Volvo Vans Sees EVs As Key To Beating Freightliner In U.S.

Volvo is making inroads within the U.S. truck market now that the sale of EV huge rigs is taking off. Volvo Vans is presently forward of its rivals within the U.S., together with Mack, Peterbilt, Worldwide and the stalwart Freightliner, which has dominated the sale of economic vehicles within the U.S. for years, based on Automotive Information.

The Volvo VNR Electrical is the best-selling EV huge rig within the U.S. with 51 fashions bought via July of 2022. That will seem to be a low quantity, nevertheless it’s greater than the variety of EV fashions bought by three of Volvo’s rivals mixed: Mack bought seven EVs; Peterbilt bought 10; and Worldwide bought six.

Freightliner and father or mother firm Daimler don’t account for manufacturing mannequin gross sales but as a result of the eCascadia and eM2 EVs are strictly prototypes for now. The corporate has 40 of those EV huge rigs present process assessments all through the U.S., however Volvo started its industrial EV testing and pilot packages lengthy earlier than many rivals.

Volvo’s early begin has given the truck maker an edge over rivals as these pilot packages have changed into EV orders from main fleet operators. Transport big Maersk purchased 16 Volvo VNR Electrical vehicles final 12 months for its Efficiency Group division, which handles warehouse distribution in Southern California. Efficiency adopted up with one other order for 110 Volvo EVs which can be set to start operating routes in early 2023.

That Maersk and Efficiency Group contract alone made Volvo over $50 million, with every VNR Electrical promoting for upwards of $400,000 based mostly on configuration.

Elsewhere, NFI Industries has ordered 60 EV vehicles from Volvo after having participated in a pilot program working two Volvo EV huge rigs in 2020. The corporate can have 90 electrical vehicles operating in Southern California quickly, as Auto Information stories, with 60 of those being Volvo VNR Electrical fashions and the remaining 30 being Freightliner eCascadias.

The Volvo VNR Electrical vehicles have a variety of as much as 275 miles, which is sufficient to make two day by day journeys between ports in Southern California and NFI warehouses additional inland, per AN. However Volvo is already working with sellers and utilities to construct up infrastructure in the complete state with a industrial charging hall that’ll join Southern, Central and Northern California.

Volvo is hoping its early lead and company-backed infrastructure will assist it grow to be the dominant truck maker in North America in the long run. Although Freightliner outsells rival truck makers within the U.S. by far, the transition to electrical vehicles might lastly give Volvo the prospect to catch as much as the trade chief. However diesel vehicles nonetheless dominate the market, with about 150,000 fashions anticipated to promote via the tip of this 12 months.

Freightliner has a 40 p.c market share within the U.S., whereas Volvo has 11 p.c. So, Volvo has a protracted technique to go and deep model loyalty to disrupt. Business fleets have a tendency to stay to a most well-liked model to make truck repairs and repair extra streamlined and more cost effective, however provided that EVs require much less service, Volvo is betting it may no less than take some market share away from Freightliner.