range (e.g. Tesla-Semi), and likely, much better charging infrastructure, why would you go with Volvo? Volvo has a way to go if they want to compete in this market. Noise wont have any effect as it is not government regulated. A buyer of Semis wont think twice about noice if $ / km is lower.

ogre_codes 6y ago

> If that’s the case, they’ll make a single 300 km trip or day. I doubt that the business case for that is strong. You might have heard of UPS? FedEx? Amazon? Maybe you've had a contractor work on your home or business? All of these businesses operate on less than 180 miles round trips per day typically inside the US. In Europe distances tend to be even shorter. Semis are by nature long haul. It's rare to see semis pulling 40 foot trailers through urban areas even in the US. Semis are usually limited to long haul or short haul freight from industrial or agricultural areas. The Volvo trucks are designed to operate locally and it's a huge market. > For a buyer of semis, the cost of running one is arguably the most important factor. There is definitely a market for semis—particularly in the US—but it's a vastly different market than what this targets.

nomad543 6y ago
> All of these businesses operate on less than 180 miles round trips per day typically inside the US. In Europe distances tend to be even shorter. Yes but you are referring to the small urban trucks used in last mile deliveries. The article mentions heavy duty trucks. Even in the last mile delivery case, a limited 300km range is a problem because that means the same truck cannot be shared by workers in following shifts. Or maybe operate autonomously 24/7.
- ogre_codes 6y ago
  > Yes but you are referring to the small urban trucks used in last mile deliveries. The article mentions heavy duty trucks. We don't have to guess. If you go to Volvo's site, you can see exactly what sort of trucks they are talking about. We're talking about: => "A two-axle truck with a gross vehicle weight up to 16 tonnes and an excellent working environment for the driver. Volvo Trucks can deliver complete vehicles for urban transport like deliveries." AND => "A three-axle truck with a gross vehicle weight up to 27 tonnes and a comfortable working environment for the driver. Volvo Trucks can deliver complete vehicles for demanding types of urban transport like waste collection, light construction transports and deliveries." https://www.volvotrucks.com/en-en/trucks/alternative-fuels/electric-trucks.html https://www.volvotrucks.com/en-en/trucks/alternative-fuels/e... > Even in the last mile delivery case, a limited 300km range is a problem because that means the same truck cannot be shared by workers in following shifts. Pretty much all delivery companies have sub 12 hour routes which run during business hours and into the evening. There is very little demand for package delivery at 2am. Likewise, construction is a 9-5 sort of job. Garbage collection (which is specifically mentioned) is almost always a once/ per day route. I'm sure there is demand for autonomous 24/7 vehicles out there, but there are also plenty of commercial vehicles which are parked over night as well.
  - gsnedders 6y ago
    FWIW: > => "A two-axle truck with a gross vehicle weight up to 16 tonnes and an excellent working environment for the driver. Volvo Trucks can deliver complete vehicles for urban transport like deliveries." This is still significantly heavier than what most courier companies like FedEx and DHL use; within Europe most use Ford Transits and similar, which have a maximum gross weight of 3.5t (this is partly due to licensing; these vehicles can be driven on a normal "car" driving license).