Volvo builds on electric truck range

Volvo Trucks is unveiling its second electric truck model.

The Volvo FE Electric comes only three weeks after the company launched its first electric model, the Volvo FL Electric.

The FE Electric is designed for heavier city distribution and refuse transport operations with gross weights of up to 27 tonnes.

It will go on sale in Europe in 2019.

Volvo Trucks president Claes Nilsson says the introduction of a second electric model to the brand is helping build a “comprehensive range”.

“This opens the door to new forms of cooperation with cities that target to improve air quality, reduce traffic noise, and cut congestion during peak hours since commercial operations can instead be carried out quietly and without tale-pipe exhaust emissions early in the morning or late at night,” he says.

The first FE Electric, a refuse truck, will start operating in early 2019 in Germany’s second-largest city, Hamburg.

Jonas Odermalm, product line vice president for the Volvo FL and Volvo FE at Volvo Trucks, says Hamburg is a city that has worked hard to improve sustainable urban development.

It was named European Green Capital of the EU in 2011.

“This applies not least in the transport sector, where electrified buses from Volvo are already being used in the public transport network.

“The experiences and ambitions from this venture make Hamburg a highly interesting partner for us,” Odermalm says.

The FE Electric is powered by two electric motors with 370 kW max power.

It has a range of 200 km and a charging time from empty to fully charged batteries of around 1.5 hours. Low power charging is around 10 hours.