Heavy-duty trucks are a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions within the transportation sector, however, electrifying these vehicles to reduce their environmental impact comes with major challenges. Current electric vehicle (EV) battery technology cannot yet efficiently support trucks on the long distances they need to cover.
Today, the average EV battery range tops out at approximately 300 miles. This limitation is a major concern, as most truck drivers typically travel around 500 miles daily. The scarcity of charging stations compared to the widespread availability of gas stations on U.S. highways adds another layer of difficulty in transitioning to electric trucks.
Volvo is attempting to address these issues by introducing a new solution: adding more batteries. Traditionally, increasing the number of batteries in a vehicle has not been practical due to the additional weight, which can decrease the overall range. However, Volvo’s approach incorporates new driveline technology that enables the integration of multiple batteries without the typical drawbacks.
This technology combines the electric motor and transmission into the rear axle, freeing up space for a larger battery capacity. As a result, Volvo’s latest truck, equipped with eight batteries, achieves a range of just over 370 miles, a nearly 20% increase compared to the industry standard.
“The transport sector represents seven percent of global carbon emissions.” Roger Alm, president of Volvo Trucks, said in a statement. “Battery-electric trucks are important tools to reduce the climate footprint. Besides the important environmental gains that electric trucks bring, they offer truck drivers a much better working environment, with much lower levels of noise and vibrations.”
Despite this progress, EV battery technology still has a long way to go before it can match the performance of traditional diesel truck engines, which can travel an average of around 2,000 miles on a single tank of fuel.
