One of the leaders in the electric heavy truck industry, Volvo Trucks has announced that it will start delivering heavy electric trucks to its customers in South Africa from May of 2023.
“Although we are in the early stages of our electric truck journey here in South Africa, our staff and dealers are fully trained and prepared for this new technology, to enable us to fully support our customers as more and more fleets move to sustainable transport solutions,” says Waldemar Christensen, MD of Volvo Trucks South Africa. “There are of course some infrastructural and legislative obstacles to overcome, but together with our customers and other stakeholders, we are working hard to ensure the success and longevity of heavy electric trucks in South Africa.”
These large electric trucks are classified as extra heavy commercial vehicles in South Africa. Trucks that fall under this category have GVMs that are greater than 16.5 tonnes.
According to Volvo Trucks, it now holds a 32% market share in Europe for heavy electric trucks and nearly half of all heavy electric trucks registered in North America in 2022 were Volvo trucks.
From the start of their production in 2019, Volvo Trucks has sold more than 4,300 electric vehicles internationally in more than 38 countries.
Market share leader Volvo Trucks has the largest number of heavy (16 tonnes) electric trucks on the European market, which increased by 200% to 1,041 vehicles in 2022. The global economy heavily depends on the transportation sector.
The trucking industry is also one of the major contributors of emissions in the road transportation sector. Electrifying this sector is therefore critical.
“We are determined to lead the electric truck transformation and our market leading position in 2022, not only in Europe, but also in North America and other markets, is proof that we are doing just that. Although the market for electric trucks is still small, the trend is clear: many of our customers are now starting their shift to electric. We intend to be the catalyst for this transition and aim for 50% of our global sales of new trucks to be electric in 2030,” says Roger Alm, President of Volvo Trucks.
“We now have a product portfolio that can cover most types of transportation for all kinds of customers. Looking at the goods flow patterns, it’s possible to electrify nearly half of all transports with our line-up of electric trucks,” says Roger Alm. “We see it as our mission to support our customers in making that happen,” he continued.
