The truck manufacturers releases how it will tackle a sustainable truck future
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Volvo talks about its stance on zero-emission truck technology
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Volvo Trucks says it is simultaneously placing bets on both batteries, hydrogen fuel cells and combustion engines to be the future of a carbon-free transport industry.
The popular truck manufacturer says it won’t invest in just one type of zero-emission technology as it prepares for an open-ended future.
“We are going in parallel with three technologies,” Volvo chief technology officer Lars Stenqvist says.
Although Stenqvist previously said battery electrics are the company’s choice for buses, excavators and reloaders, the market-leader in heavy all-electric trucks in Europe last year isn’t going down just one track for its heavy-vehicle fleets.
Volvo says it will also build a charging network as part of its all-electric investment into battery-powered heavy-duty vehicles.
Stenqvist says he’s not worried about the different dynamics in fuel cell technology, instead saying Volvo can achieve this technology at a low cost going forward.
“We believe we will get low-cost green hydrogen,” he says.
“It’s because other industries will be very dependent on green hydrogen.”
Stenqvist says Volvo will “piggyback on the big investments” made globally on hydrogen technology to bolster its zero-emission truck fleets.
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Volvo will continue working with Daimler Trucks on fuel-cell development in a joint venture called ‘cellcentric’ that will supply both companies from 2025 onwards.
While the winning technology is yet to be found, Stenqvist wants to keep all options open for Volvo.
“When I talk to my engineers, I talk about it as a beauty contest,” he says.
“Three teams in parallel are competing with each other.
“My belief is that the type of drivetrain will be dependent on the infrastructure in different regions and the price of energy there.”
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