Volvo leads the booming market for electric trucks

In 2022, the number of heavy electric trucks operating in Europe and the United States grew faster than ever before. Volvo Trucks has now sold more than 4 300 electric trucks globally in more than 38 countries since 2019, when production of these units commenced.

Locally, Volvo Trucks will start delivering heavy electric trucks to its customers in South Africa from May 2023. In South Africa, these heavy electric trucks fall within the extra heavy commercial vehicle segment. This classification comprises trucks with gross vehicle weight ratings (GVM) exceeding 16,5 tonnes (t).

“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, enabling us to efficiently 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.”

Volvo Trucks is the market leader in In Europe with a 32% share of the market for heavy electric trucks, and in North America, nearly half of all heavy electric trucks registered in 2022 were Volvo trucks.

In 2022, the market for heavy (≥16 t) electric trucks in Europe, grew by 200% to 1 041 trucks, and Volvo Trucks holds the highest share of this market.

“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.

Volvo Trucks currently offers the industry´s broadest product line-up with six product ranges in series production, catering to a very wide variety of transports in and between cities.

“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,” comments Alm. “We see it as our mission to support our customers in making that happen.”