Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

JKenH

Magnitio said:

JKenH said:

Martyn1981 said:

This is really an advertisement for Volvo trucks, but as I've mentioned before, they don't really get enough praise/recognition for their rollout, so thought it worth posting as a nice update on what they've done / are doing:

Volvo’s Electric Trucks Reach 80 Million Kilometers in 5 Years

Volvo’s electric trucks have driven more than 80 million kilometers or 2,000 laps around the world since Volvo launched its first electric truck models in 2019. These trucks have reduced CO2 emissions and at the same time improved the working environment for drivers significantly.

Volvo Trucks’ global deliveries of electric trucks increased by 256% to 1,977 trucks in 2023 and the company sees continued interest from customers in 2024. In Europe, more than half of the electric truck customers chose a Volvo during the first quarter of this year — Volvo’s share of the electric truck segment was 56%. In the United States, Volvo represented 44% of all sold electric trucks.

Volvo has so far delivered more than 3,500 electric trucks to customers in 45 countries on six continents. During 2023, Volvo Trucks expanded its electric truck presence as it delivered its first heavy-duty electric trucks to Latin America, with vehicles going to customers in Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay. Volvo also became the first truck maker to deliver battery-electric heavy trucks in Morocco, South Korea, and Malaysia.

Let’s keep this in perspective. 80 milion km sounds like a big number but spread over 3500 electric trucks it is 22857 km or about 14,300 miles per truck. I don’t know on average how many miles an HGV travels per year but the the average long distance HGV driver covers about 125,000 miles per year.  https://www.hgvrecruitmentcentre.co.uk/3-interesting-facts-about-hgv-jobs-and-the-hgv-industry/ Some trucks are used for double shifts so the mileage covered per vehicle could be much higher. This suggests that most BEV trucks are being used for local work - dustbin lorries, local deliveries and that kind of thing, not long distance transport. 

BEVs of course are far better at stop start journeys than diesel so it is logical that they will be bought for this type of application. While it is great for the local urban environment it will be a while yet before BEVs make much of a dint in long distance transport emissions. In 2020 HGVs covered 16.2 billion km in the UK alone and that was a year impacted by Covid. 

Welcome back JKenH. It's been so quiet without your valuable input. What you have failed to take into account is that they didn't sell all 3500 at the same time. They have been ramping up production; more than half of those trucks were sold last year and probably a good chunk in Q1 this year, so calculating an average mileage per truck isn't really useful. Volvo manufactures a variety of electric trucks with ranges up to 275 miles, so not just bin lorries.

It seems Volvo’s press releases aren’t very consistent in reporting. This is one from February 2023. Apparently by then they had sold 4300 Electric trucks but by 2024 they report having delivered only 3500. We know they delivered 1977 in 2023 up from 555 in 2022.

Since Volvo Trucks started production of fully electric trucks in 2019, the company has sold more than 4 300 electric trucks in more than 38 countries around the world. Volvo currently offers the industry´s broadest product line-up with six products in series production, catering to a very wide variety of transports in and between cities.

https://www.volvotrucks.com/en-en/news-stories/press-releases/2023/feb/volvo-leads-the-booming-market-for-electric-trucks.html

Magnitio

JKenH said:

Magnitio said:

JKenH said:

Martyn1981 said:

This is really an advertisement for Volvo trucks, but as I've mentioned before, they don't really get enough praise/recognition for their rollout, so thought it worth posting as a nice update on what they've done / are doing:

Volvo’s Electric Trucks Reach 80 Million Kilometers in 5 Years

Volvo’s electric trucks have driven more than 80 million kilometers or 2,000 laps around the world since Volvo launched its first electric truck models in 2019. These trucks have reduced CO2 emissions and at the same time improved the working environment for drivers significantly.

Volvo Trucks’ global deliveries of electric trucks increased by 256% to 1,977 trucks in 2023 and the company sees continued interest from customers in 2024. In Europe, more than half of the electric truck customers chose a Volvo during the first quarter of this year — Volvo’s share of the electric truck segment was 56%. In the United States, Volvo represented 44% of all sold electric trucks.

Volvo has so far delivered more than 3,500 electric trucks to customers in 45 countries on six continents. During 2023, Volvo Trucks expanded its electric truck presence as it delivered its first heavy-duty electric trucks to Latin America, with vehicles going to customers in Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay. Volvo also became the first truck maker to deliver battery-electric heavy trucks in Morocco, South Korea, and Malaysia.

