Volvo flicks the switch

In possibly the boldest and most ambitious move ever seen at an international trucking event, Volvo shocked the socks off visitors at the massive IAA commercial vehicle show in Germany by dispensing with diesel models altogether. Instead, the Swedish powerhouse went with an entirely battery-electric line-up featuring its new FM Electric and FH Electric prime movers, and leaving no doubt that for Volvo, tomorrow is already here.

It’s an odd thing, but long experience drawn from many moments of corporate claptrap and executive evasion have caused me to quietly believe that in the trucking business, there are two types of Swede. The Volvo Swede and the Scania Swede, the Volvo variety almost always more conservative, guarded, reticent and dare I say, cynical than their competitive countrymen.

Why that is, well, perhaps it’s a mystery mired in mindsets dating back to each brand’s founding fathers. Whatever, from a perspective gathered over the past 40 years and more, it has never ceased to amaze and at times confound how two great and hugely successful companies from the same Scandinavian country of just 10 million steely souls can produce highly advanced, top-shelf trucks yet give the marked impression of being so distinctly different in corporate character, complexity and candour.

There have, however, also been rare times when that belief has been effectively flushed down the delusionary S-bend, and now is one of those times. Gone is the shallow rhetoric and dismissive denial, replaced by bold action and lavish language as Volvo embarks on a massive and clear-cut campaign to lead the western world in the promotion and provision of battery-electric trucks for medium and heavy-duty applications. And have no doubt, the Australian market and the assembly of battery-electric models at Volvo Group Australia’s (VGA) Wacol factory in Brisbane are high, very high, on the agenda.

Sure, Volvo isn’t alone in its ambition. Global supremo Daimler Truck is similarly lifting the lid on its technological achievements, furthering a mammoth push to deliver alternative energy sources, in the process also revealing an upcoming Australian test program for battery-electric Mercedes-Benz models to expand the inroads already made with its light-duty Fuso eCanter stablemate.

High times in Tuve. Factory production of heavy-duty battery-electric models has started in earnest at Volvo’s Tuve plant. There are already firm plans to build electric trucks at Volvo’s Wacol (Qld) factory

Yet, despite their intense rivalry with each other and everyone else, in every market in the world, Daimler Truck and Volvo Group – the two most dominant forces in global truck production – have joined forces to create a company called Cellcentric to develop and produce highly advanced fuel cells for the hydrogen-fuelled electric models each now has under development.

For its part, Volvo admits it already has prototypes running and says it will start testing hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks with customers in 2025 before moving to factory production before the end of this decade. Daimler, too, has prototypes running (see our ‘Charging Ahead’ feature story in OwnerDriver’s October issue), with insiders quietly conceding that on current indications, production is likely to start in either 2027 or 2028.

Nonetheless, as things stand at the moment, hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks ostensibly targeted for heavy-duty longhaul work are still some years down the technological track. On the other hand, battery-electric models for shorthaul duties are now front and centre, with none seemingly more intent or arguably better prepared to take the lead in the heavy-duty field than Volvo, now with six all-electric models to cover a broad range of medium and heavy-duty roles. Obviously enough, five of the six are cab-overs – the FL, FE, FM, FMX and FH. The lone conventional is the VNR Electric for the North American market and who knows, maybe one day a version in either Volvo or Mack guise for our neck of the woods.

However, it was the recent European launch and factory production of FM Electric and FH Electric prime movers along with an FMX Electric construction specialist which have equipped the Swedish maker with absolute bragging rights in the big end of the battery-electric space: Bragging rights that were showcased loud and clear at the vast IAA commercial vehicle exhibition at Hanover, Germany, in September where every truck on the Volvo stand was battery powered.

By any measure, the decision to display no diesel models whatsoever was a gutsy and blatantly aggressive move by Volvo. Possibly risky, too, given that internal combustion engines are sure to remain the mainstay of the heavy-duty trucking industry for at least a decade or more as much of the world steadily, yet inevitably, transitions to a future increasingly less dependent on fossil fuels.

Volvo Trucks president Roger Alm. “Going electric means more business opportunities.”

But this was Volvo with a visionary and profoundly public purpose, and risky or not, Volvo Trucks president Roger Alm was in no mood for negative nuances or softly stated assertions during a meeting with a small group of Australian truck journalists soon after he presented Volvo’s all-electric exhibit to hundreds of automotive reporters from Europe and around the world. Upbeat, excited and proudly passionate, Alm’s point was simple and strong: Volvo won’t be waiting for the world to catch up, intent on driving its own agenda “… to influence customers in the transition which is so important”.

“We are focussing on our future. In 2030, 50 per cent of our global volume will be electric,” he says with complete confidence, adding, “The electric alternative will become a competitive advantage for us and our customers.” 

