According to foreign media reports, the Australian branch of the Volvo Group has urged the country’s government to advance legal reforms to allow it to sell heavy-duty electric trucks to transportation and distribution companies.
The Volvo Group agreed last week to sell 36 medium-sized electric trucks to trucking business Team Global Express for use in the Sydney metropolitan area. While the 16-tonne vehicle can be operated under existing regulations, larger electric trucks are too heavy to be allowed on Australian roads under current law.
“We want to introduce heavy-duty electric trucks next year and we need to change the legislation,” Volvo Australia chief executive Martin Merrick told the media.
Image credit: Volvo Trucks
Australia completed a consultation last month on how to get more electric passenger cars, trucks and buses into its fleet as the country seeks to lower carbon emissions. The document shows that heavy vehicles currently account for 22% of total road transport emissions.
“I’m told that the state heavy vehicle regulator wants to speed up this legislation,” Merrick said. “They know how to increase the adoption of heavy electric trucks, and from what I’ve heard, they do.”
Electric vehicles are ideal for large intra-city freight services, but other service operators could also consider electric trucks for longer hauls, Merrick said.
“We’re seeing a shift in people’s mindsets and a desire for electric vehicles,” he said, adding that 50 percent of Volvo Group’s truck sales are expected to come from electric vehicles by 2050.
Post time: Dec-13-2022