Let’s keep this in perspective. 80 milion km sounds like a big number but spread over 3500 electric trucks it is 22857 km or about 14,300 miles per truck. I don’t know on average how many miles an HGV travels per year but the the average long distance HGV driver covers about 125,000 miles per year.  https://www.hgvrecruitmentcentre.co.uk/3-interesting-facts-about-hgv-jobs-and-the-hgv-industry/ Some trucks are used for double shifts so the mileage covered per vehicle could be much higher. This suggests that most BEV trucks are being used for local work - dustbin lorries, local deliveries and that kind of thing, not long distance transport. 

BEVs of course are far better at stop start journeys than diesel so it is logical that they will be bought for this type of application. While it is great for the local urban environment it will be a while yet before BEVs make much of a dint in long distance transport emissions. In 2020 HGVs covered 16.2 billion km in the UK alone and that was a year impacted by Covid. 

Welcome back JKenH. It's been so quiet without your valuable input. What you have failed to take into account is that they didn't sell all 3500 at the same time. They have been ramping up production; more than half of those trucks were sold last year and probably a good chunk in Q1 this year, so calculating an average mileage per truck isn't really useful. Volvo manufactures a variety of electric trucks with ranges up to 275 miles, so not just bin lorries.

It seems Volvo’s press releases aren’t very consistent in reporting. This is one from February 2023. Apparently by then they had sold 4300 Electric trucks but by 2024 they report having delivered only 3500. We know they delivered 1977 in 2023 up from 555 in 2022.

Since Volvo Trucks started production of fully electric trucks in 2019, the company has sold more than 4 300 electric trucks in more than 38 countries around the world. Volvo currently offers the industry´s broadest product line-up with six products in series production, catering to a very wide variety of transports in and between cities.

https://www.volvotrucks.com/en-en/news-stories/press-releases/2023/feb/volvo-leads-the-booming-market-for-electric-trucks.html

There is a difference between "sold" and "delivered".

Magnitio

If you're interested in electric trucks, then Daf are also active in this market.

https://www.daf.co.uk/en-gb/trucks/new-generation-daf-electric

Netexporter

As are Mercedes. The trick, for long distance work, is having sufficient range to cover the 4.5 hours before the tacho break (hence the 275 miles quoted above) and being able to recharge in the 45 minutes of the mandatory break. Once a network of truck chargers is properly established then I suspect take-up of electric trucks will greatly increase.

JKenH

Magnitio said:

JKenH said:

Magnitio said:

JKenH said:

Martyn1981 said:

This is really an advertisement for Volvo trucks, but as I've mentioned before, they don't really get enough praise/recognition for their rollout, so thought it worth posting as a nice update on what they've done / are doing:

Volvo’s Electric Trucks Reach 80 Million Kilometers in 5 Years

Volvo’s electric trucks have driven more than 80 million kilometers or 2,000 laps around the world since Volvo launched its first electric truck models in 2019. These trucks have reduced CO2 emissions and at the same time improved the working environment for drivers significantly.

Volvo Trucks’ global deliveries of electric trucks increased by 256% to 1,977 trucks in 2023 and the company sees continued interest from customers in 2024. In Europe, more than half of the electric truck customers chose a Volvo during the first quarter of this year — Volvo’s share of the electric truck segment was 56%. In the United States, Volvo represented 44% of all sold electric trucks.

Volvo has so far delivered more than 3,500 electric trucks to customers in 45 countries on six continents. During 2023, Volvo Trucks expanded its electric truck presence as it delivered its first heavy-duty electric trucks to Latin America, with vehicles going to customers in Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay. Volvo also became the first truck maker to deliver battery-electric heavy trucks in Morocco, South Korea, and Malaysia.

Let’s keep this in perspective. 80 milion km sounds like a big number but spread over 3500 electric trucks it is 22857 km or about 14,300 miles per truck. I don’t know on average how many miles an HGV travels per year but the the average long distance HGV driver covers about 125,000 miles per year.  https://www.hgvrecruitmentcentre.co.uk/3-interesting-facts-about-hgv-jobs-and-the-hgv-industry/ Some trucks are used for double shifts so the mileage covered per vehicle could be much higher. This suggests that most BEV trucks are being used for local work - dustbin lorries, local deliveries and that kind of thing, not long distance transport. 

BEVs of course are far better at stop start journeys than diesel so it is logical that they will be bought for this type of application. While it is great for the local urban environment it will be a while yet before BEVs make much of a dint in long distance transport emissions. In 2020 HGVs covered 16.2 billion km in the UK alone and that was a year impacted by Covid. 

Welcome back JKenH. It's been so quiet without your valuable input. What you have failed to take into account is that they didn't sell all 3500 at the same time. They have been ramping up production; more than half of those trucks were sold last year and probably a good chunk in Q1 this year, so calculating an average mileage per truck isn't really useful. Volvo manufactures a variety of electric trucks with ranges up to 275 miles, so not just bin lorries.