Meanwhile, and with a focus obviously stretching far beyond Europe, it was an earnest Roger Alm who declares Australia’s importance to Volvo’s electric ambitions, seated alongside other heavy hitters in the form of Jessica Sandström, Volvo’s head of global product management and sustainability, and Per-Erik Lindström, senior vice-president of Volvo Trucks International. By any measure, it was a top tier group facing a handful of truck writers from a relatively small market but from across the table, the message was united and unequivocal, with Alm leading the charge: “Australia will be a driver of the transformation (and) I promise we will be producing them in Wacol.” 

It has since been announced that electric truck production at Wacol will start in 2025.

Volvo FM Electric on trial in Sweden. An FM Electric has already been built for Australian trials

“Australia is a very important market for Volvo Group (and) manufacturing in Wacol will be important in achieving the transformation,” Jessica Sandström adds, while in response to a question about Australia’s political commitment to carbon neutral vehicles, a blunt Per-Erik Lindström says simply, “Government assistance would help speed up the transformation in Australia.”

Assistance or not though, Volvo will be pushing hard. As Roger Alm stated just a few days earlier in a press release announcing the factory production of heavy-duty electric trucks, “This is a milestone and proves that we are leading the transformation of the industry. It’s less than two years since we showcased our heavy electric trucks for the very first time. Now we are ramping up volumes and will deliver to customers all over Europe, and later on to customers in Asia, Australia and Latin America.”

From our observations, it’ll be sooner rather than later for the Australian market.

Bright sparks

Adding to the case for battery-electric trucks and likewise, fomenting Volvo’s fervor, an extensive survey of 100 leading e-commerce and manufacturing companies in eight European countries reports that almost 80 percent of those interviewed are willing to pay more for a transport supplier who exudes little or no CO2 emissions.

Conducted by research company Ipsos on behalf of Volvo, the survey also found that 85 percent of the companies interviewed are prepared to change transport suppliers if they don’t meet their requirements. What’s more, 60 percent believe they risk losing customers within the next three years if they can’t meet their consumer’s demand for deliveries with little or zero CO2 output.

In a press statement on the report’s findings, Roger Alm asserts, “It means we will see a massive shift in the industry in coming years. Going electric means more business opportunities.”

Consequently, his confidence in what could easily amount to a competitive coup with the latest electric models carrying gross weight ratings up to 44 tonnes, seems entirely justified given that in the shorthaul applications best suited to battery-electric trucks – let’s say, daily runs up to 300km or so – Volvo can claim the most complete range of factory-produced medium and heavy-duty electric models in the business. 

Head of Volvo’s global product management and sustainability, Jessica Sandström declares manufacturing at the Wacol (Qld) factory is an imperative for Volvo’s alternative energy aspirations

It’s worth noting, too, that according to European studies, 45 percent of all goods transported by road in Europe travel less than 300km, further validating Volvo’s decision to jump headlong into the battery-electric spotlight.

Put simply, the electric FH, FM and FMX are effectively extensions of Volvo’s existing and highly successful diesel range, thereby giving the Swedish brand a timely extra string to its business bow as freight companies consider transitioning like never before to cleaner, quieter and socially sensitive electric alternatives for metro and shorthaul applications.

Still, there were times when Roger Alm’s commentary to his Australian audience bordered on idealistic, pushing the climate barrow to the moral high ground. “We need to change and handle the world differently (and) Volvo is making a stand and 100 percent focused on emissions achievements,” he enthused. Even so, there was also a constant commercial vibe, not least in the creation of a vital “… business model to take care of batteries after their first life.” Or, what he described as, “A gold contract service and battery program.”

Battery life is, of course, a major factor in the business case for electric trucks and fast-paced technology continues to make significant gains in performance and longevity, with Alm almost casually mentioning that Volvo has now progressed to its third generation of batteries.

As a Volvo press statement further explains, ‘The high energy density traction batteries use the latest generation of lithium-ion cell technology (and) an electric truck with six battery packs has … a range of up to 300km.’ However, as company insiders regularly remarked, driving range is an indeterminate measure, dependent on many factors similar to diesel models, such as load, ease or severity of the route, and driving style. Indeed, a heavy right foot will syphon electric power just as effectively as it drains diesel.

Home on the electric range. FM Electric, FH Electric and FMX Electric. At the heavy end of the battery-electric business, Volvo has taken a lead

Typically perhaps, Volvo’s new electric trucks offer two ways of charging: AC charging up to 43kW, which the company says is ideal for overnight charging, or with a much faster 250kW charger which makes it possible to charge up to 80 per cent of battery capacity in less than 90 minutes.

Technology, however, doesn’t stand still and along with its all-electric exhibit at Hanover, Volvo unveiled a fully electric rear axle designed as an alternative to the existing I-shift automated transmission in electric models. The main goal of the e-axle is, however, to free up chassis space for more batteries, thereby increasing driving range. Or as Volvo puts it, ‘The new e-axle allows even more batteries on the truck by integrating the transmission into the rear axle (to) create opportunities for long distance transports to also be electrified.’

But don’t hold your breath just yet. “In a few years, we will add this new rear e-axle for customers covering longer routes than today,” says Jessica Sandström, perhaps suggesting the e-axle will come on stream around 2025 when customer trials start on Volvo’s hydrogen fuel cell electric truck. 

It is, quite simply, all part of a bigger picture which isn’t yet entirely clear as Volvo and other major players pursue three distinct paths to reaching zero emissions; battery electric, fuel cell electric and internal combustion engines that run on renewable fuels like biogas, hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO) or so-called ‘green hydrogen’ produced by energy from wind, solar or hydro systems.

Whatever, “We will continue to push the boundaries of technology,” an emphatic Jessica Sandström remarks.

Gilberton Enkerlin insists productivity of the company’s Volvo FE electric trucks has exceeded all expectations.

Asked if Volvo’s research and development (R&D) budget now favours alternative energies over traditional powertrains, a smiling yet somewhat cautious Roger Alm replies, “We are investing in all modes,” quickly adding that Volvo’s upcoming annual report would outline the R&D spending split in more detail. Next question, please!

Here and there

Volvo’s Tuve truck manufacturing factory on the outskirts of corporate HQ in Gothenburg is much like any other factory that has been doing much the same thing for a very long time. And much like most truck factories nowadays, phobic corporate decree says ‘no photos’ other than those issued and carefully choreographed by media minders.

Even so, balloons and streamers still hanging in the main foyer at least hinted that our small group was one of the first to visit the plant since the official start just two days earlier of FH Electric and FM Electric truck production at Tuve. Next year, Volvo’s factory in Ghent, Belgium, will also start producing heavy-duty electric trucks and in both locations, the electric versions will be built on the same lines as their diesel counterparts to maximize production efficiencies.

Importantly, batteries for the electric models will also come from Ghent where Volvo has commissioned a new battery assembly plant.

It is, of course, still early days for electric truck production but a tour of the Tuve plant at least highlighted the alterations made to accommodate the installation of hefty batteries and electric motor drive units, and a dedicated area for the safe activation of high voltage batteries and wiring harnesses. Eventually, much the same alterations will be made at VGA’s Wacol factory to build electric trucks for the Australian market.

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Most notably though, it was soon apparent that Tuve had been producing electric models for considerably more than the past two days and at a far end of the factory stood a freshly built truck we probably weren’t supposed to notice. At least, not this early in the program.

This particular FM Electric prime mover was in right-hand drive form and initial thoughts that it was intended for the UK market were quashed after a quick peek at a shipping slip stuck to the windscreen pointed to … yep, Brisbane!

While Volvo’s minders would confirm or deny nothing, it was easy to surmise this particular truck is an advance trial unit for the Australian market. Right now, the cone of silence has descended on when this truck or any others from the new electric line-up will arrive in Australia, but it’d be short odds that the early part of 2023 will reveal more details as local tests advance. Likewise, it’s a fair bet this and other electric trucks will be prominent on a couple of stands at next year’s Brisbane Truck Show. For now, stay tuned!

Meantime, the long trip to Sweden and Germany was obviously far more revealing than a stroll through the Tuve plant or even a hectic day at the huge Hanover truck show. Volvo was, in fact, determined to not only showcase the on-road performance and build quality of its new electric flagships, but also emphasise what it sees as VGA’s key contribution to furthering the benefits of carbon-free energy sources while achieving a distinct commercial advantage as Australian freight companies and their customers gradually engage with the inevitability of a move away from fossil fuels.

Australia is, of course, just one part of a program to tap into as many markets and as many applications as possible by not only creating battery-electric FH, FM and FMX models with gross weight ratings up to 44 tonnes, but also offering two chassis heights, wheelbases from 3800 to 6700mm and trucks in two, three and four-axle configurations, built on the same cab and chassis platforms as their diesel or gas-powered counterparts.

The great difference, to state the obvious, is that motive power comes from three electric motors coupled to Volvo’s super-successful I-shift 12-speed automated transmission. Critically, I-shift is programmed with what Volvo says is, ‘a unique new gear shifting strategy optimised for electric operations (and) together, the motors and gearbox form a powerful electric drive unit that offers unprecedented, high-efficiency drivability with a combined electric motor power output of 490kW (666hp) and gearbox torque up to 28,000Nm.’