It seems Volvo’s press releases aren’t very consistent in reporting. This is one from February 2023. Apparently by then they had sold 4300 Electric trucks but by 2024 they report having delivered only 3500. We know they delivered 1977 in 2023 up from 555 in 2022.

Since Volvo Trucks started production of fully electric trucks in 2019, the company has sold more than 4 300 electric trucks in more than 38 countries around the world. Volvo currently offers the industry´s broadest product line-up with six products in series production, catering to a very wide variety of transports in and between cities.

https://www.volvotrucks.com/en-en/news-stories/press-releases/2023/feb/volvo-leads-the-booming-market-for-electric-trucks.html

There is a difference between "sold" and "delivered".

Yes, that’s the inconsistency I was referring to.

Grumpy_chap

Netexporter said:

As are Mercedes. The trick, for long distance work, is having sufficient range to cover the 4.5 hours before the tacho break (hence the 275 miles quoted above) and being able to recharge in the 45 minutes of the mandatory break. Once a network of truck chargers is properly established then I suspect take-up of electric trucks will greatly increase.

Thanks - I was going to comment on the 275 miles from the post above as I did not think it was necessarily far enough.  In the context you have noted, that would work.  So long as the range is calculated for a laden truck in unfavourable conditions (climate and elevation)

Netexporter

 So long as the range is calculated for a laden truck in unfavourable conditions (climate and elevation)

I'm sure they take all that into account. In reality, only a truck leaving a depot right next to a motorway and staying on the motorway (assuming light traffic) is going to travel anything like that distance in 4.5 hours.

Martyn1981

Netexporter said:

As are Mercedes. The trick, for long distance work, is having sufficient range to cover the 4.5 hours before the tacho break (hence the 275 miles quoted above) and being able to recharge in the 45 minutes of the mandatory break. Once a network of truck chargers is properly established then I suspect take-up of electric trucks will greatly increase.

Yes, the 'run-on-less' event in the US (really just a monitoring exercise of BEV trucks in operation) showed huge potential for all roles. Two of the Tesla semi trips stand out, where they did over 800 miles one day, with (I think) 5 deliveries, and just over 1,000 miles another day with 2 deliveries.

Crucially, the majority of large truck trips (US and UK) aren't huge distances, nor at max weight, so BEV's have massive promise.

Being able to add ~300 miles of range in those mandatory stops will help/solve longer distance driving, but RTB (return to base) charging, and charging at depots when loading/unloading should resolve many issues for most roles.

Hopefully the fine work by Volvo will act as a great lessons learned exercise for the industry as a whole.

CKhalvashi

Grumpy_chap said:

Netexporter said:

As are Mercedes. The trick, for long distance work, is having sufficient range to cover the 4.5 hours before the tacho break (hence the 275 miles quoted above) and being able to recharge in the 45 minutes of the mandatory break. Once a network of truck chargers is properly established then I suspect take-up of electric trucks will greatly increase.

Thanks - I was going to comment on the 275 miles from the post above as I did not think it was necessarily far enough.  In the context you have noted, that would work.  So long as the range is calculated for a laden truck in unfavourable conditions (climate and elevation)

Any EV will use less electricity typically at slower speeds, which mountain roads for example will typically provide.

At 65-ish mph, the Ioniq would do about 160 miles and need charging about every 2 hours. I'd hazard a guess that it would be similar (meaning 2 hours) in (say) the Carpathians. We took the Enyaq down to Mukachevo for a day from Lviv for a meeting, it survived, even with slow charging only in Mukachevo. I'd have liked to give it a go on the faster routes to Vinnytsia but leaving it in Lviv and taking the train (overnight) was a more prudent option as we only had 2 days there. It also allowed us to only pay for accommodation for the 1 night and take a 2am train either side, waiting in the respective station from about 10pm, and for a small city we rarely need a car. Even Lviv (population about 750k) is perfectly walkable where buses aren't available for us.

For reference, the sleeper trains (kupe standard, so with a closed cabin, lower deck means we sleep on top of the box with the bags in even if someone does manage to get into the room) were about £8 each, each way. It's technically shared between 4 but on this journey nobody joined us.

Back on topic, 275mi could probably do with being stretched by about 10%, but definitely no more than this subject to being able to be charged in less than about an hour. We do have a lorry as part of our fleet still (operated under a light touch regime as we only carry company owned equipment, payload is about 10t, MGW is 18t), but this is only used for about 60 days a year (and often lives outside the office) so is currently a E6 diesel.

Magnitio

Really interesting interview with Jim Farley, CEO of Ford, discussing the future of EV's...
https://youtu.be/s6eq8ABvyYQ?si=Ve_RCtY_kFmr6Tr0