What’s more, “Because the truck always starts in the highest possible gear, energy efficiency and savings are achieved thanks to minimized gear shifting,” says Jonas Odermalm, vice-president of electro-mobility product management. “At the same time, lower gears are of course available for steep roads or in starting situations that require additional torque and control.”

Importantly, he says there are also three power take-off options – an all-electric 40kW system, a 70kW electro-mechanical unit and a 150kW gearbox-mounted option.

Beyond all the talk and tours though, a big attraction was obviously time behind the wheel on Swedish roads in loaded FM and FH versions and for this, Volvo appeared to be making a special effort for its visitors from the other side of Earth.

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For starters, Volvo press test director Tobias Bergman was keen to highlight a number of salient facts, not least that the move to electrification represents the largest transformation in history for heavy commercial vehicles and to emphasise its commitment to electric models, Volvo had been providing battery-electric prototypes for European customer and media evaluations since midway through 2021.

Yet in what probably amounted to a simple case of good timing, our visit came just a day or so after the first production units rolled off the Tuve line, with two spanking new examples handed over for short but revealing runs.

In typical Euro configuration, both were single-drive prime movers: an FH coupled to a tri-axle van on wide profile single tyres and said to be grossing around 38 tonnes, and an FM towing a short tandem trailer also on super singles, grossing 35 tonnes or thereabouts. On the inside, one of the few notable differences was that the FH retained an I-shift selector whereas the FM had the ‘fleet spec’ push pad.

Differences or not, driving each of these stunningly smooth trucks was an absolute delight and while it’d be easy to write long and lavishly about the amazingly quiet interior, the operational simplicity and the marvellously well-mannered road handling enhanced by Volvo’s dynamic steering system, the simple fact is that words (or at least, my words) fail to impart the raw reality of driving Volvo’s electric prime movers.

These are the heaviest electric trucks I’ve yet driven and akin to experiences in other brands, performance was nothing short of outstanding. Again though, only time at the wheel can fully tell the story of just how strong, how smooth and how simple the electric truck experience can be.

With up to six batteries providing the energy, motive power comes from three electric motors dispensing more than 660hp through Volvo’s slick I-shift transmission. Performance is super smooth and super strong

Lift-off torque output was phenomenal with the 12-speed I-shift transmission selecting 7th gear for starts, then one shift to 10th before moving into top gear. Incredible, but begging the question, ‘is I-shift simply too much transmission for the inherent strength of an electric drivetrain?’ 

The short answer is ‘yes’, but until the arrival in a few years of the new e-axle with its inbuilt transmission and final drive ratios, the slick automated 12-speeder will obviously continue to do the job and in the process, provide the flexibility for those applications where deeper lift-off gearing may be required. 

Admittedly, time in the electric Volvos was short but equally long enough to further reinforce the belief that, for devotees and detractors alike, only time behind the wheel can truly testify to the capabilities of battery-electric trucks for modern freight applications. In this regard, our high hope right now is that Volvo Group Australia will grant a more extensive run under local conditions once its trial truck(s) start work in the near future, and in the process provide some real world context to the operational range of an electric truck.

Until then, of course, there’s still much work to be done and many concerns still to be eased. 

Purchase cost, for instance, is generally figured at three times more than an equivalent diesel model but historically, higher sales volumes and greater competition have a way of bringing costs down.

As several Volvo people also mentioned, the training of mechanics and technicians will be vital to the initial and ongoing acceptance of the new technologies, along with a strong focus on driver training.

Then there’s battery life and likewise, the issue of recycling and remanufacturing batteries. In this regard, a new division in Sweden called Volvo Energy has been created with battery efficiency high on the agenda.

Volvo’s three-pronged electric charge in Europe includes an FMX configured for construction roles

Meantime, with batteries weighing around 500kg each, tare weight increases considerably in a battery-electric truck and while Volvo wasn’t specific on the respective weights of the trucks driven in Sweden, it was easy to figure that with six batteries, the single-drive prime movers probably tared close to 10 tonnes. However, the European Union offers a two-tonne allowance for trucks with zero emissions and maybe, Australian authorities will ultimately see some benefit in allowing a similar concession. Maybe, but let’s not hold our breath.

Yet arguably the biggest issue of all is recharging infrastructure and Volvo insiders all the way up to president Roger Alm insist that major inroads continue to be made as energy providers, political influencers, freight companies and their customers, and of course, major corporations such as Volvo combine to pave the way for carbon-neutral road transport across Europe and far beyond.

How Volvo Group Australia intends to play its part in achieving increased infrastructure or gaining weight concessions for electric trucks remains to be seen, but its input and influence will be essential if Volvo’s new electric trucks are to realise the market impact Sweden genuinely believes possible and no doubt, expects.

As for the actual trucks, the first samples suggest Volvo has done a brilliant job.